CARLTON FLETCHER: ‘I love my community … just don’t ask me to serve’

“Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone.”

— Billy Joel

Raise your hands if you’ve heard this before: How in the world could a jury have found that person not guilty? Or how could those know-nothings on the (name your committee of choice) have voted to approve something that is obviously bad for the community?

OK, let’s see … five, six … 18 … 27 … 1,853 … 2,964,412 … That’s pretty much everybody but that couple in the corner holding the well-used Make America Great Again signs.

We all usually find fault with juries that turn career criminals loose to continue their chosen profession, and we marvel at the lack of common sense shown by volunteer boards that recommend approval of measures that are going to end up costing us money.

But here’s what we generally do about it: We gripe. And complain.

The concept of maybe applying to sit on one of those boards or maybe answering a jury summons is not generally part of our thought process.

I talked with one of this area’s most prominent citizens recently, a man whose business exploits keep him on the run most of the time. I’ll admit to being a little surprised when he started a sentence with, “I was serving on a jury last week …”

Jury duty has become in Dougherty County — and I’m sure pretty much most other places nowadays — a chore that everyone works hard to avoid. That’s why I was so surprised that this businessman not only answered his summons but also served. Here are a couple of the more interesting things he told me:

“There were 1,000 summonses sent out for jury duty, and only 250 people showed up.” … “It became obvious after being there for a short while that a large number of the people who were there were there for the check you get for answering the summons.”

Maybe it’s, as Prince called it, a “Sign o’ the Times,” but I remember getting jury summonses in the old days and reading language that made me afraid not to answer. That’s not the case these days, obviously, if three-quarters of the people who were summoned didn’t bother to show. Talk about a shallow jury pool.

I also know that a large majority of people who don’t report for jury duty for the check will do almost anything possible — including lie — to get out of serving. Make that reason No. 847 our criminal justice system is a little more than frayed at the edges.

As for people serving on volunteer boards, I know for a fact that city officials have encouraged, begged, pleaded and done everything but offer get out of jail free cards to try and get prominent citizens to serve on these boards. For some such citizens, working behind the scenes — out of the spotlight — on volunteer boards does not fit their “high-profile” MO, so they beg off with tales of woe about how busy they are.

Then, when, say the Library Board votes to close down two branches because the funds aren’t there to keep them open, some of these same people are the first ones to cry out about “government incompetence.”

High profile or not, many of these volunteers boards are instrumental in helping establish policy. And anyone who’s attended a City Commission meeting knows that — unless a notion struck otherwise — commissioners often on controversial issues have followed the recommendations of say the Planning Commission in making their decision. Having attended some of the Planning meetings and watching that board in action, I marveled at the obvious lack of background (one might say competence, but that’s a tad harsh) some members showed.

Of course, the appointment of board members is something of a two-way street. I remember Tim Dill and other high-profile business people sending in applications to become part of the Economic Development Commission and having their application rejected in favor of individuals who had little to no business making decisions on anything more complicated than what’s for lunch today. It’s called political favors, and it’s almost as much of a detriment to finding the “right fit” for boards that can help move the city forward as is the individuals who “love the city” and are “engaged” and want to make our community “OneAlbany” … but they’re too damned busy to spend an hour of one night a month in service to that city.

As is usually the case, there’s plenty of blame to spread around.