Well, I guess the old adage about "no sense having power if I'm not going to abuse it" has not died, most especially with our illustrious commissioners.
Sound like an interesting start to a story? I hope so 'cause I got another story to tell in how our elected county officials operate.
On Friday 13, July 2013 (perhaps I should have paid more attention to that date), I went to the county commission office (same one where I found them holding the illegal meeting) and requested certain public documents, to wit, the commissioners monthly expense report AND..... travel pay for each commissioner.
They have devised a form I'd never seen before so I'm sure if it's an approved form it must have been adopted at another of those secret meetings they are becoming known for. It bears the name and district of each commissioner, Anthony Bishop, County Attorney and Judy Covan, County Administrator and is labeled "PUBLIC DOCUMENT REQUEST FORM." It goes on to have the requester put their name on the document and a contact number. It then list a place for the AMOUNT PAID, NUMBER OF PAGES AND RECEIPT #. That's the top half of the sheet, the lower half consist of: TYPE OF REQUEST____________
REASON____________________ then it makes the following statement: Please allow up to 10 business days to process your request. A copy of the Policy and Procedure: Pubic Documents Request and Fees is available upon request. By signing below you agree to our policy and procedures. Conecuh County Commission has the authority to deny any request.