School board facilities plan approved

Even as the Hamilton County Commission voted unanimously Wednesday morning to accept the facility recommendations of the county school board, commissioner Tim Boyd entered a letter into the record stating his wish that the process had been more transparent.

Boyd said the result of that months-long process of discussion that ultimately left the county millage rate at its previous level to pay for construction was a “strong plan,” but there were missed opportunities to receive public input.

“I do not intend my concerns regarding the process leading up to today diminishing the importance of this day. Still, there are concerns that need to be raised because these concerns are important to the citizens of Hamilton County,” he wrote.

In the letter, Boyd recounted several meetings and events over the last several months, including three of county Mayor Jim Coppinger’s budget hearings, about which Boyd wrote, “due to limited parking and seating space, there was no expectation the public would come to the Mayor’s Workshops, even though they were advertised as public meetings.”

He offered several points for consideration, and he said the review committee recommending the architect and engineering firms to the commission should replace the current process. Boyd said the committee now sends three recommendations for each project to the county mayor and superintendent, who then recommend firms to the commission for approval.

County Commissioner Sabrena Smedley spoke to the need for new facilities in her district and elsewhere and said she had been in consistent conversations with her constituents about those needs.

“There’s been a lot of talk every week it seems like we meet up here about transparency and public input, which is so important to me as well,” she said. “I personally can’t be more transparent than what I’ve been with my voters and those who trusted to put me in office.”