Mohave County is taking government to the people in Lake Havasu and Bullhead City. Member Ron Gould’s proposal to hold regular board meetings beyond the county seat community of Kingman was approved during Monday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
Gould said there is a disconnect and that many of his constituents are not cognizant of county government, though they pay county taxes just like the Kingman area residents who have the option of attending board meetings.
“It’s almost as if the county government only applies to Kingman,” Gould said. “I think this will do a little bit to make those folks feel a little more included.”
The meetings will continue to be conducted in Kingman and a rotation schedule will be developed to begin holding them elsewhere in October. The rotation will add Bullhead City and Lake Havasu to the Kingman meeting mix and there is intent to include Colorado City once suitable quarters and streaming technology become available there.
“I think it’s a good idea to move them out quarterly,” said supervisor Buster Johnson. He said the rotating meeting locations will give more citizens the opportunity watch county government in action and speak with county officials if they so desire.
County Manager Mike Hendrix said many department heads and staff members already attend meetings and that there’s little extra cost associated with a rotation plan. Agenda backup materials showed there may be some extra travel expense associated with fuel, use of county vehicles and meal per diem, where applicable.
Hendrix said the primary downside of the rotation plan is loss of productivity associated with time of travel.
Gould’s proposal calls for meeting rotation over the course of a year as a pilot program. The rotation program can be extended or rescinded after there’s an assessment of how well it worked as well as a measurement of attendance at board meetings.
