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Stew Lilker’s

Columbia County Observer

Real news for working families.

County Commission News

County & IDA Drop the Ball - Again
IDA meeting cancelled last minute - public not advised

The County Home page yesterday afternoon


It would have been a simple matter to notice the meeting
cancellation where people could have seen it.

The County Commission and the Industrial Development Authority, Columbia County's engines of economic development have been dropping the ball for years, missing and losing one business opportunity after the next.


This is the Google Calendar on the IDA web site yesterday afternoon. It would have taken one minute to change if someone at the IDA knew how.

As the technological world moved forward, both the County and the IDA have maintained inferior web presences.

Facilitated by the departing IDA's Gina Reynolds, the IDA took over a year to establish an overpriced and ineffectual web presence. The amateurs, who manage both the County and the IDA, couldn't coordinate to announce the cancellation of its own meeting this morning.

Unlike the Columbia County's Lake City, which is scrupulous in announcing both its meetings and cancellations with press releases, e mails and public notices, Columbia County's County Commission and upper management has for years shown a blatant disregard for the requirements of responsible and intelligent public notice.

A continuing disregard for the public and good business practices

With the elevation of Jack Berry protégé, Jody DuPree, to the chairmanship of the County Commission, the continuing disrespect and level of competence in Columbia County's management is apparently secure.

At the close of business yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, January 4th, the IDA meeting scheduled for Wednesday morning at 8:30 am was still listed as scheduled on the County web site.

 

 


The IDA web site was also still listing the meeting as scheduled.

The IDA also dropped the ball

The IDA web site, which was the baby of the departing Assistant IDA Director, Gina Reynolds, and took over a year to get on to the web, had barely a mention of the cancelled meeting, if it could be found.

There was nothing on the IDA's home page, their Google Calendar was not changed and if one used the new Google Chrome browser there was no meeting cancellation notice at all.

.

.

Business as usual in Columbia County. A little consideration and good business practices would have only taken a minute.



It only took the Observer a minute to add the notice to the County's home page.

 

This work by the Columbia County Observer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

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More on Columbia County Economic Development:

Plum Creek on the move in Columbia County $190 million,  75 long term jobs on the docket (November 18, 2011)

Columbia County Economic Development: Will Lake City continue as the "red-headed step child?" (August 4, 2011)

Workforce Florida, streamlining by adding another layer of bureaucracy: Cost $750,000 (July 27, 2011)

FL Economic Development Czar Speaks - Musical chairs on the deck of the Titanic? (July 24, 2011)

Columbia County: Garbage Capital of North Central Florida? (June 7, 2011)

Tallahassee: Economic Development Legislative Session Wrap-up (May 31, 2011)

Florida's Economic Development Czar Came to Columbia County - Really (May 31, 2011)

Columbia County Economic Development Blowin' in the wind - 20 years too late (March 2, 2011)

Economic Development in their own words (Jan 24, 2011)

FL Enterprise Zones under the gun (Jan 23, 2011)

County & IDA Drop the Ball - Again (Jan 05, 2011)

Columbia County's inland port decades late (Jan 03, 2010)

Columbia County ranks 5th in the nation in the unemployed (Dec 18, 2010)

IDA Continues sub par under County management (Nov 29, 2010)

County Economic Development
Making it up as they go along
(Oct 06, 2010)

Lake City Planning for Future Downtown - County Commission MIA (June 25, 2010)

The Great Columbia County Dog and Pony Show (June 02, 2010)

IDA Rudderless • Web presence a mess (Feb 02, 2010)