County Council (November 18, 2008)

Speaking of the fat lady, don't you all love the 'Pary Time' song that Rick Driver plays a lot? Joey and his Gang of Shame think the party started last night with that big payout figure but they should not spend the money until the party is over. Wish we could send all 6 of them over to Pickens County.

One misconception SSHM seems to have is that C Wilson & Waldrep "didn't vote to fire him (Preston)" and he made the giant leap that meant they felt Preston was "doing a good job".The vote last night was not to fire him it was to pay him a grossly higher amount than the contract was worth and try to bind the hands of the future Council from possible civil action. Both of the a fore mentioned Council members would gladly have voted to fire him long ago. The other five clowns were in his pocket. Nice to see that repblkin acknowledges the county was taken by Preston and his Council supporters. At least she is being honest about that. The fat lady has not sung yet. Even if the money is gone, this Council cannot enter into a contract that binds them after their term is up. Rather a refreshing piece of news considering parts of Preston's contract and the appointment of the new "Administrator".

-1-opinion

I didn't say the county was "taken." I said Bob and Cindy got beaten in a high-stake game of poker. Don't play the game if you can't stand to lose.
Y'all were pretty high and mighty since June. Seems your celebration was premature. Preston 13 C. Wilson 0 When will the voters in her district see that SHE is what drags the county down?

Here is what you said and you are correct, we were taken in a game of high stakes poker. The fact that the deck was stacked is obvious, now what can be done is the only question left. Time will tell what happens. You are so misinformed about what happened here and what is contestable (as well as contemptible). When you do things poorly and rapidly, you make mistakes. We'll wait and see.

-1-opinion

I can wait. Win number 14 is on the way!

I just saw the rebroadcast, and all I can say is thank you to Bill McAbee. If it wasn't for him keeping everyone on task, Cindy and Boob would have rambled on for hours on end!

Well Art! Is this the "reasonable severance pay" you spoke of in your post? Do you think the lame duck majority was "honorable and fair" in their actions?

Or pehaps do you feel they violated the letter and spirit of the law when this action was obviously planned and coordinated prior to the council meeting? As someone who stays above the fray, what are your thoughts?

-non-sequitur

Non Sequitur,

The severance pay was greater than I expected. However, I do understand that the final amount was based on negotiations and consultations with law firms, who believed that Mr. Joey Preston’s contract with the county was ironclad. Any lower settlement could have resulted in lengthy and expensive law suits.

Non Sequitur, the motives of council members may be hard to decipher. But their decision is in the best interest of Anderson County. The situation needed to be gracefully and wisely settled.

It's time for all of us to move on to keep Anderson County a great place to live, work and play!!!

Sunshine laws were first created in the mid-70s in a bid to increase public disclosure of governmental agencies. Sunshine laws do not allow all citizens to attend meetings, but they do ensure that media and representatives of the public can attend.

MEETING being the important word here.

A quorum was not met, so there was not a meeting beforehand. Talk, yes. Quorum, no, therefore meeting, no.

Check for me if you think I'm wrong; I think I'm in the clear. If you have evidence there were secret quorums met, by all means feel free to bring suit. Plenty of lawyers around who are willing to take your money.

So perhaps it was not the "spur of the moment" dog and pony show that was pretended. Could that mean one or more "sunshine" laws were broken?

-non-sequitur

Non Sequitur,

Since well-written contracts were presented, it obviously was not “spur of the moment” dog and pony show. All sides have been working for months to achieve solutions, which would favor their way of thinking. Finally, the present council, with majority vote, mandated their solution. It is understandable that Ms. Cindy Wilson and Mr. Bob Waldrep are disappointed, but no compromise could have pleased all sides.

There is no way you can convince me that all of last night was not orchestrated by Preston and the "Fab Five.". They may not have violated the law because there are ways around the FOIA, but it's still not right.

How can the equivalent of 7 years salary be a reasonable buyout? How long did they renew his contract for the last time?

Also, I don't know much about Mr. Cunningham and he may do a fine job, but they shouldn't have given him a 3 year deal last night. They should've let him be the interim administrator until they could properly interview others for the job.

I just saw the rebroadcast, and all I can say is thank you to Bill McAbee. If it wasn't for him keeping everyone on task, Cindy and Boob would have rambled on for hours on end!

-nostradumbass

Makes you anxious to see what takes place in January. Will the new three sit by and let her and Bob have their way ?

There is no way you can convince me that all of last night was not orchestrated by Preston and the "Fab Five.". They may not have violated the law because there are ways around the FOIA, but it's still not right.

How can the equivalent of 7 years salary be a reasonable buyout? How long did they renew his contract for the last time?

Also, I don't know much about Mr. Cunningham and he may do a fine job, but they shouldn't have given him a 3 year deal last night. They should've let him be the interim administrator until they could properly interview others for the job.

-lee-cole

Well, Lee, here's the good news. WE DON'T HAVE TO SATISFY YOU! Naa,na,na,naaa..... He, he !

Non Sequitur,

Since well-written contracts were presented, it obviously was not “spur of the moment” dog and pony show. All sides have been working for months to achieve solutions, which would favor their way of thinking. Finally, the present council, with majority vote, mandated their solution. It is understandable that Ms. Cindy Wilson and Mr. Bob Waldrep are disappointed, but no compromise could have pleased all sides.

-art-kaldas

Art: There you go again, making too much sense. The hate Joey folks would be complaining if the council majority agreed to a 1.1 cents buyout. So he got a little bit more? He deserves it. Bob and Cindy got what they deserve too. It's the County in general that looses. We lost a good administrator and one of Anderson's biggest boosters. Sure he is a little unpopular right now, but in time we'll be erecting a bronze sculpture (1opinion take note, it's a sculpture) of him in front of the Historic Court House. History has a way of honoring the great ones.