For the second meeting in a row, citizens used the comment portion of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners meeting to verbally attack commissioner Tom Crow for his role in a lawsuit filed by four citizens to stop work on the new West Jackson EMS station.
Superior Court Judge David Motes ruled earlier that work could resume on the EMS station. Albon Gilbert, Jerry Tate, James Lyle and Doug Waters claim the county has not lived up to the terms agreed to in the 2010 SPLOST, which is funding the EMS station.
At the BOC meeting Monday night, citizens Larry Ewing and Ron Johnson criticized Crow for his role in the lawsuit. Ewing asked Crow if he wants the station to be moved.
“I guess it will be built there,” Crow said. “…It is leaving out a lot of citizens in that coverage area.”
Crow said that the location of the station will “leave out 3,000 citizens,” with 2,000 of those being in his district.
As for the location of the station, Crow said, “Just because it passed doesn’t mean it’s the right choice.”
Ewing also asked what the cost of the lawsuit has been to the county so far. Crow replied that he doesn’t know.
Ron Johnson also criticized Crow for his actions and said he has been a “failure to be a leader.”
Johnson is a leader in the county’s Republican Party. He also ran unsuccessfully four years ago for the position of chairman of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, losing in the Republican General Primary runoff to current chairman Hunter Bicknell.
Crow, on Jan. 1, will become the new chairman, having defeated Bicknell in the GOP Primary in July.
