Applicants needed for boards

Commissioners were unable to fill seats on several county boards at the Aug. 28 meeting because no one applied for the positions. Applicants are needed to fill vacancies on the Pike Area Transportation Committee, the Family and Children’s Service Board and the McIntosh Trail Council on Aging. Interested residents can apply at the commission office for the positions. Commissioners encouraged citizens to apply for the board positions and take an active role in the county. ’Citizens can learn more about how government actually works. The county cannot afford to pay for these positions so they’re voluntary positions that give citizens an opportunity to serve and represent others in the community,’ said commissioner Don Collins. According to county code, the Pike Area Transportation Committee makes transportation recommendations to the county and cities. The board is made up of many members representing all five cities in Pike and citizen representatives.The DFCS board needs a volunteer to provide oversight for local operations. Board members help keep the county director involved with things going on in the community, advise about general policy, act as a support system for the staff and oversee expenditures of the local agency, particularly with county funding for foster care children programs. Members serve five-year terms. ’I think it’s important for a fresh set of eyes to look at county operations,’ said DFCS board chairman Edd Sanders. ‘Sometimes business as usual isn’t always the most effective way to do things. Members of the public are invited to attend these board meetings. Right now we have a vacancy and as far as I know, there haven’t been any applicants.’The McIntosh Trail Council on Aging committee also needs a citizen to fill a vacancy. The council is responsible for how county and state funding is spent in the region, supervision of the senior center, the Meals on Wheels program and the senior citizen transportation system. The council meets monthly each third Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. in the Three Rivers Regional Commission board room in Griffin. Members are appointed to three year terms. ’We’ve never had this low of membership on the board,’ said executive director of the Council on Aging Ruth Daniel. ‘We recently had two members from Pike leave the board. Every county should be interested in having somebody represent them on the board. We do Meals on Wheels in Pike and provide transportation in the five McIntosh Trails counties. Each county should want representation so they get a fair share of funding ‘“ which is mostly government funding.’