Goodwill wasn’t overflowing from The Cocklebur bloggers over the Christmas season for anyone implicated in the latest controversy about Anderson County government credit card expenses.

Republikin didn’t like criticism of Anderson County Administrator Joey Preston from The Cocklebur and others about his being politically “out of touch” in not immediately releasing explanations for expenditures questioned by Anderson County Council member Cindy Wilson.

“… when Mr. Preston has responded to the political winds he is quickly taken to task for being ‘too political’ and not doing what is in the best interests of the entire county,” she said.

JD Tippett disagreed.

“He is tone deaf when it comes to dealing with his critics…. Preston has allowed Cindy Wilson to frame the debate.”

Non sequitor called Mr. Preston a “political animal” who should know better.

“I am tired of the ‘gamesmanship’ going on between the Administrator and the Councilperson. If there are questions... give honest and open answers in a timely manner.”

But SSHML thought the expectation of timeliness “laughable.”

“By its very nature, government is anything but efficient. People have to understand that unless monies are used to improve the internal components of the bureaucracy, response time will continue to be slow. Remember: You can’t expect a Yugo to run well at Indy.”

Others, such as Mr. Hanky, thought Ms. Wilson simply was trying to create trouble.

Ms. Wilson “will ask question after question just to tie them up and give the perception of wrongdoing. Her waste of time (and money) fishing trips cost the taxpayers more then all the freeking coffee JP office drinks in a year.”

Buster agreed.

“We all know that her personal vendetta against Joey is due to his ‘beating her at Beaverdam Creek.’ People are realizing that her cries for ‘open and honest government’ are a smoke screen. It is all centered around Joey, her arch enemy.”

But Republikin’s idea to clear the air by giving Mr. Preston a new contract was a non-starter.

“If what you suggest happens peace goes out the window, and I am afraid that it would put the last nails in several of the council peoples’ coffins for the next election,” said JohnB, advising Mr. Preston to be “more transparent … and stop being so hard headed and stubborn.”

Coke Stevenson didn’t like Anderson resident’s idea to up the ante with a five-year contract for Mr. Preston, the state’s longest-serving administrator.

“Year-by-year is closer to how the real world works … and I bet the performance goes up, not down.”

The Week In Blogs, compiled from comments from The Cocklebur Blog, one of the Independent-Mail’s nine blogs, appears each Friday. Visit all the blogs and comment at IndependentMail.com.