Bradford County Code Board member questions replacement

Bradford County Code Board member questions replacement

By MELISSA BURNSED

BRADFORD COUNTY, FL - Bradford County commissioners voted unanimously, at their Monday morning meeting, to appoint a new member to their volunteer Code Enforcement Board (CEB). Lincoln Hill resident Daisy Coleman Williams was selected by District Five Commissioner Eddie Lewis as a replacement for Malcolm Hill, who resides in District One.

Mr. Hill originally lived within the district five boundaries when he was first appointed ten years ago. He later moved to a new residence and was subsequently reappointed as an at large representative. That appointment was endorsed when Commissioner Lewis took office.

Lewis cited a request from County Manager Brad Carter to have someone living within the district serve on the seven member board. "I have always thought there should be someone to represent the district. I have nothing against Mr. Hill," he said.

Mr. Hill attended the meeting and questioned why he was being singled out for replacement. Reading from a prepared statement Hill said, "I chose to do this because I thought an appointed volunteer group would provide balance between possibly overzealous county employees and the law ordinances. I always tried to approach this with integrity."

Hill added that Commissioner Lewis told him that "Mr. Carter asked him to find a replacement…At this point I feel there is an effort by Mr. Tommy Tyer to remove me because I didn’t go along with the way he wanted things."

Tyer serves as the Chairman of the CEB, where he and Hill have disagreed on how to handle several code enforcement cases.

"I haven’t been a puppet on the board and that is what you will be getting with this appointment. I have seen him browbeat, ostracize and belittle the people who come before the board," he said. "I just think I have made a contribution and it will be less without me."

The entire board praised Mr. Hill for his years of service, then voted unanimously to replace him with Ms. Williams, adding that if one of the two at large positions came open they would consider Hill for the position.

When questioned after the meeting about his reasons for requesting a replacement for Hill, the county manager stated, "The commissioners have always wanted to have representatives from each district on the board, so we opened up a new search." He declined to comment on any past conflicts between Hill and Tyer.

In other business, commissioners approved a new maintenance agreement for the courthouse X-Ray scanner machine, which screens items being carried into the building. The year-old machine’s warranty is about to expire and the new "platinum service" agreement has a yearly price tag of $4,500. That figures is nearly equal to the cost of a single service call, according to county staff. The county clerk was directed to find the money in the budget to pay for the contract.