Meetings should not be 'mayor's shows'

To the editor: I have attended the regularly scheduled meetings of the recently elected Holden Beach Town Council.

As you may know, there is a new gang in town with only two holdovers, three new guys and a new mayor. One of the new guys has been absent more times than present, which has never been commented upon during the proceedings. I hope he’s OK.

I will admit to being a little confused. As I understand it, the town is chartered under the commissioner/manager form of government. The meetings so far seem to be something else.

The mayor has dominated all meetings and has had more to say than all five commissioners combined; at least the four who have been present most of the time. This does not seem to be the best way to conduct the town’s business nor the way the chartering of the government was intended.

Isn’t this the way it’s supposed to work: The commissioners take the lead role and participate in the debate and question issues brought before council? They are the ones making the decisions. The votes for and against will total five.

The mayor makes sure things run smoothly and are kept inside Robert’s rule book. The mayor does seem to run a fairly smooth meeting, but he reaches the point of preachin’ very quickly and quite often. A soliloquy before most agenda items seems a bit much.

There does seem to be one commissioner who has done the necessary homework expected of all and seems willing to do what is expected of an elected official. One of five isn’t good enough.

As an entity, this council needs to get a grip and do the hard work it was elected to do. It is a difficult position that requires study, questioning, listening and, finally, the most difficult of all: making up one’s mind independently and voting accordingly.

The people paying council to do those things expected that when they voted them into office and they expect it now.

I looked it up and these get-togethers are called the board of commissioners meetings, not the mayor’s show.