The tug of war between Mayor Ken Featherstone and some of Indianola’s aldermen persists as the city lawmakers overturned a veto issued by Featherstone earlier this month.
Featherstone vetoed an early March motion and voted to allow City Clerk Kaneilia Williams to work from home due to a family illness.
Ward 1 Alderman Gary Fratesi swiftly made a motion to overturn the mayor’s veto.
Featherstone reminded the city board that allowing a city employee to work from home would fall under day-to-day, which would be the mayor’s call, he said.
“You are stepping across the line,” Featherstone said.
Fratesi insisted that it was a change in policy that allowed employees to work from home, something that he said the board is allowed to change, while Featherstone insisted it falls under day-to-day operations.
“We don’t even have a policy working from home,” Featherstone said. And if we do, I would like for you to show all of us. It’s not in the handbook.”
Fratesi said that it had been allowed before.
“That does not make it a policy,” Featherstone responded. “It’s not in black and white.”
Ward 4 Alderman Marvin Elder requested the counsel of Board Attorney Kimberly Merchant.
“It’s one of those gray areas,” Merchant said. “It can be argued that this is a day-to-day decision, and it can be argued that it is policy.”
Featherstone asked Merchant if there was a policy about city employees staying home.
“He is arguing that he is setting policy by making that motion,” Merchant said. “I’m just telling you that it is a gray area. I don’t have a dog in this hunt. Let me be clear.”
Elder said he was glad Merchant brought up the gray area.
“If you read The Enterprise- Tocsin paper Thursday, it mentioned something about the city of Indianola governing in the gray area,” Elder said. “We’ve been working in the gray area so long to we have become numb to working in a gray area, and it needs to stop.”
The motion was carried with one nay from Elder.
