Dear Mayor Ketron and Commissioners,

As you all are aware by now, Commission Rule VIII. H. 2. was violated at the August Commission meeting when Commissioner Phillips made two nominations to the Steering Committee and was not called to order by the Chair or corrected by the County Attorney.

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The Rutherford Neighborhood Alliance requests that this be rectified by redoing the nomination process before a new Steering and Legislative Committee can preside. CTAS will likely be able to advise you on how to best accomplish this. Meanwhile, the 2018-19 Steering Committee should remain in place.

As things stand now, it appears that county business cannot continue lawfully since the selection for a new Steering chair would also have to be done before the new committee assignments can be made.

In this regard, the Commission should request a formal, written opinion from the County Attorney regarding the lawfulness of commission business should the membership of the county's committees be the result of a procedure that violates the Commission's rules. 

Finally, we also advocate for the selection of the committee chairs be held in public as doing so privately in Room 205 is a violation of the Sunshine Law. It is our understanding that the only time the public is excluded from viewing proceedings and decisions being made by commissioners is when our county attorney discusses ongoing litigation with the commission.

We realize this is an unusual situation, but have confidence that you will abide by the Commission Rules and Regulations and take the steps necessary to correct this error.

Sincerely, 
Mike Linton
President, Rutherford Neighborhood Alliance