COMMENTARY
In the past 29 months the City of Alexander has had two mayors, two
city councils and two opinions as to who runs the city and how. Or, to put it
another way, does the city council make the major decisions and the mayor runs
the city based on those decisions, or is the mayor God Almighty and does
whatever he/she wants despite what the council says.
According to State law the city council is required to make certain
decisions (set the budget, pass ordinances, etc.) and the mayor runs the city
based on those decisions. However, in Alexander, the answer seems to be
determined based on whose mayor.
If you're former Mayor Shirley Johnson or current Mayor Michelle Hobbs,
there are those of the opinion city council members should just sit down, shut
up and vote yes to whatever the mayor wants. But, if you're Paul Mitchell the
council is in charge and the mayor should sit down and shut up.
This latter opinion didn't develop over time. Mitchell and the new
council members were sworn-in on Saturday, January 1, 2011. In less than seven
days one of the re-elected aldermen was already at city hall complaining to
Mitchell about how the city was being run.
And, from there, it only got worse. Some of the aldermen wanted to be
kept informed on more than a monthly bases, even though they were getting more
information than previous councils had received. The way some talked, weekly
reports wouldn't have been enough.
Mayor Mitchell had no problem with aldermen making those decisions they
were legally required to make, and then run the city accordingly. But, some
acted as though he needed to poll the council before he could use the men's
room.
Of course, then came his health issues which started around February,
and eventually subsided later in 2011. Then there were the legal issues with
his wife and father-in-law. All of which emboldened those who wanted to run the
city without being mayor. And, there were many.
At some point, most of the aldermen decided they would begin vetoing
decisions made by the mayor when legally possible. Before the end of this year
some may regret those veto votes.
Eventually, the re-call petition was circulated and the question was
put on the ballot. He lost the re-call and it was up to the sitting council to
appoint a replacement.
At least two of the aldermen who were sworn-in on January 1, 2011 had
resigned. The vacancies had been filled and it was this council that appointed
Michelle Hobbs as mayor.
I'm not going to defend some of the decisions Mitchell made when he
first took office. But, he did understand that the council was responsible for writing and setting the
budget, setting policy and making other decisions on how to run the city.