Commissioners' retreat flawed by miscues

SPRINGFIELD - Effingham County commissioners had no agenda heading into their March 12-13 retreat at a pricey resort and they returned with wrong information about who was there.

An incorrect list of those attending the excursion at King and Prince Resort Hotel on St. Simons Island was part of a vague description of issues presented as minutes. Those minutes were approved March 20 after being reviewed by commissioners.

Commissioners violated state law by failing to produce an agenda for the two-day session that was funded by Effingham taxpayers. Officials say those mistakes were overshadowed by the productivity at the agenda.

"We started working early in the morning and didn't finish until 7:30 in the evening," said Commission Chairwoman Verna Phillips.

Pre-meeting mistake

County officials' first mistake came before they made the 100-mile trek to the coastal island. They forgot to prepare an agenda.

County Clerk Patrice Morris said staff members compiled a list of topics for discussion. At the March 6 commission meeting, County Administrator Ed Williams asked commissioners to add their issues to the list.

"It is fair to say that an agenda is a requirement regardless of the type of meeting - regular, retreat or otherwise," said Hollie Manheimer, executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.

"It is mandatory," Manheimer said.

Morris said she had a list of matters commissioners wanted discussed but never converted it into an agenda.

"I mentioned some of the things at the (March 6) meeting," said Morris. "There was a list of issues to be discussed.

"I did not have an agenda, though," the county clerk said.

An agenda should have been posted prior to the retreat at the commissioners usual meeting place, the County Administrative Complex at 601 N. Laurel Ave. in Springfield, to comply with state law.

Mistaken minutes

Commissioners also stumbled when they approved minutes from the meeting that listed one official who did not attend.

Vice Chairwoman Myra Lewis changed her plans just prior to the retreat and did not make the two-hour trip.

"No, I did not attend," Lewis said. "There was a personal matter that came up and I had to stay here."

Attending were Commissioners Hubert Sapp, Jeff Utley, Reggie Loper and Phillips. Staff making the trip were Williams, Finance Director Joanna Floyd, Zoning Administrator David Crawley, Assistant County Attorney Eric Gotwalt and Morris. Gotwalt did not attend the second day.

No members of the public made the trip.

Morris accepted blame for minutes error that also slipped past commissioners.

"When I was preparing the minutes, I cut-and-pasted some information from a previous meeting," Morris said. "I have changed the minutes to the correct information, including those on the Internet."

Corrected minutes were posted on the county Web site last week, Morris said.

Some complained the minutes only listed topics and did not provide information usually reported.

Phillips said the unintentional oversights were understandable and did not diminish the retreat's success.

"We had a lot of discussions on a lot of matters in a short time," Phillips said.

"We have a lot of new county employees and this helped bring them up to date on what is happening," Phillips said.

Reprinted with permission from the Savannah Morning News.