Taxpayers petition County to make Council meetings more accessible

On Friday, the Pal-Item reported that 49 Wayne Co. voters sign form seeking change from county council's morning meetings:

Monica Burns, Richmond's deputy city clerk and a 2006 Democratic county council candidate, presented council with 149 signatures from registered Wayne County voters supporting moving the monthly meetings from 8 a.m. to sometime in the evening.

"At least it gives them (the public) the opportunity to attend, if they so choose," Burns said.

The council took no official action Wednesday, referring the issue for discussion at its monthly workshop, normally 5:30 p.m. the third Wednesday of each month in the Wayne County Administration Building. The workshop is open to the public.

County council has discussed moving its meetings to evenings but no changes ever materialized.

The early morning meeting times have been highlighted as a reason the Council sees low public attendance, but Commisisoner Tom Dickman suspects it's just general apathy:

Wayne County Commissioner Tom Dickman said he has attended other evening meetings, such as Richmond Common Council, and hasn't noticed higher attendance there.

"They don't really typically have any more people sitting in their audience than we have sitting here today," Dickman said. "There's pros and cons to both. If someone wants to come to a meeting, they'd find a way to come to it."

Congratulations to Burns and the other signatories for trying to show that the public wants to be more engaged in the County's decision making.