In attendance:
Ronnie Miley (Board Member, D)
Rinda Wilson (Board Chairperson, R)
Herbert Spangler (Board Member, R)
Michael “Mike” Kaplan (Board Member, I)
Cassandra Powell (Board Member, D)
Staff:
Larry Smith
Thomas Gillon
Charlene Maynard
Jeanetta Watson (Elections Supervisor)
Reginald McClendon (Assistant County Attorney)
Approval of Minutes
The minutes were approved from the last meeting.
Old Business
Regarding the matter of relocating the Board of Elections office:
Elections Supervisor Watson:
- told the board that the Assistant County Manager, Charles Coney, was expected to be in attendance at the meeting
- noted that Coney was not in attendance nor did he notify the board of any reason he was unable to attend
- said that, a few days prior, Coney told the board that he was in charge of finding the board a new space
Member Spangler:
- said he was “tired of being treated as [a] second rate [citizen and that they] need[ed] a building”
Mr. Jones (Executive Director of the Board of Education):
- said he wasn’t aware that the board wanted to move into the building in question and added that the building was too small to accommodate them anyways and therefore off the table
Elections Supervisor Watson:
- suggested that the county look for a place to lease with the intention of the building eventually turning into a government building
Member Spangler:
- related that he spoke with with Board of Education about the Board of Elections leasing the William S. Hutchings Career Center space. Said that the Board of Education was uninterested in leasing to the Board of Elections.
Current options:
- Butler Volkswagen on Eisenhower is moving
- Shopping center where Natalia’s used to be
- Location next to Virginia College
Coney (on speakerphone)
- apologized for being unable to make the meeting
- told the board that he and his staff have been looking at locations
- asked the board to send over any suggestions
- said that he is having someone look into what exactly the requirements are for the new location
- noted that Elections Supervisor Watson is the point person who will send over locations that the board is interested in
The conversation with Coney concluded and everyone agreed that the location next to Virginia College was ideal.
Virginia College
- $2.50 per square foot
- minimum space of twenty thousand (20,000) square feet
- plenty of available parking
- centrally located
- perfect traffic pattern
- Member Miley noted that it will save taxpayer money
- Elections Supervisor Watson noted that, given how close the Virginia College space is to their current location, the move wouldn’t discourage early voters from turning out
McClendon
- asked if the board would be stuck in the current location if they were unable to move by January 1, 2016
Maynard
- gave the lease to the Board and said that staying is not an option
- said that their lease is over June/July 2015 and that the only way they can remain there is by signing a ten (10) year lease, which the county will not do
Member Miley
- said that by the next meeting, they need to have a location or an answer from the county to be able to move forward
Maynard
- said that the GA Code relating to elections requires that they notify voters of a change in address sixty (60) days prior to any election
- noted then that a location must be locked down be December 8th because early voting starts February 8th
- noted that it would be undesirable to be moving while processing absentee ballots
The meeting was closed with the agreement that the board would have a location by December 1, 2015.
New Business
There was no new business to discuss.
Other Business
Items from the Supervisor
- Poll Worker Training October 5th-9th, 2016
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