Big Expenditures Need More Study, Silva Says

Supervisor Jim Silva has asked county officials to change the way they organize the Board of Supervisors’ weekly agendas in an effort to more closely examine “big dollar” allocations.

Silva wants all agenda items that call for the expenditure of more than $500,000 to be considered in the “discussion” portion of the meeting.

Under the current rules, one-time expenditures of more than $500,000 are sometimes placed on the “consent calendar,” where a group of items are approved on one vote unless a supervisor or member of the public requests it be discussed in detail.

Silva said the purpose of his proposal is to make sure that supervisors fully examine the expenditures.

“The board really needs to focus on this,” he said. “We need to remember that we are spending taxpayer dollars and should address these items on an individual basis.”