In my mind probably the only thing worse than having to attend/cover/participate in a meeting at 8 a.m. on a Saturday would be having to do so for a meeting at 7:30 a.m. on a Monday.

Some of you may remember my frustration in January 2024 when Weirton Council decided to hold a work session early on a Saturday morning to discuss planning for the year.

It was cold, and I was in no mood to be social anyway, let alone to listen and report on an essentially lame duck council throw out a series of ideas (many of which were never accomplished).

We’ll see how I handle things this coming week.

I received notice Wednesday evening that the Hancock County Commission would be holding a workshop Monday morning, at a point of the day where the sun has barely crested the horizon of our local hills.

The discussion is the revolve around the procedures the county will use in determining who is to receive a share of Hancock County’s allotment of opioid settlement funds, as distributed under the framework of an agreement signed on to by the state, counties and many cities in recent years.

It’s an important issue, and one where we are starting to see some movement locally.

Weirton established its guidelines a while back, and already has distributed some of its currently available funding to the city’s police and fire departments, as well as Northwood Health Systems. I’ve heard other applications currently are under review.

Hancock County has developed its own application, and now commissioners will debate how potential grantees will be selected to receive the funding.

The workshop is open to the public, but it will be surprising if more than local media and county officials are there.

It would be great if residents opted to attend this workshop, or any other meeting of the commission for that matter.

The same can be said for Weirton Council, the Hancock County School Board, or any other gathering of our local governmental representatives. You don’t have to necessarily have a topic to complain about; just show up and watch your elected representatives at work.

There, occasionally are residents in attendance at New Cumberland Council meetings, and recent experiences how shown me there typically are at least a few at Brooke County Commission meetings.

They don’t always have a complaint. Sometimes, they’re simply there to offer a reminder of a community event, or to listen and see what is going on in their town.

The time schedule of a lot of these meetings aren’t always convenient, and I understand that can be an obstacle. Just as I don’t necessarily want to be at a meeting at 7:30 a.m., there are many who are unable to attend at 10:30 a.m. or 2:30 p.m.

Let’s face it, if it wasn’t part of my job, there is no way I would be able to be in attendance at many of our local governmental meetings.

I understand that, sometimes, when a meeting is held is determined by statute. Weirton Council regular meetings, for example, are required to be held on the Monday following the first Tuesday of each month under the city charter. There’s no specific time, though.

The Hancock County Board of Education’s regular meetings are during particular weeks of the month, but members have discussed moving the times of those meetings.

The Weirton Board of Parks and Recreation has moved their meeting time around in a few instances over the years, and the city’s Finance Committee has met on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, at various times over the years.

The point is, if at all possible, if might be nice to change the time or date of a meeting to make it more accessible to the public. You are doing the public’s business, after all, and it would be beneficial if the public at least could see, for themselves, some of how their business is being conducted.

(Howell, a resident of Colliers, is managing editor of The Weirton Daily Times, and can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com or followed on Twitter/X @CHowellWDT)