I think the five commissioners would give more citizen involvement. I think the bill was written in such a way that it saves money, so it would be a good thing. Some change every once in a while is good.”Bob Burns
Granddaddy always told me, ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.’”Barry Slayton
CULLMAN — The Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce’s Governmental Affairs Committee, in conjunction with Alabama Senator Paul Bussman, hosted a public forum to discuss House Bill 26, a piece of legislation that would change the structure of the current Cullman County Commission from three to five members.
The public forum was held on Monday, November 9, 2015, in the Freedom Insurance room at the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce, where citizens from across Cullman County voiced their concerns and opinions to Bussman.
“Granddaddy always told me, ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.’,” said Barry Slayton. “The fact of the matter is, yes we have had problems three, four or five years ago. However, we could have had four commissioners and still have the same problems. We are always going to have problems in government but we the people need to be vigilant and we need to hold the people that represent us accountable. Each one of us has a responsibility to make sure that they are doing their best.”
“I think the five commissioners would give more citizen involvement,” said Bob Burns. “I think the bill was written in such a way that it saves money, so it would be a good thing. Some change every once in a while is good.”
“We promote tourism in this county,” said Mike Eddy. “Come out to Hog Mountain, one of our Civil War battlefields — if your tires survive the sharp of the road. Or go to the Civil War Museum or to the Covered Bridge. Right now we need five County Commissioners. We need five districts, it doesn’t matter how the districts are drawn up, but we can draw them up so it’s fair. But what needs to be fair is the city of Cullman needs to be in one district.”
“The City of Cullman is being recognized for being one of the greatest places in America,” he continued.
“In the County they are telling me, at the age of 62, the same thing they told my daddy: The roads in Cullman County are awful. But look how wonderful we are here; we are fixing to have the Bass World Hall of Fame and we are going to make County Road 222 the gateway to Smith Lake. And when they get to Trimble, depending on what Alabama Power does, they may find it a drained lake, which is why we need five County Commissioners. Another reason we need five County Commissioners is we need to let the City of Cullman know that there’s places out in the County we’d like for you to come and see.”
After Bussman listened to everyone that wanted to voice their opinion he thanked the crowd for attending and taking the time to address the issue.
