Rickie Fulcher and Karl Weiss will lead the county in the coming year. Fulcher, of the Peters Creek District, will serve as chairman; Weiss, of the Blue Ridge District, will serve as vice chairman following unanimous votes at the Monday meeting of the Patrick County Board of Supervisors.
Shortly after assuming the helm, Fulcher reinstated the personnel committee and rearranged the makeup of the budget committee. Members of the new budget committee include Fulcher, Jane Fulk of the Dan River District, County Administrator Tom Rose, Assistant County Administrator Geri Hazlewood, Finance Officer Donna Shough, Treasurer Sandra Stone and a representative of Davenport & Co. In the recent past, the entire board served on the budget committee.
Lock Boyce, of the Mayo River District, opposed the new arrangement. He said it smacked of the old days in which “two people would go in a room and would come out with a budget and it was almost impossible for people to find out what was in the budget.” Fulcher said he felt the new format is better “given the gravity” of the financial situation facing the county. The new composition of the committee “will allow us to drill down deeper” and make the best financial decisions possible going forward, Fulcher said.
Additionally, those committee meetings are open to the public, he said. Crystal Harris, of the Smith River District, and Fulk will serve on the personnel committee. Fulcher said the that committee is tasked with taking “a strong look at current handbook” as well as policy and guidelines, creating better job descriptions for department heads and to serve as a sounding board for staff and issues that are raised. The board also adopted the Robert’s Rules of Governance format to conduct their meetings. Weiss reminded all the board members that “we need to abide by those rules throughout the year.” The board also adopted a meeting schedule, with the second Monday in each month set for the regular meetings and the fourth Monday reserved for work sessions if needed. See the Jan. 23 edition of The Enterprise and www.theenterprise.net for more coverage of the meeting.
