Following three sparsely attended public hearings in July, in which the CAC invited the public to give their suggestion for a multi-person commission, the study group will tweak the format of the October hearings.
“The previous public hearings, where we had rows of chairs and a speaker, they didn’t lend themselves to a fluid exchange of information,” said CAC Chair Anderson.
The first October hearing, for example, will utilize the “GDOT format,” in which stations with various focuses are set up and members of the general public can move from one station to the next, asking questions and making suggestions to attendees manning the booths.
“At the October 5 hearing we are going to have four stations set up, one for each of the three forms of government and one that will give a comparative analysis of those forms,” Anderson said.
The CAC will use the information gathered from this hearing to make their final decision, which will be presented to the public at the final two hearings mid October.
“[The October 5 hearing] will give the public a chance to get information one-on-one. It should facilitate a greater exchange of information both ways,” Anderson said. “I haven’t decided what the format will be for the final two meetings, but we will still be taking suggestions from the public.”
The CAC was created in response to a non-binding referendum that appeared on the July 2008 primary ballot in which the majority of Pickens County voters expressed an interest in moving to a multi-person commission. In November of 2010, voters will decide if they want to keep a sole-commission format or transition to a multi-person board.
|
|
