NK citizens group unhappy with single meeting format

New Kent County officials have agreed to schedule one town hall meeting, but are stopping short of committing to a series of quarterly gatherings as requested by a local citizen watchdog group. And representatives of that group say that is not enough.

Last month, officers with the New Kent County Citizens Coalition asked county Board of Supervisors members to enact a resolution, paving the way for quarterly town hall meetings during which county residents could quiz officials on government matters. County officials promised to study the request.

In a Dec. 5 letter from County Administrator John Budesky to the coalition’s chairman, George Slemp, Budesky wrote that the board has agreed to expand its February work session to include a one-hour citizen question and answer session that is to be added to the end of the meeting’s agenda.

A formal resolution, Budesky wrote, is not necessary since the board has already committed to community contact through the county’s mission statement. Other initiatives exist, he said, including a quarterly newsletter, updated web site, cable access for meetings, brochures, press releases, and increased citizen involvement on committees and in operations.

But Slemp said last week that he is far from pleased with the county’s response. Coalition members are unhappy that only one meeting has been scheduled, and grumblings are ongoing over the meeting time. Supervisors’ work sessions, for now, are held monthly on the last Tuesday starting at 8:30 a.m.

“You’re not going to get the citizen participation with a morning meeting,” he said. “What we envisioned was a town hall meeting at six in the evening.”

Slemp said the coalition’s steering committee plans to review the county’s proposal and offer reaction.

“I assume the [Board of Supervisors] is of the conclusion that the coalition will go away. It will not,” he said.

Budesky, when contacted last week, said supervisors want to see how the town hall meeting process goes and receive feedback before committing to future meetings.

“We want to leave the door open,” he said. “This is the first time New Kent has done this, and we want to have some flexibility to see what benefit it is to the community.”

The Tuesday morning work session format, meanwhile, is not set in stone. Work sessions could be moved to Wednesday at 3 p.m. Supervisors are expected to adopt a 2009 work session and meeting schedule during their Jan. 12 meeting.