Blatant Abuse of Power

The time has come for us to really take a hard look at the process of the decision making that has been going on in our city government during the past four months.  In the City Charter under Chapter 2: Administration, Article II:  Officers & Employees, Division 3:  Town Manager, Section 2-61:  Qualifications:  "A Town Manager shall be chosen solely on the basis of the executive and administrative qualifications with special reference to actual experience in, or knowledge of, accepted practice in respect to the duties of the office as set forth in this chapter."  Yet we have an Acting City Manager, with absolutely NO PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE IN MANAGING A CITY, running our day to day operations and making all the decisions for the past 4 months, with no end in sight!

Section 2-62 continues:  "A councilman shall not receive such appointment during the term for which such councilman shall have been elected unless such councilman shall have resigned from the office as councilman."  Yet we have a council person acting as Acting City Manager, and still retaining all the powers of a council person for the past 4 months.   The Mayor & Vice Mayor are actively resisting plans to initiate proceeding to start the search for a new City Manager.

 In the City Charter Part I, Article V:  Administration, Section C-21, A-(3) part of the City Manager's duties are to "attend all council meetings and he/she shall have the right to take part in discussions, but may not vote."  In our council meetings, our Acting City Manager can propose a resolution, participate in the discussion, and then gets to cast what could be a TIE-BREAKING VOTE.   Every time, she votes on her own resolution in her Vice Mayor capacity. This has been ongoing for the past 4 months.  This gives her more power than any council person or previous City Manager.  This is NOT the way this government was designed to work!  Everything lately seems to be AN EMERGENCY SITUATION, since we're in "The Eye of the Storm" and agendas are being pushed through without in-depth comparisons and studies.  The Mayor & Vice Mayor have their defensive answers prepared in advance to deal with objections from the rest of the council and use their combined powers to approve their agendas.  They seem to be very much in sync in preparation of the meetings.  This suggests that they are communicating outside the guidelines of the Sunshine Law.  We must insist that only official e-mail addresses are used to communicate with each other and the council members. 

Section C-21 (8)  goes on to state under Town Manager duties:  "To keep council fully and continuously advised as to the financial condition and future needs of the town and make such recommendations to council concerning affairs of the town as he/she deems desirable."  That means full disclosure, not half-truths or using deceptive language to mislead and trick council into approving a resolution, like the one to obtain an additional $2.68 Million dollar loan on October 25th.

Section C-20 (B) states:  "In the event that, by reason of death, sickness, resignation, absence or discharge of the City Manager, the office of City Manager shall be temporarily vacant, the City Council shall appoint an Acting Manager to act pending the filling of the vacancy, and such Acting Manager shall have TEMPORARILY the powers hereby vested in a City Manager for a period of thirty (30) days. The initial thirty-day vacancy may be renewable for additional thirty (30) day periods AS NECESSARY to fill the vacancy of Town Manager. Any member of the City Council may serve, temporarily, as Acting City Manager while serving as a Council Member."

Does this mean that this can go on indefinitely for as long a period as the Mayor and Acting City Manager/Vice Mayor choose, or does the Council have a say in this?  According to the City Charter, the Council appoints a City Manager.  If the search is not started for a permanent City Manager, it will remain NECESSARY FOR AN UNLIMITED TIME, and the term TEMPORARY is no longer applicable. The Mayor and Vice Mayor seem quite content with this temporary situation.

  We MUST put a stop to this abuse of power, and the public should demand that a search for a New City Manager begin IMMEDIATELY.  This process will require at least 30 to 60 days, which means another 30 - 60 days that our Acting City Manager and Mayor have unchecked, full control over what happens to our future.  This is a very dangerous situation, since there are no checks and balances.  They only need one council person on their side to pass everything they want.  Our City Charter should be changed to put a time limit in place as to how long an Acting City Manager can remain in this dual role.  She should not be able to cast a tie-breaking vote on her own agendas.  We are paying our hard-earned money for a top notch attorney.  Why isn't he protecting our rights?  Is he getting paid just to advise the Mayor and City Manager to promote their agenda?