I was talking to a County Commissioner last night, who told me that he recently had some questions about the invoices being submitted to the county by a particular attorney. These were reasonable questions; for example, one document included a note “see attached”, but there was no attachment.

So he submits requests to Judge Clatterbaugh (D) and Judge Clarkson (R), asking for more information on the tasks performed by the attorney. Basically, he wanted to see what the county was paying for.

Reasonable request? I think so.

Judge Ward Clarkson, to his credit, complied with the request. No problem. No delays.

Judge James Clatterbaugh on the other hand, was indignant. “I signed off on this, there shouldn’t be any questions about it …” He refused to give up the information.

*sigh*

What is the problem? Why can’t the commissioner have the information? Especially information that is as straightforward as the supporting documentation that is referenced in an invoice?