At least one Hamilton County commissioner is responding in the wake of Joe Graham’s plea.
District 3 Commissioner Marty Haynes announced Monday he plans to return his $100,000 share of discretionary money to the county’s general fund by making a friendly amendment to the resolution that Graham, the District 6 commissioner, introduced at last week’s commission meeting.
Citing his past opposition to the commission’s decision to take $900,000 in discretionary funding this year – $100,000 for each district – from the county’s rainy day fund, Haynes said his constituents want their $100,000 to remain unspent in the county budget.
Joe Graham speaks during a Hamilton County Commission meeting on March 19.“With little public fanfare but after several weeks of meetings, calls and passionate conversations, my commitment was made to refuse the discretionary funds,” Haynes said in a statement.
Graham, who also wants to return his discretionary funding, held a news conference Friday to express his concern over rumors that the other commissioners were considering redirecting his share for their own purposes. Graham added that he wants to put the money “back where it belongs” and encouraged county residents to reach out to their commissioners and ask that they support Graham.