Christian Fiscal Court and the Board of Elections will each meet in special session Friday to discuss the upcoming November general election and whether the county will go back to the traditional local precincts instead of voting centers.
There were eight voting centers in the May primary where any registered voter could cast their ballot and there are plans currently in place for 13 centers in the fall.
Former Christian District Judge and Democratic Executive Committee Chair Peter MacDonald began the discussion with a letter he submitted to Judge-Executive Steve Tribble as public comments asking the fiscal court to petition the board of elections to either open all of the precincts back up or open many more voting centers.
There was no opposition from anyone on fiscal court—Democrat or Republican—with Magistrate Darrell Gustafson saying he heard from constituents who just went home when they found their local precinct closed on primary election day.
Republican Phillip Peterson and Democrat Magaline Ferguson agreed that confusion over where to vote hurt turnout in May.
County Clerk Mike Kem agreed to call a special meeting of the board of elections for Friday at 10 a.m. at the courthouse to discuss the options and Democratic Representative Jim Gardner is already committed that he is fine with returning to traditional precincts.
Kem says the county will have to purchase approximately 15 more voting machines to make it happen and he’s recommending raising poll worker pay to $300 for the day, with Christian Fiscal Court to potentially discuss those matters at a special-called meeting Friday at 11 a.m.
In other discussion, several magistrates and Judge Tribble agree there continues to be issues with lack of customer service and accountability by GFL—the trash collection service for those out in the county—with Judge Tribble saying he and three magistrates will meet with representatives of GFL soon.
Magistrates discussed allowing citizens to pursue other collection company options who don’t have a current contract with the county in the future if GFL doesn’t begin meeting its obligations. Peterson noted multiple instances of GFL simply not collecting trash, or falsely claiming a customer hasn’t paid. He says customers can no longer reach GFL by phone and they tend to not respond to emails promptly and sometimes don’t respond at all.
Magistrates approved an incentive for Ascend Elements as they create 250 new jobs in Commerce Park #2 with a $310 million investment, with Ascend to be rebated 90 percent of new property tax revenues created over the next 20 years to help them pay for the initial investment.
The county no longer owes a debt on the Christian County Jail or jail expansion after the final payment was made official Tuesday morning.