PSD Should Slow Down the Wheels

PSD Should Slow Down the Wheels of Government

Thursday, February 21, 2008

There's an old saying that the wheels of government move slowly. But that's not the case at the James Island Public Service District.

In the past two months, commissioners have voted on and passed a number of motions, some of them policy changes, that have not been on the commission's agenda and have not been discussed among members. The PSD handles sewer, garbage pickup, fire and emergency medical services for about 28,000 residents.

In many governments, including the PSD in meetings past, proposed motions are discussed under "new business" and may be sent to various committees for further review. The proposed motion is often revisited at the next regularly scheduled meeting and written on the agenda under old or unfinished business.

This is the way the commission handled motions in the past, such as a motion to change the district's vehicle-use policy and one to endorse building an adult burn center at the Medical University of South Carolina. These motions were discussed by all commissioners and placed explicitly on the following meeting's agenda.

However, there has been a shift in the way the commission does business in the past few months.

Big motions, including one that severs ties with a longtime district attorney and another to hire an Equal Opportunity officer, have been brought up and passed with little discussion and without any advance notice.

Other motions that have been made and passed in this manner include allowing Commissioner Inez Brown-Crouch to have sole authority to sign all contracts with Joan K. Ustin, a management consulting company the district hired to conduct employee interviews about the workplace, and a motion to hire another internal auditor for the district.

On several occasions, Commissioner Eugene Platt has stated that many of the proposed motions were worth taking a look at, but he didn't know anything about them and didn't feel comfortable making a decision at the same meeting in which they were proposed.

Platt unsuccessfully tried to adjourn the meeting before a vote was passed, stating that the commission would only use legal services from Trent Kernodle's law firm.

There are four commission members who have brought up and voted in favor of these new, surprise motions: Commissioners Charles Rhodes, June Waring, Brown-Crouch and Karen Clark-Thompson.

Commissioners Rod Welch and Donald Hollingsworth have more often voted against these new motions. And Platt has voted for some and against others.

It's clear from attending JIPSD meetings that there is a divide among commissioners, and members have publicly argued over proposed motions and the breakdown in votes for them.

Welch was especially roiled during the motion to use only Kernodle's legal services.

"This is an effort by members of the commission who are associated with the town of James Island to reward a political (player)," he said.

During a heated discussion between Rhodes and Hollingsworth about the four commissioners routinely voting in favor of these new motions, Rhodes shot back, "We're not the 'four,' we are the majority."

Often, the district's staffers are unaware of these new motions, and District Manager Robert Wise has often asked questions about them. At the vote to only use the legal services of Kernodle's firm, Wise was against the move, saying the district uses more than one attorney. At the vote to add the duties of an Equal Opportunity officer to the Human Resources officer position, Wise said, "I have hundreds of questions."

The problem with this new way of doing business is that there is no real discussion among commissioners and no input allowed from residents. Residents don't have the opportunity to comment if the item is not listed on the agenda and voted on at the meeting in which it is proposed.

That's not to say the proposed motions are not good ideas and worth taking a look at. But, with no indication that motions will be proposed and no opportunity for public comments on the motions, the commission is doing a great disservice to its constituents.

It would do the commission good to slow down the wheels of government, taking time to discuss such proposals and placing items on future meeting agendas before voting on them.