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BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS 200 East 4th Street / P.O. Box 99 ● Woodbine, GA 31569 Phone: (912) 576.5651 ● Fax: (912) 576.5647 ● www.co.camden.ga.us PRESS RELEASE Contact: Jodi Gregory FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Phone: [PHONE REDACTED] 9:00 a.m. EDT, May 9, 2008 Camden County Board of County Commissioners adopts a Meeting Calendar, Code of Conduct and Public Participation Ordinance During the April 22, 2008 Board of County Commissioners regular meeting, the Commissioners passed an ordinance with a 4 to 1 vote that will enable the Board to establish and adopt a regular meeting calendar each year; a Code of Conduct for the meetings; and provide more public participation in meetings. The new ordinance will take effect during the first regular meeting in June. The first step the Commissioners will take in implementing this new ordinance is establishing and adopting a regular meeting calendar for each year. This will allow the Commissioners to plan ahead and set a calendar for regular meetings that will not conflict with other significant events such as major holidays, elections or extraordinary community events. By looking ahead and planning a regular meeting calendar, fewer meetings will need to be rescheduled and citizens will have a consistent calendar. The Commissioners will meet for a work session on May 20th to discuss meeting dates for the remainder of this year. This work session will begin at 5:00 p.m. in the County Annex, 107 Gross Road, Kingsland. Once adopted, the calendar will be made available to the public through the media and the County’s website, www.camden.co.ga.us. The second element of this new ordinance is the Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct establishes guidelines for the personal conduct of the Commissioners, staff, and members of the audience during Board meetings. It prohibits the use of inappropriate, offensive, insulting or malicious remarks, and assists in creating ---PAGE BREAK--- a professional and respectful environment in which to meet and conduct County business. Finally, the new ordinance increases public participation in meetings. Citizens can now address the Board in a number of ways; during one of the two public comments sections of a meeting, on a specific agenda item at the time of its consideration, or by a written statement which will be read into the record by the Chairman or his appointee. In order to ensure all who want to speak are given an opportunity to do so, the Board of County Commissioners has implemented a new form to assist in this process. This form, which will be available for the first meeting in June, will assist the Board in hearing from citizens in an orderly manner as well as provide a means for staff to follow up with commenting a citizen on his or her concerns. Of course, if a citizen does not complete the new form, he or she will not be barred from speaking. Beginning with first meeting in June, County staff will be available at meetings, acting as ambassadors, to assist citizens with this new process and answer any questions. The adoption of this ordinance is one of the many steps the County is taking in achieving its goal of Organizational Excellence under the newly adopted Strategic Plan. It addresses the goal of ensuring an open government is being provided to the citizens of Camden County and the business of the County is being conducted in an efficient and professional manner. If you would like to know more about this new ordinance, or if you have any questions regarding county government, please do not hesitate to call the Board of Commissioners’ offices at [PHONE REDACTED].