A. E. Newman Issues PRESS RELEASE #2

Published by Dick Schaefer, Award-winning, Unpaid, Part-time Contributing Writer; Amateur Investigative Reporter; and Aspiring Photo-Journalist

Date: 11/14/2010
Post: 1,078

A. E. Newman sent us the following PRESS RELEASE, his second, on Friday, 11/12.  Mr. Newman announced his candidacy for the office of Southern District Associate Commissioner of Gasconade County several months ago.  We published his first PRESS RELEASE on November 5.  If you'd like to refer back to it, just click on the following link:  http://hermannhearsay.blogspot.com/2010/11/e-newman-issues-press-release.html

PRESS RELEASE #2
A. E. Newman (I), Candidate for Southern District Associate Commissioner of Gasconade County
ae_newman@hotmail.com


11/12/2010


(Bland, MO) ----- In my first press release and out on the stump, I talk about four (4) problems I see with Gasconade County government.  These problems are:

1. lack of transparency by county government,
2. lack of financial accountability and mismanagement of public funds by county government,
3. lack of forward-looking vision by the county commission, and
4. lack of bold leadership by the county commission.

In this press statement, I would like to discuss in further detail what I mean by a "lack of transparency".

Transparency in government means that the elected representatives of the people are open and honest with their constituents in everything pertaining to government.  Elected representatives should share information openly, freely and frequently.  By sharing information with their constituents, elected representatives earn the trust and confidence of their constituents.  This is not a one-way street.  Elected representatives of the people must make an earnest effort to LISTEN to the concerns and suggestions of their constituents.

If I am fortunate enough to be elected to the office of Southern District Associate Commissioner of Gasconade County, I pledge that I will do the following things to improve the communications between county government and my constituents and all people in Gasconade County:

1. Conduct townhall meetings in the southern district.  I will conduct townhall meetings on a quarterly basis throughout the southern district.  Initially the meetings will be held on a quarterly basis.  After a few of these meetings, we will see how frequently the people would like me to conduct them.  In these meetings, I will share information about what is going on in the county, what issues we will be faced with in the county and most importantly I will listen to the concerns and suggestions of the people who have sent me to do their work.
2. Open up county commission meetings for greater access by the people.  We currently conduct our open county commission meetings once per week at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday mornings.  Most of the meetings are held at the county courthouse in Hermann, which is the county seat. The commission meets in very small quarters where seating for the public is very limited.  These meetings are kept very short in duration.  Much of the county's business is done outside of this open public meeting.  This is not right!  This needs to change, and I will work to get it changed!  On the first Thursday of each month, the county commission meets at the Owensville City Hall.  I have noticed that the commissioners of other counties, meet more frequently than do the Gasconade County commissioners.  Montgomery County is one such case in point.  The Montgomery County Commission currently meets in open session twice per week instead of once per week. The Montgomery County Commissioners are in session on Monday and Thursday from 9 to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.  (Reference: http://www.montgomerycountymo.org/abtmontcounty.php)  In otherwords, the Montgomery County Commission meets in open session 12 hours every week split between two day whereas the Gasconade County Commission meets in open session about 1-2 hours per week on just one day of the week.  Do y'all reckon that Montgomery County really has that much more business to conduct by comparison to Gasconade County OR do you think maybe they are just doing their county business MORE OPENLY than our county commissioners?!  I plan to find out what is really going on, and I plan to shake things up!
3. Presiding Commissioner Jost not meeting regularly with GCCS.  I will find out why!  He agreed to represent the County Commission as an ex-officio member and attend the GCCS (Gasconade County Couthouse Society) Board Meetings.  His attendance has been VERY SPOTTY!  Communications between the County Commission and the GCCS are extremely poor.  If elected to the County Commission, I will look into this problem, and I will shake things up!

A. E. Newman
"A new kind of politician!"

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