PICKENS COUNTY — Rep. Neal Collins is hoping his Fifth Monday Meetings will help promote unity between the legislative delegation, Pickens County Council and the School District of Pickens County’s board of trustees.
The concept of Fifth Monday Meetings is to establish a regular schedule for legislators and local elected representatives to meet on a regular basis, with all of the meetings scheduled for those months when there is the rare fifth Monday on the calendar.
The first Fifth Monday Meeting will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. Aug. 29 at Carr Center at West End Hall, 201 S. 5th St. in Easley.
Issues central to Pickens County will be discussed between members of the Pickens County legislative delegation and members of Pickens County Council and the board for the School District of Pickens County, as well as other elected officials.
With the primaries occurring this election season, Collins reached out to those who are incumbents as well as those who have won their respective primaries and will take office in January 2017.
He wants to lay the groundwork for what he believes will be a positive for the county . He said the response so far has been positive.
“With the number of changes on county council and school board, a few of us thought it would be a good opportunity to create scheduled meetings so that county, school board, sheriff, and state delegation could discuss issues on a regular basis,” Collins said. “This was after a positive meeting between the state delegation and county council-elect after the June 28 run-offs. I am happy to report that 16 of the 17 elected officials have confirmed participation within 48 hours — unprecedented unity.”
Collins said the idea is to create a working relationship with common goals.
“The vision is simple — levels of government should communicate and operate as one to promote and progress our county. The energy and enthusiasm that the new members have already exhibited has me excited about our county’s future” Collins said. “As a result, I have been using a hashtag for a couple of months now — #PickensUnited. We already live in a wonderful county. If we can have everyone pushing in the same direction, the future is unlimited.”
All of the meetings will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. at sites to be determined before the meeting.
Other Fifth Monday Meetings in 2016 will include Oct. 31 in Clemson while meetings for next year are planned for Jan. 30 in Central, May 29 in Pickens, July 31 in Pickens or Liberty, and Oct. 30 in Liberty or Norris.
Collins said the May 2017 meeting might be rescheduled due to the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
