Aiken County Council’s continued failure to record recent history.
by Don Moniak
March 22, 2023
Nearly ninety percent of Aiken County Council’s February 21, 2023, public meeting involved discussions on topics brought to Council’s attention by four Aiken County citizens. During the “informal meeting of the whole,” the two longest discussions regarding wetlands degradation and road damage from stormwater runoff, and the status of the Nicholson Village Community Center, collectively lasted nearly thirty minutes.
The discussions were lively and productive. Council member Kelly Mobley of North Augusta maintained his status as the most persistent and inquisitive Council member on the record, as he tried to dissect jurisdictional issues, and at one point asking whether a county decision had negatively impacted a property owner.
Council Chair Gary Bunker continued to avoid loose ends, and wrapped up both segments by tasking Council members and county staff with appropriate followup.
On March 7, 2023, Council approved the February 23rd meeting minutes which inexplicably reduced thirty minutes of serious discussion involving several decisions to a single sentence; and referred any interested parties to a recording kept on the third floor of the decade -old County administration building that looms above University Parkway.
“Council heard from Dwayne Gamm, Vickie Simons, Don Moniak, and Victoria Patterson on various topics. If verbatim transcript is needed for future reference, all statements are recorded on file with the Council Clerk.”
Aiken County Council records its sessions, but does not broadcast them or archive the recordings online. Although government bodies in South Carolina are not mandated to broadcast their proceedings, a bill currently in the General Assembly would require School Districts to televise School Board meetings.
Aiken County Council meeting minutes have been minimalistic for years, mostly, but not always, complying with the letter of South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act, but routinely failing to meet the spirit of the law. SECTION 30-4-90, Minutes of meetings of public bodies, requires
“All public bodies shall keep written minutes of all of their public meetings. Such minutes shall include but need not be limited to:
(1) The date, time and place of the meeting.
(2) The members of the public body recorded as either present or absent.
(3) The substance of all matters proposed, discussed or decided and, at the request of any member, a record, by an individual member, of any votes taken.
(4) Any other information that any member of the public body requests be included or reflected in the minutes.”
Anybody seeking information as to what concerns are raised during the “informal meeting of the whole” agenda portion of each meeting would end up nearly empty handed. Anybody wishing to learn what present-day matters are of such concern to compel people to travel 15-30 minutes one-way to petition their elected officials for redress of grievances or to offer solutions can only learn by attending meetings and waiting for the public comment period prior to adjournment.
At best, the substance of matters discussed is routinely reduced to a few words, such as the documentation on a discussion about fences two weeks ago:
“Anita Straway spoke to Council about her concerns of the current fence ordinance, and asked Council to please consider amending the ordinance.”
Last night two county residents raised concerns regarding management of Boyd Pond Park and the dusty, unpaved road leading to the county’s new trash transfer station off Connector Road in the Graniteville zip code area. I also challenged Council to follow the spirit of state FOIA law and document the substantive issues brought forward and any decisions made to address those issues.
The next Council meeting is April 18, 2023; providing Council staff four weeks to document the substance of those discussions. Aiken County would do well do live up to its motto by documenting present day concerns raised in the very recent past.
