THE BEST LAID PLANS

On Monday night, March 16, 2009, the Finance Committee of Berkeley County Council held a workshop. Two issues that had been languishing since last year were on the agenda, the new vehicle policy and the new County Council Rules.

The supervisor, Mr. Dan Davis has a vested interest in both issues. Before January 2009, Mr. Davis did not have control of enough votes on Council to assure the issues would be resolved to his benefit so, with the assistance of Mr. Caldwell Pinckney, Jr., action on these issues was repeatedly postponed. The strategy was quite simple; postpone any final decision on these issues until the new member of Council, Mr. Bob Call, took his seat. From various newspaper articles and comments made by Mr. Call in response to P&C articles, this eventuality would provide a sure vote in support of Mr. Davis' positions. Completing this scenario included maintaining the support of Mr. Pinckney and Mr. Steve Davis. The only mountain left to climb was to get the support of one of the Republican members of Council. This mountain turned into a speed bump as Mr. Jack Schurlknight readily set aside his devotion to Republican principles and literally galloped to the minority side.

Historically, every two years, the first January meeting of Council is reserved for reorganization of the body. During this meeting, a new Vice-Chairman is elected and the new Council Rules adopted. There was a great deal of confusion about the reorganization meeting this year. The traditional scheduling of the meeting was changed by Mr. Davis after it was learned that one of his supporters could not attend. After all, with all the finagling that had gone into this plan, one could not stand by and watch it go up in smoke simply due to a scheduling error.

Consequently, a new date was set for the meeting; Mr. Dan Davis' supporters (Mr. Pinckney, Mr. Call, Mr. Steve Davis, and Mr. Schurlknight )did their jobs; and, for the first time in memory, a member of the minority party ( a Democrat )was elected Vice-Chairman. Mr. Pinckney was elated and Mr. Shurlknight was reviled. It appeared Mr. Davis had achieved his goal. The vote on Council was split 4/4. The Chairman, Mr. Davis, was called upon to break the tie. As a result, the final decision of Council fell to Mr. Dan Davis. Wasn't that convenient?

Fast forward to the meeting of March 16. The issues of the vehicle policy and the Council Rules had been repeatedly postponed since January. Many on Council had lost patience and decided these issues had to be addressed. During discussion of the vehicle policy, Mr. Dan Davis indicated that he may be able to eliminate 35 vehicles from the total. Mr. Shurlknight insisted that the cars for the Sheriff's office and those for elected officials should not be touched. Mr. Pinckney agreed. Mr. Fish, Mrs. Davis, and Mr. Callanan propsed that the new policy should be county wide and the only exemptions should be for emergency and law enforcement vehicles. Just when it appeared that Council would face another 4/4 tie, Mr. Steve Davis experienced an epiphany when he learned that BC taxpayers are paying for the gas used by county employees who are provided with the use of a take home vehicle. This was the deal breaker. The non-emergency take home vehicle proponants seem to have lost a supporter. Three cheers for Steve Davis and the BC taxpayers.

During the discussion of Council Rules, two issues appeared to be of great importance to Mr. Pinckney. Mr. Pinckney wanted a provision included in the Rules that would assure the position of Vice-Chairman would be guaranteed to the most senior member of Council. After it was pointed out by other Council members that there would be several flaws in the application of such a policy, the provision was rejected.

The second issue that seemed important to Mr. Pinckney was the Rule concerning the office of Clerk of Council. GE&P has neglected to obtain a copy of the exact verbage of this Rule but it is our understanding that the existing Rule states that the Clerk of Council serves at the pleasure of the Vice-Chairman of Council. Several members of Council wanted to change this Rule to require a 2/3 vote to remove the Clerk of Council. Mr. Pinckney argued vigorously against any such change. Mr. Steve Davis, once again, provided the voice of reason. He pointed out that a 2/3 vote is required if Council wishes to fire any other county employee so why should the position of Clerk of Council be handled any differently? Then, Mr. Steve Davis went on to make some very positive and flattering remarks about the present Clerk of Council. This seemed to put the issue to rest. GE&P would be very curious to know why Mr. Pinckney was so adamant about keeping this existing Rule.

Although these decisions sound very positive and beneficial to the taxpayers of BC, don't count your chickens quite yet. None of this is etched in stone until the official votes are taken at the next regular Council meeting. GE&P could be wrong but could it be possible that Mr. Steve Davis might like to hear a little support on these issues?