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Resident presses Gadsden County commissioners for documents on seniors foundation, county funding
Summary
A resident said Gadsden County increased funding for a senior-services foundation and asked for public records on the foundation’s formation, funding and county oversight; commissioners agreed to gather documents and schedule a workshop to respond.
Resident Regina Davis told the Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners she had requested public records and remained unsatisfied with the county’s responses about a seniors-related foundation that has received county funding.
Davis said the county’s budget for senior services rose to $755,000, with approximately two-thirds of that amount going to county employee salaries and only about $255,000 directed to programming at senior centers. “The $755,000 budget, approximately 66% of 500,000 that goes towards county employee salaries, leaving only $255,000 for senior programs … is unacceptable,” Davis said.
She told commissioners she had filed a public-records request and cited corporate filings she said were for the Gaston/Gadsden Senior Foundation (transcript references both spellings). Davis asked whether the county had authorized staff to form the foundation or to pay filing fees, when the county transferred funds, whether the county had approved increases from $475,000 to $755,000, and whether county employees performing duties for the foundation created a quasi-governmental entity.
County staff and commissioners acknowledged confusion between different corporate entities raised in Davis’s request and said they would gather records. Administrator Roosevelt (staff) and county attorney responded that some of the documentation should be in county records because the county entered into an agreement with the foundation and approved initial funding. The clerk’s office said prior responses had focused on a different organization and that staff would compile relevant documents and meet with Davis to clarify her specific requests.
Commissioners recommended a workshop-style meeting with at least five days’ notice to allow commissioners and members of the public to review records in advance. One commissioner asked staff to ensure all minutes and agreements related to the senior funding and the foundation are included in materials for that meeting.
Davis told the board she preferred written answers to her questions before any meeting so she and the public could review responses; the board directed staff to provide written responses and to schedule a follow-up workshop so Davis and commissioners could discuss the documents together.
No formal action to change funding was taken at the meeting; commissioners pledged to retrieve and share records and to convene a workshop so the public and Davis could review documents and ask follow-up questions.
