HURRICANE, W.Va. -- A decision last week by members of the Hurricane City Council not to pay the city's bills was an attempt at "political grandstanding" and potentially illegal, the city's mayor said Tuesday.
The three council members who voted last week not to pay this month's bills met about 20 minutes before the Nov. 2 meeting to discuss the agenda and the city's bills, Mayor Scott Edwards said.
That meeting was a violation of the state's Sunshine Law, Edwards said.
"Two or more members of a governing body cannot get together and discuss what is on the agenda and you cannot deliberate about it," he said.
"He can say whatever he likes, but that is not true," Council member Lana Call responded.
In a special meeting Monday evening, City Council members unanimously voted to pay the city's bills, following the 3-2 vote last week not to pay them.
Council members Call, Patty Hager and Donald Chaney had voted against paying the bills, citing questions about the amount of money the city is spending.
"When we're sent our agendas every month, we only see a copy of the bills that are left to be paid," Call said. "We do not see a total list of the bills."
Call, Hager and Chaney, who were elected in 2007, met before the meeting to look at a list of expenses that had been paid for a new concession stand in Hurricane City Park, Call said.
The bill was not listed specifically on the agenda, and Hager had obtained a copy of it from city hall to share with council members.
"He can call it what he likes," Call said. "It was strictly on the concession stand, going over the amount, then looking at the total, which was astounding."
Edwards was not in attendance at the Nov. 2 meeting, but in Atlanta on a business trip. Council member Brian Ellis also was not at the meeting because of an illness.
Edwards said he does not believe Call, Hager or Chaney would have voted against paying the bills if he had been there.
"For the past 12 months, they've been paying those bills -- every single month. Nothing was different, except the mayor was out of town," he said. "I call it political grandstanding, and it's embarrassing as well as hurtful to the city."
Call denies her vote was based on Edward's presence.
"It wouldn't have made any difference," she said. "I had no idea he was going to be out of town."
Call said her decision to vote against paying the bills was a long time coming.
"It resorted to this, because we can't get answers. They just expect us to approve everything and walk out," she said.
Call said in the past year it's gotten more difficult to get answers about city spending.
"When you see month in and month out, and the money comes in and floats right out, it seems like the city is spending it as fast as it comes in," she said.
Edwards became aware that Call, Hager and Chaney met before the Nov. 2 meeting from a photo e-mailed to him.
At Monday's meeting, Edwards asked the three council members if they held a meeting prior the Nov. 2 meeting. They denied having done so.
At which point, Edwards produced the photo of Call, Hager and Chaney together, holding a copy of that night's agenda and the bills they voted against paying.
HURRICANE, W.Va. -- A decision last week by members of the Hurricane City Council not to pay the city's bills was an attempt at "political grandstanding" and potentially illegal, the city's mayor said Tuesday.
The three council members who voted last week not to pay this month's bills met about 20 minutes before the Nov. 2 meeting to discuss the agenda and the city's bills, Mayor Scott Edwards said.
That meeting was a violation of the state's Sunshine Law, Edwards said.
"Two or more members of a governing body cannot get together and discuss what is on the agenda and you cannot deliberate about it," he said.
"He can say whatever he likes, but that is not true," Council member Lana Call responded.
In a special meeting Monday evening, City Council members unanimously voted to pay the city's bills, following the 3-2 vote last week not to pay them.
Council members Call, Patty Hager and Donald Chaney had voted against paying the bills, citing questions about the amount of money the city is spending.
"When we're sent our agendas every month, we only see a copy of the bills that are left to be paid," Call said. "We do not see a total list of the bills."
Call, Hager and Chaney, who were elected in 2007, met before the meeting to look at a list of expenses that had been paid for a new concession stand in Hurricane City Park, Call said.
The bill was not listed specifically on the agenda, and Hager had obtained a copy of it from city hall to share with council members.
