Alexander mayor vetoes council organization

Less than 48 hours after the Alexander City Council narrowly approves its “Organization of City Council” (OCC) for 2016 Mayor Paul Mitchell vetoed the document. The veto was signed by both he and City Recorder Sharon Bankhead on Wednesday, March 23.

In the veto document Mitchell cites state statute 14-44-107 as giving him the authority to veto the five-to-three vote taken during the Monday, March 21 regular council meeting. The statute allows mayors of class-2 cities to veto, “ordinances, resolutions and orders.” It also sets a maximum of five days to issue a veto.

The council can attempt to override the veto at the next meeting. A two-thirds vote is required, which in this case six of the eight-member council would have to vote to override the veto.

In his veto Mitchell states, “Changes made (in the OCC) will do nothing but cause disruptions in the City Hall front offices which is contrary to the public interest. Some of the actions taken by the City Council have nothing to do with organizing the City Council for their meetings.”

The issue began during the January meeting when two versions of the annual document were presented to the council. One was provided by Mitchell and given to aldermen days before the meeting. It is an amended version of the 2015 OCC. The second was handed out during the meeting by Alderwoman Andrea Bearden. After some discussion the issue was tabled until February. During the February meeting motions to approve the Bearden version and then the Mitchell version failed.

While there are many differences between the two, the main sticking point has been over who is permitted access to city hall office space and who can operate office equipment. Mitchell removed the clause that was in the 2015 version of the OCC which allows, “the same kind of access to city hall” (and its equipment) “as the mayor.” The Bearden version for 2016 keeps the current policy in place.

Mitchell made the change to match his policies concerning office equipment and office access. Under his policies office equipment can only be operated by office staff. Also, anyone wanting inside city hall must either have an appointment or be allowed inside by the person to whom they wish to speak. Bearden contends aldermen should be allowed to operate equipment such as the copier or fax machine in case they are handling documents of a confidential nature that shouldn’t be seen by city employees.

The purpose of the OCC, which is supposed to be established in January, sets the dates for the regular monthly meetings and the policies to be used while conducting meetings.

During the discussion at the March meeting Alderman Dan Church asked Bearden, “What does access to city hall have to do with the Organization of the City Council?”

Bearden did not respond.

The OCC for 2016 passed five to three. Voting “Yes” were Louis Hobbs, Lonny Chapman, Andy Mullins, Farren Wadley, and Bearden. Voting “No” were Stephanie Beck, Melissa Ratliff and Church. During the two votes in February Wadley abstained.