Commissioners Pass Budget While Beaudreau Asks Board To Be More Transparent

January 5, 2010 by Jamie Ward
Filed under County Government, Gwinnett County

Gwinnett County Chief Financial Officer Aaron Bovos explains to commissioners the 2010 budget.

LAWRENCEVILLE — Kicking off the new decade in the midst of what’s been dubbed “The Great Recession,” Gwinnett County’s Board of Commissioners passed its 2010, revised, $1.3 billion budget Tuesday.

The vote wasn’t unanimous, though, and the 4 – 1 vote clearly indicated that a political divide exists between Chairman Charles Bannister and District 3 Commissioner Mike Beaudreau.

Matter of fact, the public hearing served as a sort of sparring match between Bannister, who supported the revised budget submitted after the public hearing process of December 13, and Beaudreau, who didn’t support the revised budget and instead wanted to vote on the December 1 budget as it was presented to the public.

What Beaudreau seemed to be irked about the most was the $1.2 million previously earmarked for the Archer community park in the Harbins area. In the revised chairman’s budget, Bannister proposed moving those funds to Lions Club Park in Lilburn, perhaps in a move of political payback directed at Beaudreau for not supporting December’s millage rate increase. Beaudreau even went on to question the legality of that move without a public hearing.

“This board has come under immense scrutiny for its lack of transparency with the public, some I think justified and some not really justified,” Beaudreau said. “What I ask this board is, ‘How does approving this modified budget without a public hearing address this criticism?’ The budget shown to citizens on December 14 has been altered significantly…The public was once again left in the dark.”

Bannister disputed this claim, even at one point saying he wasn’t a lawyer. To make his point, though, he asked County Administrator Glenn Stephens and County Attorney Karen Thomas to chime in. This eventually led to District 1 Commissioner Shirley Lasseter’s candid question to attorney Thomas.

“If we pass this budget, are we doing anything illegal which has been alluded to by Mr. Beaudreau,” Lasseter asked.

“No ma’am,” Thomas said.

In supporting the revised budget, Bannister said it would include money to bolster a police department force that lost many to retirement last year and that it would also enable three additional fire stations (29, 30 and a replacement for 18) to open. He also praised the budget for allowing the Hamilton Mill branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library system to open as planned without having to close another branch elsewhere. But Bannister cautioned the budget can’t ignore the economic realities of the day.

“We’d really like to do more but we can’t,” Bannister said. “Please understand, that while last month’s millage rate increase helps us keep pace with most of our county’s needs for this year and next , it does not further my goals to increase public safety, and Gwinnett County and the current economic climate will continue to negatively impact our revenues.”

To this end, Bannister warned residents that the county is expecting a sharp decline in the commercial property tax revenue this year, possibly seven percent or more, and that more operating cuts could be on the horizon.

When it came to the public comments portion of the hearing, only one citizen had anything to say about what had transpired regarding the 2010 budget. And Rick Sammons of Dacula wasn’t happy with what he’d just witnessed.

Matter of fact, Sammons wondered aloud whether politicians, instead of asking if their actions are legal, ever ask themselves whether their actions are right or ethical.

“I find it very interesting that there is $1.2 million taken out of the Archer community and $1.2 million put into another community, a community where the athletic association is nowhere near what ours already is,” Sammons said. “Hopefully this isn’t the end of the battle.”

Asked to expand on his comments after the hearing, Sammons said, “This just seemed like backroom politics to me. It seemed like something done in the 11^th hour to better the position of certain members of the commission,” he said. “I think it’s obvious there are things going on that we should all be ashamed of.”

Beaudreau’s version of what happened was what he called “Chicago politics hitting home in Gwinnett County.”

“If you don’t kiss the ring, you get mistreated,” Beaudreau said. “I’m not going to stand for it. I’m certainly by no means giving up. This just further emboldens me.”

Asked to clarify what he meant by questioning the legality of the budget switch, Beaudreau said he stood by his comments.

“If it’s not illegal, it’s certainly unethical and not the way to do business,” Beaudreau said. “I mean, if you’re interested in public input (about the revised budget), why do you wait to put it on the Web site until Monday morning? Nobody has yet to give me a good answer on that.”

Commissioner Lasseter called the Board’s work “a work in progress.”

“I can tell you this government wants to be transparent,” she said. “It is your government. If it doesn’t seem transparent, I beg you to call up here.”

From left, Chairman Charles Bannister, Commissioner Mike Beaudreau and Commissioner Kevin Kenerly listen to Gwinnett County CFO Aaron Bovos explain the 2010 revised budget.