Citizen Asks Gilmer BOE About Bank of Ellijay Building

Last night at the Board of Education meeting citizen Joene DePlancke asked some questions about the controversial purchase of the Bank of Ellijay building. Joene DePlancke questions;

1. Please tell us what alternative sites were considered with the purchase of the Bank of Ellijay building and what analysis was done. How did each site compare?
2. Please provide an explanation of the purchase price, compared to the actual list price. What was our offer, what was the final agreed upon price and when is the closing date?
3. When does due diligence end?
4. What cost analysis was done concerning the additional cost for items that will need to be provided such as:
a. renovations
b. parking areas
c. Furniture, etc.
5. What cost analysis was done regarding future carrying costs of for each potential building:
a. taxes
b. insurance
c. utilities
d. Renovations needed to make building functional for BOE use.
6. What other items that the referendum could have been used for still need to be acquired and the associated costs of each?

After asking the BOE these questions superintendent Bryan Dorsey let Ms. DePlancke know that they could not respond and the rule is to answer her questions in writing.

Ms. DePlancke will share the BOE’s written answers with FYN.

Board Policy
Descriptor Code:BCBI
Public Participation in Board Meetings

Meetings of the Board of Education are held to conduct the affairs and business of the school system. Although these meetings are not meetings of the public, all Gilmer County citizens are invited to attend all meetings. Gilmer County citizens can also address the Board at appropriate times and in accordance with procedures established by the Board or Superintendent.

It is the policy of the Gilmer County Board of Education to allow public comments immediately preceding one of the regularly scheduled monthly meetings.

Any individual wishing to be placed on the agenda may do so by calling the Superintendent of Schools twenty-four hours in advance of the meeting requesting to be placed on the Board of Education agenda. The person will need to give their name and the nature of the request.

All presentations to the Board are to be brief and are intended for the Board to hear comments or concerns without taking action.

Citizens can only be spectators at these meetings. The only accountability the BOE has to the citizens is at the ballot box. After the election a BOE member never has to answer a public question again.

I wonder how many BOE members plan to run for re-election. The vote to purchase the Bank of Ellijay building may result in a retirement vote at the ballet box for the current BOE members who plan to run again. They may not have to answer the citizens’ questions now but they will have to answer the questions when it comes election time.