We already know the problems in our governments. The problems have been identified more or less as follows.

1.Secret government, creating an uninformed citizenry.
2.Elected officials who make promises just to get elected, then ignore those promises.
3.Lawyer controlled governments who don’t represent the people.
4.Unethical behavior in government.
5.Refusal of officials to follow the law.
6.Apathetic citizens

If we can improve and solve these six areas all other problems and complaints such as poor management, overspending, unqualified representatives and employees, zoning and other necessary functions of government will take care of themselves. All but one of the major areas cited have to do with the people running governments. Electing new representatives every four years is a proven failure. Individual citizens going it alone, or in small groups doesn’t work effectively. Only one Fayette newspaper, The Citizen, even challenges the government, but only on specific issues and not with consistent follow through. State government from whence local governments derive their power could care less. But there is more than enough federal, state and local law for efficient government operation, if governments could only be made to follow it.

The best solution is to elect citizens to serve on a legal government oversight committee with access to their own government paid lawyer, to handle complaints that violate the law. You cannot allow the legislators or city management to appoint an oversight committee, because all you get is Yes people, beholden to their sponsors, who have no real power. An elected oversight committee would have subpoena powers for investigation, make recommendations to council and file lawsuits if laws are not followed. The members would meet at least every two weeks and be paid well for their services. A course in constitutionality would be required after election, taken in Nov. & Dec. before taking office. A vote of confidence for each member would be on the ballot every two years. If the vote is No, the runner-up in their previous election would be installed for the remaining two years. The committee should be five members to avoid tie votes. Citizens and land owners would have a legal complaint form to submit and the committee must investigate and give a written reply to the citizen of their findings. Most legal problems would be corrected without going to court between the government’s lawyer and the citizen lawyer. The committee would be free to designate its lawyer or change lawyers. All other complaints and operation of the government would still be handled by the council or commissioners. The committee would be responsible for insuring that all legal functions of the council and planning commission were followed such as legal notification of hearings, executive sessions and other regulations. An elected oversight committee would put fear in our sorry representatives. Maybe then more citizens would gain confidence to become involved in their governments.

The question is how do you establish an elected over-sight committee law? Councils and commissioners are certainly not going to vote it in.

I really don't know if he's surrounding himself with the right people in this venture .... or for the past 6 or 8 years in politics for that matter.
Mr. Bost has good ideas, he's an excellent organizer and has a good, level head for how to succeed in business. He has strong conservative values and has demonstrated that in the past.
But with people like Dunn, Wells and Pfeifer in this team, I have some real reservations on his political sense.

It's really beyond me why Mr. Bost hasn't figured Dunn and Wells out by now. Why doesn't he see what the rest of the voters in this county have seen?
Mr. Dunn is a retired Army Colonel and tried to run and boss the county like it was his regiment instead of a business. Mrs. Wells became an arrogant elitist, who felt "She" was the know all authority of the county and how dare we, the underlings, question her decisions.
Mr. Pfeifer was just a little puppy dog that did whatever Mr. Dunn trained him to do... speak, fetch, etc.
I would have hoped that after the last election, Mr. Dunn and Mrs Wells would have learned that the majority in this county do not want them back again. I would have thought Mr. Bost would have figured that out as well.

First, we start this article by saying there’s "a new political player in town". In the very next sentence, we find out that it is Harold Bost, and a couple of ruffled tail feathers, hence the ousted democrats: Linda Wells, poor ole Greg Dunn, Peter Pfeifer and a few other close democratic friends. The only new political player in this group is Dave Simmons. Maybe the turkey (Harold Bost) and the tail feathers should start listening to Dave for new ideas. Seems to me he was the closest in the last election to winning. But this is what we do when we have yet another embarrassing election loss. We cry foul in public; we claim how bad and closed in the new commissioners are in hopes the mindless masses will start to believe these things, and we start Political Action Committees. We do this only to harass and continue to inject venom in our county government. Never do we with any respect say "good election; congrats." What we do is just keep looking around for someone else to blame, because it’s never the message we chose to run on; it is always the other guy’s fault, somehow. Not that the people of Fayette County just disagree in a majority, time and time again with the turkey and his feathers.

Truly, are these democrats really going to hang their hat on this hook of --"We’re just looking for open, honest government from those elected by the people. So let the people know what’s going on."? -- Does that mean that you honestly believe that we have closed door commission meetings every other Thursday and no one is allowed in the building? Do you expect the people who voted you out to believe this? Has anyone ever been denied the right to sit in and take notes on any commission meeting? If that were the case, then nothing is hidden as the ole Turkey has implied or said. And FayCOG what is the cost to the citizens of Fayette County of "producing full, detailed, meaningful minutes". Not just producing them but then maintaining them for years? Do you even know or are you and your friends just trying to stir up dust in a puddle of mud. O well it’s obvious to me and other citizens of Fayette County that the true reason that "FayCOG" wants the exact minutes is so they can spend day after day scouring them, just trying to find something that will give them a reason to get up in the morning. And on a lighter side thank you so very much FayCOG for giving J.D. Holmes something to do!

Second, "the goal is to energize and educate Fayette citizens to become involved in all political processes" is a great idea no matter who was dragging it in the door for discussion. Maybe "FayCOG" could do a little past history investigation and find out why and how Harold Bost single handily cost the citizens of FAYETTE COUNTY an additional eighty to one hundred thousand extra tax dollars on a special election! UGGH ARGH PAPPHF PIFF POOF - Maybe it was because Harold Bost was trying to avoid paying taxes, AKA tax evasion? Maybe it was because Harold Boast wasn’t a citizen of Fayette County during the elections. Who knows what the reasons are, but be assured that FayCOG will get to the bottom of this as soon as they get done reading all those county commission meeting minutes. Maybe one of the many reporters for the Citizen can find out what really happened, or heck the author of the above article might take a challenge and do some serious reporting.

Thirdly, why would we trust FayCOG to watch out for us, the individuals in the new Political Action Committee are still licking their rear ends to get the taste out of their mouth from the last election?

WARNING: The above article "Citizens group eyes openness" is a suspected phishing scam.

SWHUSKY

Shouldn't you disclose that Frank Caywood is behind the Board if not actually on the Board?

He owns the newspaper, you know.

I will join your group just to keep up with the agenda.

FayCOG-PAC, LOL “The Good Ole Boys” will love this.

Elected officials answering for their actions to the people? It’s about time.

You have the right people as watchdogs. That’s for sure.

Thank you and Good Luck – Harold Bost, Jim Wingo, secretary David Cree, treasurer J.D. Holmes, Angela Bean, Janet and Greg Dunn, Dave Simmons and Peter Pfeifer.