Complaints scuttle work session

Tensions are still high in Grand Ridge a week after a controversial new charter was voted down by residents.
“The charter is still on everyone’s mind. Everybody is talking about it,” said Mayor-elect Chris Wright.
Things became heated during a Thursday workshop when the topic of staff positions, an area many residents connect to the recently rejected charter proposal, was brought up.
“This is a way around the corner without the public. You are not listening to the voters. The charter was voted down overwhelming,” resident Ashley Gilley said.
Town officials said the work session was not about the charter, but about spelling out the duties, purposes and functions of staff members.
“We are not talking about the charter per se. We are talking about town employees,” town manager J.R. Moneyham said.
Residents and some council members said they were unaware that position descriptions were on the agenda for the work session, stating they were under the impression the work session’s sole purpose was to discuss policies for the volunteer fire department.
Moneyham and town clerk Alicia Corder said the work session and all the issues to be discussed, including position descriptions, had been advertised in the local newspaper.
“Some people don’t get the paper,” countered resident Bea Brantley. “It doesn’t do any good to notice all of Jackson County. You have to make sure the people of Grand Ridge know.”
Some council members agreed, saying the council should refrain from discussing anything that could be seen as pertaining to the rejected charter.
“Because of the recent vote, I think we should wait until we can get it out to the public,”  Council member Kimberly Gainer said. “I don’t want additional discord.”
Some officials said there was no harm continuing the discussion since the meeting was a work session and no action could be taken.
Residents said the job descriptions were directly related to the defeated charter, especially given that the descriptions handed out were directly from the voted-down charter.
“This, in my opinion, is one of the main reasons it failed,” said Gilley, citing possible changes to the town manager position. “The charter turned over power to the town manager.”
Mayor James Barwick disagreed, saying the recent controversy was caused by people not understanding the proposed changes to the charter. Barwick said the proposed changes were an attempt to update the town’s charter, which dated from the 1950s, not an attempt to change the way the town functions.
“All this is describing the way the town has been functioning for years,” Barwick said. “It is not a change in responsibilities or power.”
However, because of public response, the council decided to postpone the discussion until it could make sure all residents were notified. The council members suggested to staff that they sent out a newsletter to advertise the next discussion to residents.
“I don’t care what it costs. I want to make sure no one can say they didn’t know about it,” Gainer said.