White County commissioners clash over proposed change to budget committee

A motion to remove Commissioner Becky Golden from the White County budget committee and replace her with Commissioner Lenny Selby failed after extended debate at the White County Commission meeting.

The attempt to amend Resolution 72 (establishing budget committee membership) came after commissioners reviewed the county bylaws and questioned whether the county chair must sit on the budget committee. One commissioner noted the bylaws do not require the chair to serve on the budget committee and cited what they said was section 9(f) of the bylaws as guidance; commissioners did not adopt a formal change to the bylaws during the meeting.

Commissioner Becky Golden said during the discussion, “Numbers are not my thing.” Commissioners who opposed removing her said publicly-stated uncertainty about numbers did not by itself disqualify a member from service. Other commissioners argued the budget committee is a high-responsibility committee and expressed concern about membership choices.

The motion to amend the nominated membership (dropping Golden and adding Lenny Selby) was moved and seconded and put to a roll-call vote. The amendment failed (4 yes, 3 no, 1 pass, 6 absent). The commission then attempted to approve the original resolution as presented but the tally did not reach the threshold the body required for that action; the chair said the change did not pass and the current budget committee would remain in place. Commissioners agreed to revisit the budget-committee membership at the commission’s October meeting.

The debate included repeated references to committee composition and fairness; at least one speaker characterized the amendment as an attempt to “stack” the budget committee. Commissioners repeatedly asked legal- and bylaw-related questions during the exchange; no bylaw changes were made during the meeting.

What happens next: the commission chair said the budget committee roster would remain unchanged for the coming month and that the matter would be re-voted at the next regular meeting.

Meeting context: the discussion consumed a substantial portion of the agenda item on committee appointments and drew multiple commissioners into debate. No formal policy change or bylaw amendment was adopted at this meeting.