Dear editor,
Alderman Elder made numerous slanderous remarks at his attempted meeting Friday July 10.
Alderman Elder failed to mention that he and the rest of the board were included on all correspondence between the Collier rep and me.
The rep asked for a special call meeting for Thursday the 9th, and I instructed him to send us a copy of his proposal and he could present at our regular meeting on July 13, just four days later.
Out of respect all board members are given details of all presentations Friday prior to Monday’s meeting to allow them time to review.
The Collier rep refused, saying he could not email it.
I immediately emailed him saying to mail it to our paid consult, who was introduced to him at our first meeting, and Hunter could present at the following meeting.
Again he refused.
Alderman Elder said that it was disrespectful that two Aldermen and I not attend the meeting.
The entire board knew that I would not attend unless our consultant had reviewed the proposal in advance.
Alderman Fratesi responded that he would not attend due to late notice and he being in the field working prohibited his attendance.
Alderman Simpson had planned to attend but realized that the notification and the process did not meet any of the requirements, per our special charter, to be official.
Alderman Elder knew that there would be no quorum before it started.
Respect would have been to wait three more days until our regular meeting.
Collier stated that they could save each employee $25 monthly, but our consultant had given the board a proposal that would have saved $32.50 per month for each employee. Where is the respect for the citizens, the employees, the broker and the agent since the board chose the more expensive policy and then tries to defame them?
Lies and “Lies of Omission”
Alderman Elder failed to disclose that at the first meeting that Collier attended. Elder made a motion to hire them without a proposal with none of the other Aldermen seconding Elder’s ridiculous motion.
The very next meeting, Elder again attempted to hire Collier without a proposal, and no Alderman would second that motion either.
The board chose to renew our current policy and task Collier to bring us something new and better to consider. At our next regularly scheduled meeting Alderman Elder tried to add Collier to the agenda knowing that they had not sent the proposal to our consultant and board members for review.
He then said if he could not have his way, he had to leave the meeting, and two other aldermen followed suit ending the meeting before it officially started.
Questions answered:
Lee Rodgers of TLJ Partners, our consulting firm, has provided services for 18-plus years with seven different boards.
On Dec 9, 2019, Alderman Elder voted to retain their services and in Jan 2020 to pay their fee, but he somehow forgot.
During all of those previous 18-plus years no City of Indianola policy has been renewed or issued without TLJ Partners’ unbiased review and recommendation.
Alderman Elder had a sense of urgency to hold a special meeting before anyone had a chance to review Collier’s proposal.
When Collier finally sent the proposal to our consultant for review, Alderman Elder FAILED to attend two separate call meetings to discuss what he was so urgently trying to push through before review.
The consultant feels that what Collier is offering is not bad but has a few quirks that the board needed to be aware of.
The consultant would recommend Collier.
Alderman Elder made mention of payments behind the scenes, but we may need to look in his backyard.
