A monthly e-newsletter

On July 18, a pubic hearing was held on the request by the Chatham County Board of Commissioners for a text amendment to the Chatham County Zoning Ordinance, Section 17.1, to remove the Environmental Review Board (ERB) from the review process for conditional use permits that require an environmental impact assessment.

Eight citizens spoke at the hearing, all but one in opposition to the proposed amendment. Most argued that the ERB consists of volunteer citizen experts in biology, soil science, geology, and water quality who provide valuable input to important environmental decisions, without any cost to the county. Several CCEC Board members were among those who voiced support for keeping the ERB in the review process. (See this story in The Weekly Independent for more details about the proposed text amendment.)

On Tuesday, September 6, commissioners will cast their votes on whether to accept or reject this unnecessary and unwise amendment. We fully expect that it will be approved, despite citizen opposition.

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At the Board of Commissioners meeting on August 15, new members Brian Bock, Pamela Stewart, and Walter Petty rejected Commissioner Mike Cross' nomination of Allison Weakley to the Chatham County Planning Board in a 3-2 vote.

This was a surprising and curious action. Allison Weakley is a competent, intelligent, creative, and dedicated citizen who has made many invaluable contributions to Chatham County, for which she has been rightly honored. She is a trained scientist who served without pay on the Environmental Review Board, which the Bock/Petty/Stewart majority is also striving to eliminate from the planning process by way of a text amendment to the Chatham County Zoning Ordinance, previously referred to in this newsletter.

The three attempted to justify their votes on the grounds that Weakley is "anti-growth." Commissioner Petty offered her work on the Comprehensive Conservation Plan as proof of her anti-growth activities. Mr. Petty displayed a total lack of understanding of the work; this conservation plan is not a regulatory or visionary document, but rather an impressive compilation of data about natural resources, which could be used as a valuable research tool for both developors and the county alike when planning for growth and development. Once again, this BoC majority has shown that they are not interested in thorough reviews when making important decisions that affect the future of Chatham County. Although Weakley has never had any regulatory voting power, and has only served in a volunteer advisory capacity, Commissioner Bock unreasonably stated that she is responsible for regulations that he campaigned against.

It is well documented that business development and growth of all kinds are more vibrant where environmental protection is vigorous. Because she is a competent scientist with strong concerns about environmental protection, Allison Weakley might have offered valuable insight and perspectives to the Planning Board. Yet she would only have been in a minority voting position, hardly an obstacle to any new development that Bock/Petty/Stewart would like to promote.

Traditionally, commissioners have honored the wishes of their fellow board members by approving their choices of appointments to advisory boards and committees. But Bock, Stewart, and Petty ignored tradition and due respect for their minority colleagues. None of the three had actually interviewed Weakley before spurning her nomination; indeed, Commissioner Cross offered to postpone the vote to allow time to hear from Ms.Weakley herself, but the majority rebuffed that idea. Instead, they displayed a closed-minded, inflexible approach to governing, and voted to reject a highly-qualified candidate on the basis of hearsay and false assumptions.

Chatham citizens who believe in planned growth, environmental protections, and an innovative future for our county can only lament the continued misguided and unfortunate actions of these three new commissioners.

You can read about the incident in the minutes from the August 18 meeting, which are linked to this page on the county website. And you can also view the discussion of the nomination in this video of the meeting (at about 35:00 minutes), also posted on the county website.

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A presentation by the chair of the Human Relations Commission (HRC) was scheduled for the latter part of the July 18 Board of Commissers meeting -- after several long public hearings -- and by the time Mr. Norman Clark approached the podium, unfortunately, most people had left.

Mr. Clark described how the HRC had been formed in April, 2000, by a unanimous vote by the then county commissioners, in response to growing racial tensions and inequality in Chatham County. The group met regularly to discuss problems and strategize about what could be done to alleviate them. But despite their best intentions, the Human Relations Commission finally reached the conclusion that there was only so much a group of volunteer citizens could do. They felt that given Chatham County's unique demographic make-up, a professional who could act in an official capacity for the good of the County was needed.

Mr. Clark told how In 2007, the Board of Commissioners finally acted when they created the Office of Human Relations, and in 2008, they hired a director, Esther Coleman. He gave a heartfelt and passionate summary of the accomplishments Ms. Coleman was able to achieve in just two years, and he presented every commissioner with a copy of the 2010 report outlining her successes. He also recounted the way in which Ms. Coleman's service abruptly came to an end:

All these achievements and progress came to a halt on January 3rd, 2011, the majorities' first public meeting. On that morning, following a holiday weekend, in spite of the lack of notice regarding the real plans to eliminate three vital positions in our county, in a room too small to hold all residents who wanted to hear and comment, with over 50 people standing outside unable to participate in the proceedings, and in spite of the fact that most speakers present expressed strong support for the office of Human Relations – the majority voted to eliminate the only position in Chatham County focused on eliminating racial disparities and improving human relations.

Mr. Clark then called on several other members of the HRC, who expressed similar sentiments and concerns about the elimination of the Office of Human Relations, and who reiterated their conclusions that a volunteer citizens group doesn't have the authority or expertise to address racial tensions and injustices in a meaningful way.

And with that, one by one, every member of the HRC who was present at the meeting, stood and faced the commissioners, and verbally resigned. It was a profound, earnest, and brave act, and sadly, few citizens were there to witness it. Below is an exerpt from the resignation offered by Human Relations Commission Chairman Norman Clark to the Board of Commissioners, for the public record:

We believe that if you had done the work of thoughtful and transparent governance and reviewed the 2010 annual report, and the report on the Issues Impacting People of Color in Chatham County, you could not have reached the conclusion that this position was expendable. Furthermore, this Board of Commissioners is also actively engaged in undoing the hard work of the HRC, exemplified by the rescission of the 2009 ICE Resolution.

We refuse to participate in an ineffectual commission and perpetuate the myth that the majority on this Board cares about the welfare of minorities in our community. Mr. Bock, Mr. Petty and Ms. Stewart – you made a clear statement to us by eliminating the position of the Human Relations Director without the courtesy of a conversation with the members of our Commission; after much thought and consideration, our response is to resign in protest effective immediately.

We want to urge you to reconsider this decision and reinstate the Office of Human Relations. This is not about special interest groups; this is about the prosperity and achievement for all who live, work and play in Chatham County. This is about your responsibility to serve all Chatham residents, not only those who look like you or voted for you. We were honored to serve on the Human Relations Commission and regret that these circumstances left us no choice but to resign.

You might expect that after such a dramatic event, Chairman Bock would have offered a few conciliatory words to the members of the HRC. But he didn't. In fact, the only commissioner who responded was Sally Kost, who expressed her gratitude for the years of hard work by the HRC, as well as her sadness over their resignation.

Mr. Bock's sole comment was, "Let's move on to the next item on our agenda."

You can find Mr. Clark's presentation in its entirety in the minutes from the July 18 meeting, which are linked to this page on the county website. You can also view a video of the July 18 meeting. Mr. Clark's presentation starts at about 34:00 minutes.

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