Several commissioners also tried unsuccessfully Monday to dissolve the five-member Animal Control Advisory Board, which is appointed by the commissioners to oversee the animal control service. The advisory board recommended earlier that the county take over the animal control service and hire its own animal control officers. The APS would only operate the animal shelter. But Johnson said that would mean the county would have to pay salaries and benefits for animal control officers, as well as gasoline for animal control vehicles. Recent meetings of the advisory board broke down frequently as onlookers argued with board members over proposed changes to the animal shelter's operations.
Time is spent on name-calling and hostility among persons.
The group is not in a position to make a positive contribution at this time. By a 4-3 vote, the commissioners defeated a motion that would have suspended the advisory board's monthly meetings indefinitely. Foster, the only commissioner who serves on the advisory board, voted to suspend, as did Jefferies and Commissioner Kenneth Travis. Commissioners Wrenn, Mel Battle, Nate Hall and Kin Watlington voted to keep the advisory board active. A member of Open Bible Baptist Church, he was a farmer.