Sunday
Dec142008
« AJC's Rick Badie gets it »
Sunday, December 14, 2008 at 10:13PM
It is hit or miss for me in agreeing with the AJC's Rick Badie. However, Saturday's column captures the whole matter of principle behind the Gwinnett County Commission's retreat last week in the north Georgia mountains:
However, I could not help but shake my head at Commissioner Bert Nasuti's defense of the trip:
I agree that that an intensive meeting was warranted; I have never suggested otherwise. However, the excuse about being interrupted by wireless devices is pretty weak. Cell phones work in places outside of your "home-turf." That's the whole point! Perhaps the retreat is not a perk, but, if someone needs to get away from ringing cell phones, that can be accomplished by turning them off! That could have been done at the Gwinnett Place Marriott, the Peachtree Corners Hilton, Stone Mountain's conference center and, most definitely, the GJAC auditorium. (You don't even have to turn off your device in the GJAC auditorium. I have tried to get online with my phone in there and it didn't work!)
Call me a simpleton, but shouldn’t the county be saving money by any means necessary? Some county employees have been asked to work shorter weeks. Departments must do more with less personnel.
Shouldn’t an example be set by the higher-ups in command?
However, I could not help but shake my head at Commissioner Bert Nasuti's defense of the trip:
The retreat, [Nasuti] wrote, is not a “perk or getaway.” He views the meeting as a way to focus without distractions on complex issues that involve billions of dollars. Being away, he said, cuts down on buzzing Blackberries, ringing cell phones and other “home-turf” disturbances.
I agree that that an intensive meeting was warranted; I have never suggested otherwise. However, the excuse about being interrupted by wireless devices is pretty weak. Cell phones work in places outside of your "home-turf." That's the whole point! Perhaps the retreat is not a perk, but, if someone needs to get away from ringing cell phones, that can be accomplished by turning them off! That could have been done at the Gwinnett Place Marriott, the Peachtree Corners Hilton, Stone Mountain's conference center and, most definitely, the GJAC auditorium. (You don't even have to turn off your device in the GJAC auditorium. I have tried to get online with my phone in there and it didn't work!)
Reader Comments (1)
I couldn't agree more that Nasutis' justification for the retreat is W-E-A-K.
However, if they do need to discuss the important issues regarding the county, why not spend the money for the retreat in Gwinnett where it would infuse the local economy.
Although there is no proof to my knowledge, I often wonder that decisions like the waste ordinance and retreats to areas outside the county on the taxpayer dime might be benefitting friends of/or a politician.
Even the common man such as myself can see that these decisions are void of any logic and rational thought. There must be something else that influences them.