Politics & Government
Public Hearing on Parks and Rec Ordinance Thursday
Public notification of the hearing posted on the county's Web site sparked a storm of controversy on local blog sites this week, but Commissioner Patrick Bell says the notification was incorrectly worded and he will ask that it be changed.
Forsyth County commissioners will hold a public hearing on Thursday, Jan. 5, to discuss proposed changes to the county's Parks and Recreation Ordinance. The meeting will start at 5 p.m. in the County Administration Buildinglocated at 110 East Main Street in downtown Cumming.
Public notice of the hearing posted on the county's Web site sparked a storm of controversy on blog sites this week. But Assistant Board of Commissioners Chairman Patrick Bell said the wording of that notice was incorrect and he will ask that it be changed.
The notice posted on the county's Web site states:
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"The purpose of the public hearing shall be for public review and comment concerning proposed modifications to Forsyth County’s Parks and Recreation Ordinance, specifically to change the person that may issue permits related to use of the athletic fields of a park or recreation facility from the director of the Forsyth County Parks and Recreation Department or the director’s agent to the Forsyth County Manager..."
"That's not going to happen, Bell said. "It should have said the Forsyth County Manager or his designee, which I would expect to be Jerry Kinsey."
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Asked what assurance he could give that the manager would appoint a designee rather than keep the authority for himself, Bell said, "There are no assurances. But that is what I would expect. If not, it becomes an issue of is he managing the departments properly. We don't need to meddle with how department heads manage their departments."
Bell added, "I'll call Ken and ask him to get with (County Manager) Doug Derrer and have them change it and give the change to (Director of Communications) Jodi Gardner so she can post a new notification that better reflects the decision of the board of commissioners from the work session."
Dist. 1 Commissioner Pete Amos agrees that Kinsey should continue to make the decisions about who can use the county's ball fields.
"Jerry should have the say so. He's the professional. No other department has that kind of oversight. When you take it out of his hands, too much politics gets involved."
