NEWTON COUNTY— The necessity for enhancements to the county’s efforts to offer transparency and accessible data to its residents was a subject of dialog on the Jan. 20 Newton County Board of Commissioners assembly.
In an agenda merchandise introduced forth by District 5 Commissioner LeAnne Lengthy, the commissioners thought-about methods to place extra data on their web site and different platforms, permitting residents to seek out sure public data with out having to file an open data request.
“…We’d like to ensure they’ve data,” Lengthy mentioned. “They’re not having to do an open data request to get one thing so simple as what’s being zoned subsequent door to their home. That isn’t proper.”
Proposed enhancements have been displayed on the presentation display screen throughout the assembly. Three classes have been proven: Why this issues, what’s being requested and key coverage enhancements.
First, Lengthy detailed that enhancing public data entry is essential as a result of residents have a vested curiosity in figuring out and understanding a subject earlier than the commissioners take a stance.
Matters comparable to rezonings, Lengthy mentioned, can immediately affect a citizen’s property values and high quality of life.
“An important choices we make form our neighborhoods, infrastructure, site visitors, faculties and residential values,” Lengthy mentioned. “We’re elected to signify the folks.”
Two particular factors which can be being requested are offering extra particulars about conferences, each the board of commissioners’ and the planning and zoning hearings.
Lengthy identified that minutes typically lack a roll name or a vote distribution breakdown. She advocates that residents ought to have the ability to see what members of a voting physique have been current and who particularly voted in what method.
Moreover, paperwork like agenda packets, rezoning data, annexations and different matters with direct group affect needs to be available on-line fairly than solely obtainable by way of an open data request.
Lengthy’s advocacy was supported by a public commenter, who later shared that she emails the county clerk each week to acquire agenda packets by way of open data requests forward of board of commissioner conferences.
“I’m positive Ms. Nolley would admire this as a result of she will get an e-mail from me each two weeks on the dot wanting the commissioners’ packets,” mentioned Marie Milien. “Why ought to I’ve to submit an open data request for a commissioners’ packet? Prefer it’s not a secret, it’s not top-secret, simply put it on-line, I’ll obtain it, have it on my telephone, I can learn it after I need to.”
Lengthy then outlined extra coverage enhancements. One in all her main factors of advocacy was presenting a technique to enable extra public enter within the county’s work to replace its Unified Improvement Ordinance (UDO).
“…I need to see the UDO on the web site, and if we will arrange a suggestion portal that might be nice, the place they will make feedback again and we will log these feedback,” Lengthy mentioned. “…The largest concepts and the perfect concepts come from the folks sitting in our viewers, the folks watching this on YouTube, and our residents. They’re not our concepts. And I believe typically they could get one thing that we’re lacking.”
Different objectives included discovering a technique to livestream the planning and zoning conferences, publish agendas and reviews every week prematurely, share extra information pertaining to zoning circumstances and extra.
“This gained’t be speedy tomorrow,” Lengthy mentioned. “However we’re working with the county and our IT division to get all the knowledge out the place you’ll find it on the web site, together with any annexations, planning and zoning data that’s on the market, revealed agendas, minutes which have on there what occurred to that vote.”
Lengthy acknowledged that, though she led the dialog throughout the assembly, these enhancements are a aim of your complete board, not simply herself.
“This isn’t a Commissioner Lengthy factor; that is the board of commissioners,” Lengthy mentioned. “We’ve all had these discussions. We’ve all talked about them—county supervisor, the chair, all people—we’ve all had these discussions. I simply am probably the most hyper and loudest, so typically I say ‘Get it on there [the agenda].’”
The subject didn’t require a vote by the commissioners. As it’s a matter of inside operations and never an inventory of concrete guidelines to observe, it could possibly be topic to tweaking dependent upon what the county determines possible or improved upon if extra concepts are proposed.
Solely Commissioner J.C. Henderson provided transient phrases of help, however no commissioner mentioned something towards the subject or voiced opposition. Lengthy remained probably the most vocal on the necessity for the enhancements.
“When the residents are knowledgeable, the communities thrive,” Lengthy mentioned.
