New commission chair argues for transparency

Lazaro Aleman ECB Publishing, Inc. Newly-installed Jefferson County Commission Chairman Austin Hosford recently met with soft resistance to his call for a forensic audit of all county operations. Hosford made his goal known toward the end of the board meeting on Thursday evening, Nov. 21, at which he had earlier assumed the chairmanship. He had heard from enough constituents, Hosford said, to know that the issue of transparency was one that was on people’s minds. Too, he said, as he traveled around the state as a career source rep and met with different people, it was obvious to him that many had a preconceived notion of the county, which wasn’t fair to the board or the staff. “I