Dear Editor:
I believe the public should know that in an Aug. 18 memo, Mayor Brad Cole made a unilateral decision that members of the City Council could no longer ask the city manager questions or submit questions via e-mail about the warrants presented on the City Council agendas prior to the council meetings.
At the Sept. 22 City Council meeting, the mayor made another unilateral decision and prevented me from asking questions about the warrants during the meeting. Warrants are the bills and invoices for services, travel, equipment, etc. provided to the city which the council is required to approve or disapprove.
Council members receive a listing of the warrants with their council packet the Friday evening prior to the council meeting on the following Tuesday.
The mayor’s memo states, “Any Council member who wishes to review the back-up materials may do so in person, during regular business hours, by obtaining the file from the City Manager and utilizing the Council cubicle in my office suite.” The six other council members have access to a cubicle next to the mayor’s office.
I explained to the mayor that I have a full-time job, which sometimes requires me to work beyond the city’s “regular business hours” on the Monday and Tuesday, and I would be limited to sorting through the warrant materials.
The mayor suggested that perhaps I could arrange to come in over the weekend. Well, occasionally, I am out of town during weekends.
The mayor made a comment during the Sept. 22 meeting that this change was because of cutbacks.
However, for years these lists of questions have been sent to a mid-level person in the finance department and there have been no cutbacks in the finance department. For the last four and a half years, I have probably averaged about five questions for each warrant; which usually consists of about 10 pages with around 300 invoices.
Most of the invoices have a generic heading such as “FIA Card Services” which is the credit card service used by the city. One credit card charge that I questioned in the past included a trip to Africa by the mayor. The warrants are in the consent agenda, which, as the mayor states, are “items considered routine in nature.”
In the most recent warrant, there were five invoices from a construction company totaling over $27,000 and another invoice for $633 for a Nashville hotel. Mayor Cole denied me the right and my responsibility to question these bills.
I can’t image why Mayor Cole doesn’t want me to question the city’s bills. I’m sure that most of them are legitimate. His style of management only causes me concern and to ask more questions.
Joel Fritzler
Councilman
