Commissioner Berry finally wins one - a BIG one!

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Flash: This just in! CCBOC voted unanimously tonight on a resolution of "no confidence" requesting that 4 of the 5 members of the Camden County Board of Tax Assessors resign NLT 4:00 PM, March 20th, 2009! This was Berry's idea from the git go. His only initial support, by way of an immediate second for purposes of discussion was Commissioner Sears (up for re-election next year in hard hit District 4.) After Berry had his say, Commissioner Keene came up with a number of reasons why it should not be done. For instance, without a valid, trained up Board of Assessors, the state would not approve the digest. St. David, the unflagging patron saint of GOBs, was, of course against it, favoring a highly suggestive letter as to what they (the Board of Assessors) should do about the current reassessment debacle. Rainer also pointed out, correctly, that they could not be forced to resign. Berry then included in his motion that they cut their salaries out of the budget if they refused. Zell was of course on the fence. The opposition thought they had a winner with the cons, but Berry got a recess (yes, a recess with a seconded motion pending on the floor -a first for me) during which he had someone research the dates available for the state mandated 40 hour training course to certify four replacements in a timely matter. Turns our there were three classes available very shortly and way before any of the opponents dire consequences would have been triggered. Keen and Zell came over. St. David reluctantly agreed. Then, they took a second, 15 minute recess (yes, the seconded motion was still pending) while Brent Greene got to a word processor and cranked out a resolution, a copy of which I'll scan and add here in just a minute. The passage was applauded by the audience. P.S., The fifth and newest member, whose name escapes me at the moment, was just appointed by Commissioner Berry about two regular meetings ago, so he was held blameless. Somebody? What's his name? My friend - and a good friend of all Camden taxpayers, Jim Stein, was in rare form tonight. During the questions from the public section of the work session, he went into attorney cross examination mode on poor, hapless, feckless Mr. Daniels, the chief tax assessor. St. David had to come to his rescue. He then went on to address the commissioners twice during their regular meeting. Referring to Mr. Daniels and company, with perfect timing and deadpan delivery, Jim said that "getting information from that bunch is like trying to pull teeth from a running, greased rhino." The crowd ate it up.

In the second public address portion, he went on to tel everyone what a "suck egg dog" was and that he had had a pet Beagle when he was a boy in Mcintosh county that turned into a suck egg dog. (It would literally sneak into the hen house, bite the eggs, then suck out the contents.) He said he learned at that early age that you had two choices: you could either teach the dog to lay eggs or get rid of him. The analogy to the tax assessors was not lost on the appreciative audience.