Commissioners face more frustration with agenda

For the second time since June, Commissioner Don Taylor voiced concern over an inability to ask that individuals or topics be added to the Board of Weston County Commissioners’ agenda — this time for the board’s Sept. 5 meeting. 

As previously reported, in the NLJ’s Commission Clips for the June 20 board meeting, Taylor noted that Commissioner Vera Huber was unable to have County Clerk Becky Hadlock add items to the agenda for discussion. At the time, there was no law preventing the addition of items to the agenda after a certain point, but items added to the agenda at the last minute could not be voted on. 

On Sept. 5, Taylor again voiced his concern, this time about his inability to add a person to the agenda to discuss a piece of equipment that Weston County Road and Bridge might be interested in. He noted that previously he had been directed to not discuss proposals or concerns with individuals one-on-one but to bring the issue to the full board. 

Taylor’s request was denied by Hadlock via email, although Chairman Ed Wagoner stated that it was his recommendation to not bring the issue to the board at this time. 

After being unable to add an item to the board’s agenda, Huber said Taylor reached out to her and she dove back into recent board training with University of Wyoming field educator Mary Martin. According to the training, she said, the chairman of a board is responsible for the agenda and the timeliness of the meeting, although he or she is not responsible for what goes on the agenda. 

“The chairman is responsible for the agenda and should be ensuring adequate communication is occurring with the board regarding building the agenda. The commissioners are elected and legally responsible for overseeing county government,” Huber said on Sept. 5, quoting Martin’s email. “The clerk should be in the loop in that properly advertising the meeting’s agenda is the clerk’s job as well as ensuring the minutes are taken and available to the public. She doesn’t determine the agenda or who can be invited to speak at commissioners meetings nor is it purview to screen who can be included on the agenda. She may have items that she may need added to the agenda as would any others in the county.” 

She noted that if there is a problem with the agenda, the other commissioners should hear from Wagoner and not from Hadlock. 

As someone not involved directly in the issue, Commissioner Nathan Todd suggested that this instance likely involves a poor path of communication, leading to feathers getting ruffled. 

“I don’t know if anyone is really guilty of anything in this situation,” he said. 

Huber agreed, although she acknowledged that the agenda had been discussed previously. 

“If we say we want this on the agenda, he (Wagoner) is the one that should be making sure we have time to do that,” Huber said. “... Perhaps, that is the way that we keep this miscommunication from happening.” 

Taylor concluded that he was not angry with Hadlock and that he was confused on whether things should be discussed as individuals or in front of the board, but he wasn’t given official direction by the chairman.