Now is the time for the Oldham
county fiscal court to reconsider its meeting schedule. While the LaGrange City Council meets at
night the Oldham county fiscal court continues
to have its Tuesday afternoon sessions except for special occasions.
Obviously, there are pros and cons to both meeting in the
evening and meeting during the day. The
most obvious benefit of meeting during the day is that people who are working
and find it necessary, or are required to be before the court, can be there
while they are on official duty.
This includes county employees such as the chief financial officer,
county treasurer, director of waste management, chief of police, county
engineer, county attorney, the court clerk, and the director of planning and
development. A simple solution to this hurdle would be to change work schedules
or allow the employee to receive compensatory time for time spent in court.
On the other hand, it is very difficult for the average
citizen to attend fiscal court meetings.
The majority of people who live in Oldham county do not work in Oldham county.
Therefore, for them to attend meetings that are held at 2:00 PM usually requires
them to leave work at 1:00 PM. Over the
years I have observed that most of the people who attend fiscal court meetings
are retirees. While they may have a lot
of experience and may be knowledgeable about government it would be refreshing
to see younger, working people attend the meetings. At the present time regular attendance at the
meetings presents a hardship to the average person living in Oldham
county.
Also, the fact that the court meets during the day presents
a huge hurdle for any working person who would like to serve on the fiscal
court. Many employers simply would not
allow an employee to miss work two afternoons per month. If the court were to meet during the evening,
many more people would be interested in serving on fiscal court.
It appears that all of the members of fiscal court at the present
time have jobs that require them to work during the day. Therefore, changing the meeting time to the
evening would not present a hardship for them.
Thus, now is the perfect time for the court to consider a change.
