Many of the city’s vendors who appeared on last Thursday night’s claims docket still have not been paid.
Mayor Steve Rosenthal said this week that he took emergency action to make sure the city’s multiple insurance premiums were paid after an error was made at the conclusion of last week’s meeting of the board.
Several local vendors, among others, are still waiting for someone from City Hall to sign their checks.
In order for this to happen, an impasse between Rosenthal and multiple members of the board will have to end.
Rosenthal said he plans to have a special call meeting – the second since last Thursday’s meeting adjourned – tomorrow in order to clear up the situation.
The mistake occurred when the board held up the approval of the claims docket to examine more closely some of the items on the docket in executive session.
When the board came out of executive session, it entertained and passed several motions, but the meeting was adjourned without the board approving the docket.
Several aldermen entertained the notion of simply calling the meeting back to order, but because that would legally be considered a special call meeting, the public would have to be given three hours notification.
The board has done this in the past, but they were advised by City Attorney Gary Austin not to do it again.
The Enterprise-Tocsin was not present at this meeting, but the paper was provided a video taken at the conclusion of the regular meeting.
In the video, Rosenthal attempted to clarify with Ward 4 Alderman Marvin Elder – the person who was responsible for making motions once the board came out of executive session – if he indeed asked Elder if all motions had been made.
Ward 5 Alderman Sam Brock, however, interrupted Rosenthal on four different occasions, shouting, “No, no, no, no” with each shout louder than the last.
Rosenthal asked Brock to leave the room, but Brock responded, “Na, I ain’t leaving. Hell, I pay my taxes too.”
“I’m sure you do,” Rosenthal can be heard saying, adding that it did not justify his shouting.
Elder explained that the board had been instructed not to reconvene once it had adjourned but still suggested doing it.
“We’re going to have to do it, because tomorrow is a bad day,” Elder said on the video.
Rosenthal left the room and invited the remaining board members to proceed how they saw fit.
Ward 1 Alderman Gary Fratesi and Ward 2 Alderman Darryl Simpson both exited shortly afterward, the video showed.
The meeting was called back into session, and the three remaining board members, , Reuben Woods, Elder and Brock voted to approve the docket.
The E-T has reached out to Elder, Woods and Brock for comment, with no response as of the publication of this article.
Since the second meeting may not have been legal, a special call meeting was announced for 11:45 on Friday morning to straighten up the matter.
Fratesi, Simpson and Rosenthal showed up, but Elder, Woods and Brock were absent.
“Due to not having a quorum, a later meeting will be scheduled to pay the docket,” Rosenthal said on Friday.
Vendor’s checks require a clerk’s signature, Rosenthal said.
Interim City Clerk Charlotte Kilgore indicated to Rosenthal that she would not be signing them on Friday, due to the potential legal implications, and Friday also happened to be her last day on the job.
She submitted her resignation three weeks ago after the board opted not to move on Rosenthal’s recommendation to hire her as the full-time city clerk.
It is Rosenthal’s understanding, based on what he’s been told by Austin and from reading Robert’s Rules of Order that without another special call meeting to approve the docket, anything done from here out regarding checks is likely not legal.
Rosenthal said that a couple of board members already had plans to be out of town on Friday, but if the three remaining board members show up, the matter should be cleared up in minutes.
City employees’ checks do not require the same signature, as they are handled through direct deposit.
