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.

Nothing on Alexander agenda

Unless someone brings an unscheduled guest, or finds something to complain about, there’s nothing listed in the City of Alexander agenda that would entice anyone to attend the meeting. The monthly reports from the department heads are listed but the “Old” and “New” business sections are empty.

The meeting of the Alexander City Council is scheduled for 6 PM Monday, May 16 in the courtroom at the Alexander Municipal Complex across from the post office. The public is invited to attend.

Meadow’s Edge Phase-1 approved

(Correction made in paragraph six.)

The Alexander City Council has approved the final design of Phase-1 for the new Meadow’s Edge subdivision. Planning Commission Chairman Bob McKeon told council members the commission approved the design with a recommendation that the council do the same.

Phase-1 includes 60 lots. Developers estimate the subdivision should have around 300 homes when completed in four to five years.

Development engineer Joe White told council members housing construction is expected to begin in May with completion on some of the houses in August. He also said a $100,000 bond has been established to guarantee completion of the streets. The first section of the main street entering Meadow’s Edge off Highway 111 is completed.

The recommendation passed by a vote of five to three. Present at the meeting were aldermen Louis Hobbs, Farren Wadley, Andy Mullins, Andrea Bearden, and Melissa Ratliff. Absent were Stephanie Beck, Lonny Chapman and Dan Church. When an alderman is absent it counts as a “No” vote.

In other business at the April 18 meeting;

Chief of Police Robert Burnett reported that 12 citations had been written by the city’s new code enforcement officer Nick Johnson. Johnson was hired last month to work full time in code enforcement, plus as a trained police officer he will be available to backup other officers during the day.

Burnett also announced the hiring of two new police officers; Chance Priest and Richard Harper. Priest has worked in law enforcement since 1993. He is a former Shannon Hills police officer and comes equipped with his own K-9 partner named Rocco. Harper was hired last month as the new assistant police chief. After working about two weeks he was sent overseas by the military but is expected to return within the next month.

Alexander’s prosecuting attorney Pat Marshall has asked for an increase in her monthly salary due to an increase in the work load. Marshall is currently paid $500 per month and is asking for an increase to $750.

Before approving the increase Alderwoman Andrea Bearden wants 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. 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.

During the discussion of Mayor Paul Mitchell’s veto of the “Organization of City Council” (OCC) Bearden suggested the 2015 version is still in effect. She proposed a workshop meeting of council members be scheduled to draft a new document. Mitchell said he will work on that.

In a five-to-three vote the OCC was approved at the March 21 meeting. The mayor vetoed it two days later. Council members could have attempted to override the veto but it would have required six votes (two-thirds) to do so.

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 document included language that gave council members full access to city hall and office equipment, “the same as the mayor.” Mitchell has set a policy requiring only office staff can operate office equipment and anyone wanting inside city hall must have an appointment.

Now that the ABC Adolescent Center is no longer using the community center for its after-school program Mayor Mitchell asked if he should return to renting it out as before. The program was ended due to a lack of participation. Council members agreed the center can once again be made available for rental during weekdays.

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council will be Monday, May 16. Meetings are held at 6pm in the courtroom in the City of Alexander Municipal Complex on Highway 111. The public is invited to attend.