Bibb Committee Meeting Not Publicized

Last Monday, a committee met to start picking an architectural firm to renovate or plan a new Bibb County Courthouse.

Bibb County Commission Chair Sam Hart says that meeting wasn't made public, until Tuesday evening, eight days later.

"No, no, there was no publicizing because it's not that kind of a meeting, it's not anything to publicize," said Hart.

Last week, eleven people met in what Hart calls an informational meeting. He says that's why it wasn't made public until Tuesday evening.

"I don't see any need why we would have publicized it. What we were doing, and our attempt to publicize it was yesterday," said Hart.

He says the group will recommend an architectural firm to renovate the courthouse or plan a new one. It includes several community members in what's usually a staff committee, to involve the community.

"We'd had as you know some criticism to what we're doing in the courthouse and people wanted to be made aware of what we're doing so in our attempt to do that, we've opened up the process to include citizens, everyday citizens," said Hart.

Still, Lindsay Holliday says it's not enough.

"They need to conduct this entire thing in the open and start over from the beginning, in the open, on camera before all the taxpayers of Bibb county," said Holliday.

Last month, he and two others filed an open records complaint over closed county meetings.

"They need to conduct all their business in front of a TV camera with microphones on and with all the taxpayers listening in. Then we'll know that they're doing things honestly," he said.

Hart said he didn't think the committee was covered by the state's open meeting law and that he didn't plan to post notices of their future meetings.

That law says it covers "Every department, agency, board, bureau, commission, authority, or similar body of each such county, municipal corporation, or other political subdivision of the state," and that those meetings must be posted in advance, and open to the public.

Later Wednesday, Hart reversed himself, and said future meetings would be posted, and open to the public.

The members of that eleven-member committee include Bibb County Sheriff Jerry Modena, Judge Tommy Day Wilcox and Mercer President Bill Underwood, among others.