May 30, 2011
COMMISSIONERS TRAINING COSTS
WHO’S MISLEADING YOU?
YOU DECIDE…
Commissioner
Cox seems to be mighty touchy about the letter to the editor and other
emails
concerning Commissioner’s training and how much it is costing. He sent out an email about how all the
training he goes to is no vacation. He
is in class day and night. Comm. Bernard
says he agrees in his "I agree with Alan" email.
Here is what
we were able to find on the internet about the ACCG conference this
year—Three Dog Night performed:
From a
sold out County Buyers Mart
to an exciting conference celebration
featuring Three Dog Night, this is an ACCG gathering that you
don’t want to
miss.
Read more
here: www.taxdogs.com/ACCG
Sav2011ThreeDogNight.pdf
Here is what we were
able to find
on the internet about the ACCG conference last year—The
Four Tops performed:
The Monday
night dinner and concert, sponsored by
Yancey, will feature The Four Tops!
Read more
here: www.taxdogs.com/ACCG
Sav2010Four Tops.pdf
When
our commissioners go, they
stay at the one of the three most expensive hotels in Savannah.
Read more here:
www.taxdogs.com/ACCGSavannahMay11.pdf
Look at
the information we received through open records request about the 2010 amounts spent by all BOC members on
training- $11,129. ACCG is paid for
training and the hotel is paid directly, but you can figure out who
went to all
the training and spent big bucks at the hotel.
www.taxdogs.com/2010BOCTraing.pdf
The
detailed 2010 invoices we got several months ago show Hill, Cox, and
Bernard
all went to Savannah in April and Bernard and Cox went to Atlanta in
the Fall
along with many other trips in between.
Pennamon was reimbursed for some mileage and so was
Patrick in
March. Patrick took an online course.
The big
spending has continued in 2011. Bernard
has already signed up for Sea Palms
this June. The information we could
find on the internet show a beach towel, beach ball, and big sun. TWG is sure this means classes all day and
night. See flyer here: www.taxdogs.com/ACCGSeaPalms.pdf
Getting
back to that email from Cox. Here’s
the
part of his email about his training--
From: awcatlanta@hotmail.com
Subject: Taxpayer Watchdog Group
Date: Fri, 27 May 2011 14:19:17 -0400
We don't get reimbursed
for
anything other than training and you would think that
was a vacation. No, it is not a
vacation...classes start at 8 am
and last until about 4 pm, then you have a break until about 7 pm when
group
meeting and speakers start. This goes on everyday, Saturdays and
Sundays
included. They are held out of town in different locations to be
fair to
the whole state. Unless we sleep in our cars, we have to pay the going
rate at
the hotels. No, these are not vacations, last year I finished my
certification
as a "ACCG (Association of County Commissioners of Georgia) Certified County
Commissioner. ACCG certifies that I know what I am doing in the
job...Do
you feel it is important for the people making your county
decisions
to know what they are doing? I guess some don't.
Alan also
forgets to tell you that by taking all this training you get to pay
for, he gets an extra $100 a month in his pay
check now that he is certified. Is
he making better decisions now that he is certified?
Then
Comm.
Bernard had to add his two cents worth.
That’s because Jack is always going to
meetings and having the county
pick up the tab. It is easier to change
the subject or try to discredit someone else than to have people know
how much
money he is spending.
Last year Bernard and
Cox spent over
$8000 in training, hotels, and reimbursements for mileage.
But Jack finds it disturbing that TWG sends out
“downright fabricated
emails.” Does Bernard ever provide
any
proof of what he puts out?
From: Jack
Bernard
To: recipient
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2011 12:40
AM
Subject: Taxpayer Watchdog Group
Alan Cox,
Commissioner from
District 5, sent this email out to his constituents this week. He
is a
fine man and public servant. I completely agree with his remarks. I find it disturbing that the TWG
continues to send out totally misleading and downright fabricated emails...
and even more disturbing that some citizens are continuing to
receive TWG
trash rather than simply blocking it.
YOU
decide. Are all
these expenses just fabricated by the TWG?
Did Alan and Jack stay in their rooms during any
entertainment at the
ACCG meetings? How many of these
training classes would they take if they had to pay for them out of
their own
pocket? Any public servant knows
it costs to serve the people, but not if you can find a way to hit the
beach
and get paid for it while training to be a better commissioner.
