Mayor Mitchell uses his vote to advance city business during meeting

(Content Edited for accuracy 5-22-2016.)

City of Alexander Mayor Paul Mitchell used his voting powers to place items on the agenda and to allow an ordinance to pass without the required three readings. The need for the unusual action was caused by the absence of three aldermen; Andrea Bearden, Louis Hobbs and Andy Mullins.

But, before the May 16 meeting could begin some legal housekeeping was required. Since the city council still does not have a set of “Organization” policies for 2016 a calendar of regular meetings does not exist. The council also did not set a May meeting date during the April meeting.

A motion was made by Alderman Dan Church to, “Make May 16, 2016 a regular scheduled meeting.” It was seconded by Alderwoman Stephanie Beck and passed unanimously by a voice vote. The meeting date and time was posted throughout the city prior to the meeting.

This is the second time this has happened in 2016. In January a similar situation occurred. Not only did the council not set a meeting date for January during the December meeting but the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday falls on the third Monday. Meeting notices were posted announcing the meeting date for the fourth Monday, January 25. Before that meeting started, a motion to set January 25 as a regular meeting date was passed.

Before continuing, Church made a motion to set the third Monday of the month as the council’s regular meeting night until the end of the year. With Alderman Lonny Chapman making the second the motion passed five to three.

During his report to the city council City Treasurer Kenneth Miller wanted to present an ordinance to council members for consideration. Since it wasn’t on the agenda it requires a two-thirds vote of the council. The five members present; Church, Beck, Chapman, Melissa Ratliff, and Farren Wadley; all voted “Yes” to place the ordinance on the agenda. The three aldermen who were absent are counted as voting “No.” It’s at this point Mitchell uses his authority to cast the deciding vote of “Yes” resulting in the needed six votes to make two-thirds.

Under Arkansas laws ACA §§ 14-43-501 (first class cities); 14-44-107 (second class cities), and 14-45-105 (incorporated towns); a mayor may vote, “When the mayor's vote is needed to pass any ordinance, bylaw, resolution, order, or motion.” The key word here is “Motion.” The requirement that a mayor can only vote to break a tie was changed in 1981.

In 2005 Arkansas Attorney General Mike Beebe was asked whether a mayor, in a city of the first-class, can vote when a motion to suspend meeting rules requires a two-thirds majority of a ten-member council. In Opinion No. 2005-006 the Attorney General determined, “[T]he mayor appears to have the power to vote to pass any motion that needs his or her vote for passage.  Under this interpretation, in a ten-member council, this would allow a mayor to vote with six council members to meet the required seven votes for a two-thirds majority.”

The ordinance presented by Miller allows the city to begin using a cash register to hold money and track sales. The cash register will print two receipts, one for the customer and one for the city. According to Miller whoever operates the cash register must input a code, which will be recorded on the receipt. Miller said he expects only four employees will have a code to the cash register.

Miller had given council members a heads-up at a previous meeting telling them this was coming based on comments from state auditors. At the May 16 meeting he said the auditors are making it sound like a recommendation, but it’s really a requirement.

“The state wants to end hand-written receipts,” Miller said.

He also said the current annual audit being conducted by the state indicates there are receipts missing.

Mitchell noted every time receipt books are ordered it costs around $1,000.

After its first public reading, the council voted five to three to approve the ordinance. To suspend the required second and third public readings of the ordinance it takes a two-thirds vote of the council. Again, the five aldermen present voted “Yes” requiring Mitchell to also vote “Yes” in order to achieve the needed six votes.

Council members then voted on an Emergency Clause allowing the ordinance to go into effect immediately. Again, a two-thirds vote is required and again the five aldermen in attendance voted “Yes” with the mayor also voting “Yes.”

Miller then presented the council with a resolution that sets aside $100 each for the, “change fund and petty cash accounts.” The resolution passed five to three. The change fund will be kept in the cash register.

After the vote Alderwoman Ratliff realized the resolution was not placed on the agenda. After she made the motion, and it was seconded, the council and mayor all voted “Yes” to attain the six votes needed to place it on the agenda.

In other business during the May 16 meeting;

Alexander’s prosecuting attorney Pat Marshall’s request for an increase in her monthly salary was approved. The increase was proposed and discussed during the April meeting. Marshall asked for an increase from $500 per month to $750 due to an increase in the work load.

During the April meeting Alderwoman Andrea Bearden wanted to know how many hours she spends in pre-trial preparation. According to Bearden’s research a part-time prosecuting attorney earns around $34,000 per year. Also at that meeting Alderman Farren Wadley said he isn’t concerned about how many hours she’s working as long as she’s doing her job well, she deserves the increase.

At the May meeting Police Chief Robert Burnett told council members Marshall has been spending many hours at city hall helping the department with cases.

This was another item of business that had to be added to the agenda. Again, Mayor Mitchell had to vote “Yes” in order to attain the six votes needed to add the item to the agenda.

Fire Chief Mark Ridgeway told council members the city’s fire rating will soon change from class-3 to class-2. This improvement in the rating has been a goal since Ridgeway took over the department about a year ago.

During his monthly report Police Chief Robert Burnett introduced council members to Assistant Police Chief Richard Harper. Burnett said one of Harper’s duties will be to put new officers, including those who have graduated from the training academy, through a program designed to weed out any officers who could pose a problem.

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council will be Monday, June 20. Meetings are held at 6pm in the courtroom in the City of Alexander Municipal Complex on Highway 111. The public is invited to attend.