"He can call it what he likes," Call said. "It was strictly on the concession stand, going over the amount, then looking at the total, which was astounding."
Edwards was not in attendance at the Nov. 2 meeting, but in Atlanta on a business trip. Council member Brian Ellis also was not at the meeting because of an illness.
Edwards said he does not believe Call, Hager or Chaney would have voted against paying the bills if he had been there.
"For the past 12 months, they've been paying those bills -- every single month. Nothing was different, except the mayor was out of town," he said. "I call it political grandstanding, and it's embarrassing as well as hurtful to the city."
Call denies her vote was based on Edward's presence.
"It wouldn't have made any difference," she said. "I had no idea he was going to be out of town."
Call said her decision to vote against paying the bills was a long time coming.
"It resorted to this, because we can't get answers. They just expect us to approve everything and walk out," she said.
Call said in the past year it's gotten more difficult to get answers about city spending.
"When you see month in and month out, and the money comes in and floats right out, it seems like the city is spending it as fast as it comes in," she said.
Edwards became aware that Call, Hager and Chaney met before the Nov. 2 meeting from a photo e-mailed to him.
At Monday's meeting, Edwards asked the three council members if they held a meeting prior the Nov. 2 meeting. They denied having done so.
At which point, Edwards produced the photo of Call, Hager and Chaney together, holding a copy of that night's agenda and the bills they voted against paying.
"A picture is worth a thousand words," Edwards said.
When confronted with the photo, the council members admitted to having met to discuss the agenda and the issue of the bills, but said it was not a meeting, Edwards said.
"The crowd went absolutely berserk when they said that," he said.
About 100 people attended Monday's meeting, and several asked the council members to resign, which they declined to do.
Call said the meeting was an attack on the council members.
"I'm 53 years old," Call said. "I have never witnessed anybody do that kind of character assassination in public."
Council members also did not ask any questions Monday evening about the bills they voted against paying, before voting 6-0 to pay them.
"They spoke about things, but none of them... not one of them had any discussion about the bills that a week ago they had questions about," Edwards said.
But Call said council members didn't ask questions because Edwards monopolized the meeting.
"The mayor took it over," Call said. "He was so irate from the onset, he didn't even do the Pledge of Allegiance. That's the way it started and that's the way it ended."
Edwards said he has not discussed pursuing charges against the council members who may have violated the state's Sunshine Law.
"We haven't made up our minds, and we haven't really explored it," he said.
Edwards said he could understand a council voting against paying a bill if there were inappropriate spending or if the city was in financial trouble, "but these are things that were in the budget, and they have been paying on for a whole year."
Hurricane operates on a budget of about $3 million, City Manager Ben Newhouse said.
The city has done an "exemplary" job of staying within its budget, a budget that the city council had approved, Newhouse said.
"If it's not run properly, I would be in jail, to say it lightly," Newhouse said.
If council members did have questions about budgeted items, it is their responsibly to seek out the answers, Edwards said.
"I did ask [on Monday] that they all do their jobs, and be involved a little bit more," he said. "They weren't put in office to simply come to city council meetings, they were put in office to be knowledgeable of what is going on in Hurricane."
Call said she does plan to make a more proactive effort to get information about the city's bills.
"I'll make a trip to that city hall and go from one department to another gathering the info I need," she said. "It seems a shame that I have to do that when that's what those city council meetings are for."
The next Hurricane City Council meeting is scheduled for Dec. 7.
@tag:Reach Veronica Nett at veroni...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5113.
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also the only reason fatboy broke the story first is he loves to trash the city of hurricane. So he was at the meeting yo complain about soundwalls(?) and thus happened. It's not like he's an investigative reporter. For a guy that just copies links and calls it his own news story, while only "writing" an original story once a week is really not a news reporter.
Putnamlive was exsposed of many lies, including plagerism, and making up people and letters to his " letter to the editor" on www.girlofwords.com. Explore the "most commented" section to find out all the goodness.