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there ought to be some opportunity for a County Commissioner to bring the issue back up if <br /> they do not agree. <br /> Frank Clifton said that when the Board refers an item to the staff, that generally means <br /> that there will be some staff time involved to research. This means it will be on an agenda in <br /> the future, either as a report or something with further direction. <br /> Commissioner Foushee said that she thinks that all of the County Commissioners <br /> recognize their role as listeners and advocates, but there are limited resources to provide for <br /> every petition that comes forward. She asked that staff recommend a process of determining <br /> how the items go through the process. This might save some time. She said that there would <br /> have to be a set of standards that would determine how this item moves forward or not. <br /> Chair Pelissier agreed and said that the County Commissioners need to balance out <br /> the requests against how much staff time it would take and the resources available. She said <br /> that rather than voting on items that come forward, they could just refer it to the Chair, Vice- <br /> Chair, and Manager because if there is a vote, then some people tend to think that something <br /> will be an agenda item for sure. <br /> Commissioner Foushee said that it would be easier to put this in writing and then <br /> review it as a Board. <br /> The Board agreed to have something in writing about this process and then the Board <br /> would review and approve the process. <br /> Frank Clifton said that he could do a quick survey about how other local governments <br /> deal with this. <br /> Commissioner Hemminger said that all petitions should be presented at a public <br /> meeting and not just mailed in, etc. It needs to be part of the public process. <br /> Chair Pelissier agreed with this. <br /> 3. Discussion on the Process for a Member of the Board of Commissioners to Place <br /> an Item on a Board Meetinq Aqenda <br /> Chair Pelissier said that there is a Board of County Commissioners' procedure that <br /> addresses this already, but it is not followed regularly. The normal procedure is to petition <br /> each other during County Commissioners' comments and ask to have an item placed on an <br /> agenda. She does not think that this is a perfect process. She said that only one <br /> Commissioner should not be able to put something on the agenda because it requires a lot of <br /> staff time. <br /> Commissioner Hemminger said that she does not like the prior policy because it is not a <br /> public arena and if you bring it up at meeting, then Board members can weigh in and then <br /> follow the same process as above. She said that this needs to be public and it should go <br /> through the process as items brought forth by the public. <br /> Chair Pelissier asked if everyone agreed that these items should be brought up at <br /> public meetings. Everyone but Commissioner Gordon agreed. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that she would like to have some kind of balance between <br /> being hit with something at a meeting and having it submitted in a timely process for agenda <br /> review. A lot of times the County Commissioners' comments are late at night. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said that he does have a strong feeling on how a Commissioner <br /> puts an item on the agenda. He said that a Commissioner should not be put to a higher <br /> standard than the public. <br /> Commissioner McKee agreed with Commissioner Jacobs. He said that if there was an <br /> item that was not necessarily popular with the rest of the Board, then it would never be on an <br /> agenda if there was a vote. <br />