I’m not reading social media like I used to do but was notified of some social media chatter on the budget, what I said at the budget work session, and some contradictions have been reported. (I did not search for these.)
There was a budget retreat in February this year. Staff presented their budget requests. We had NO handouts from the department heads presentation except for the recreation department. The recreation department head passed these out to each council member. After lunch, the "goals" we submitted were hung on the wall. Each council member and mayor were given colored dots and we were told to rate per the color what we considered 1st, 2nd, and 3rd priority. NONE of the items were from the department heads budget request. And the items listed did not have a cost associated to them either. Justin Alexander and I took a council orientation class at AGOG (Appalachian Council of Government) in Greenville. After that class, I suggested to the City Administrator that one of the recommendations was to have the council set goals for the city before the department heads put their budget requests together.) Goals were done AFTERWARDS! There was no discussion on what staff presented. Councilmember Justin Alexander brought up the Olive Street Roundabout and the $400,000 the city should contribute to the cost. So how could we have discussed a budget when we had NO documentation? The budget retreat for 2024 was held in February and in the afternoon, we discussed the items submitted by the department heads and we had a copy of the presentation. Why did we get to discuss it last year and not this year???
As I said in the council work session, I had to request a copy of the February 2025 presentation. After a follow-up email, the document was finally sent to the council.
Also, the council DID NOT have the copy of the presentation shown in the May 12 work session and the document that was supposed to be shown in the regular council meeting. Only after the meeting, this was put on the city's website so we were able to get copies from the website. Why wasn’t this in our packet?
I did not have any concerns about not discussing the actual budget in February as I knew the (Finance) Policy and Procedures manual reads “the council is to have a budget retreat in March.” This is the same document the mayor kept holding up and reading from but she did not read the part about the budget retreat in March. So why didn’t she read that part of the policy??
The attorney’s response to the mayor’s question to ‘explain the mayor/council form of government’ was “The council tasks the city administrator to sphere head putting the budget together.” The state law mandates the responsibilities of the mayor for the mayor/council form of government. Here is SECTION 5-9-30. Responsibilities and powers of mayor.
The mayor shall be the chief administrative officer of the municipality. He shall be responsible to the council for the administration of all city affairs placed in his charge by or under Chapters 1 through 17. He shall have the following powers and duties:
(1) to appoint and, when he deems it necessary for the good of the municipality, suspend or remove all municipal employees and appointive administrative officers provided for by or under Chapters 1 through 17, except as otherwise provided by law, or personnel rules adopted pursuant to Chapters 1 through 17. He may authorize any administrative officer who is subject to his direction and supervision to exercise these powers with respect to subordinates in that officer's department, office or agency;
(2) to direct and supervise the administration of all departments, offices and agencies of the municipality except as otherwise provided by Chapters 1 through 17;
(3) to preside at meetings of the council and vote as other councilmen;
(4) to act to insure that all laws, provisions of Chapters 1 through 17 and ordinances of the council, subject to enforcement by him or by officers subject to his direction and supervision, are faithfully executed;
(5) to prepare and submit the annual budget and capital program to the council;
(6) to submit to the council and make available to the public a complete report on the finances and administrative activities of the municipality as of the end of each fiscal year; and
(7) to make such other reports as the council may require concerning the operations of municipal departments, offices and agencies subject to his direction and supervision.
I have taken the classes possible from MASC . I constantly research the law and ordinances to make sure the actions of the council and the city are correct. My slogan for my campaign was “Fighting for what’s right.” Little did I know how much effort this fight would take, especially when there is little or no support from the council members. (I really do appreciate the support I get from people who do read this blog and thank me for it.) I do respect everyone has their own opinion but my expectation is that everyone should be a participant in the discussions and make suggestions for the betterment of the city.
The council was mostly passive with the prior administration and continues in this administration. The council’s duty is not to just show up and vote. It is, but not limited to, making/changing policy, creating ordinances, requesting items to be put on the agenda for discussions, making sure the budget is what is best for the city, and making sure expenditures are needed and not wasteful spending. The state law has vested all municipal powers in the council as per SECTION 5-7-160. Powers of municipality vested in council; quorum.
All powers of the municipality are vested in the council, except as otherwise provided by law, and the council shall provide for the exercise thereof and for the performance of all duties and obligations imposed on the municipality by law. A majority of the total membership of the council shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of transacting council business.
All the areas of our responsibility should be laid out in rules and procedures of the council. I tried getting this on the agenda but could not get the majority to agree. There is a lack in participation. It is our job; it is why we were elected and this is what we are supposed to do.
I hope you choose to attend the public hearing for this budget at the June 9th council meeting. If you have concerns with this budget, attend the meeting and speak out. This budget is 11 million dollars more than last year. We were told there was hospitality money in the fund balance that had been in there for a while. Why was the council not told about this? The city needs to be a little more conservative. There will be a new fire department that will need to be paid for as well as the three-million-dollar fire truck in the near future. I guess the city will borrow money to pay for this.
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