Mayor called to task at special Snyder City Council meeting Monday night

Agenda items:

• Public Participation
• Budget amendments for City of Snyder, police department, and animal control
• Grant reimbursement appropriation for storm siren, REAP, and fire department
• Snyder code of ordinances regarding the removal of officers from office (Mayor)
• Budgetary concerns over police department expenditures and required curtailment of training and vehicle expenses
• Adoption of SPWA Resolution establishing fees for water and sewer services

Council member Teresa Mills had removal of the mayor put on the agenda. She stated that she always hears how the mayor's style is "laid back, let everything roll," and letting department heads have free reign is what led to the current situation for the city. She said if she had gotten the numbers she repeatedly asked for after taking office we would have known that the ex-city clerk  who had been telling them that they had money and bills were paid had been basically "lying through her teeth because she knew she was hiding checks and knew bills weren't getting paid and employees were not being taken care of on their insurance and tax payments."

Mills said that she had talked to a lot of citizens who were tired of things just being allowed to roll along. "We still don't have an audit started. We are losing gas tax money every month because we don't have a current audit." The previous clerk just kept saying they were working on getting an audit.

Mills also said she's asked and asked for the police department issues to be taken more seriously. Even the condition of the police station office and police cars are awful. She said people have told her that they wouldn't work back there "because it's a pig sty. It's dirty and cluttered and things can't be found. Paperwork is not being filed at Hobart.

"There's got to be a handle. All I'm asking you to do is stand up and take charge and oversee. Don't give Johnny McBee free reign." She said officers who have worked there have quoted McBee as saying "I have the mayor in my back pocket."

Mayor Gary Anderson replied, "I can't address what's been said in private behind my back, but I don't think that's the situation. I do talk to the chief several times a week. He reports what's going on. I've told him that the cars and the department needs to be cleaned up. We're in the process of removing a desk or two and trying to get it where it's a little easier for them to keep it clean. They have been smoking back there and that's been stopped."

Mills retorted, "[Keeping] Johnny McBee as chief is not taking control. All he's worried about is counting it as his town. We've got to have professionalism. You've lost one in particular very good officer and some a couple more reserves."

Anderson said that on an exit interview he was told they were getting too much harassment.

"From me? No, fraid not," Mills replied.

Assistant Clerk Sherry Krause said she and the other girls in the office "have had it.
Something has got to give. We are grown adults here, not 2 yrs old. If we can't do our job and get along like we're supposed to, forget it, we don't need to be here."

Mills said, "Getting along is not solving the problems."

Anderson said, "We are sitting here bickering like a bunch of 5 year olds with a water plant falling down around our ears, other issues, streets that need addressing, a lot of important issues other than whether my style of management vs your style of management..."

Mills said, "it's not my style, i'm telling you what the citizens are saying. I'm just asking that these things be addressed. I'm asking you to get up off your butt and take charge and take care of stuff! We've got to see something move on the water plant, we've been talking about it for months."

Council member Spud Kirk joined in saying that this job takes a little while to grasp the magnitude of it and he hopes it has come to light what is required. We do have to take a positive grasp on everything and everybody take hold and go on there have to be positive changes he said. "The mayor is in fact the city manager and we do need to allow time, we do have an elected representative of the city and he needs a little time... On the other hand there were times when there should have been more action a lot quicker than there was and other people had to step up. "We do need to take positive steps and go on and put this disruptive time behind us."

City Clerk Tammy Biddle said, "Looking at it from the inside out...a lot of the complaints - we had Lori sitting there telling us everything's ok, I've got this she made a very good show of it. There was a horrible division of labor in this office. Things were pushed onto people that they shouldn't have been doing and she wasn't doing 9/10 of what she should have been doing. That created a backlog because things were heaped on Sherry that she shouldn't have been responsible for.

"It takes three people three days to enter readings from the meters and four people two days to get the bills out. Imagine Sherry doing this entirely by herself for two years without any help from Lori. All the time there was Lori sitting there telling everybody it's okay. It wasn't just Gary she duped, she duped this entire city council. She duped each and every one of you into believing.

Biddle continued, "I'm not going to give up until I straighten this mess up to the best of my ability. I'm trying to help each and every one of you citizens get to where they need to be and every one of these council members just like Sherry and just like Patti. Sitting here bickering and pointing fingers is not getting us anywhere.

"All we're trying to say is yes, Gary should have stepped up a few more times than he did. He realizes his mistake now because he had Lori sitting here saying it's alright, we got this, Well you didn't get this."

Patti Mountford said that's all the more reason there should be a full audit.

Biddle said they are advertising for an auditor now and doing everything possible to get the audit done because they realize lack of an audit has cost the city a lot of money. "You've lost 2007 gas excise taxes, you almost lost 2008 by 2 days because the audit had to be in to the state by Dec. 31, 2009 it made it to the state Dec 28.

"Bottom line I support Teresa. There are several instances that Gary should have stepped up and we've been prodding him to step up a whole lot more. Lori had him into a rhythm he only had to come in a few hours every day, it's all running nice and smooth, no complaints, everything was being pushed under a giant carpet. This carpet has now exploded out from under you. He's trying to find his feet and find out how much time he does need to spend in this office.

"We're going to get it figured out. None of us are giving up. You were duped, they were duped, we're just asking for your patience. Let us help you try to figure this out where we can get this back on an even keel."

Mountford said, "I think you do have people's patience because y'all were a God send. Y'all were the ones who found out what was going on. If she hadn't gone to Alaska we'd still be getting told everything's okay."

Biddle said, "You realize your council gave her a raise as she was handing in her resignation. I'm still working for $9.50 an hour. I promise you it's not enough for me to stay here long term but I am not going to give up until this situation is sorted out and this city is back to normal and the citizens are going to be taken care of."

Kirk said, "I appreciate everything you've done and I personally would like to apologize to Sherry. I didn't know the situation and the load she was working under. i really apprecitae her for hanging in during all that. We all should think about the fact what we ask a mayor to do for $300 a month."

Patti Locklear, city treasurer, said, "It's very hard to work here - emotionally you get people yelling, screaming, then you come to a council meeting - if it's arguing in here it's that much harder. You just cringe coming to a council meeting. It makes it harder on us working too. If everybody could get along we can fix it, but I commend you [Sherry] for staying for two years."

Shirley Mills replied, "You don't get everything solved by everybody getting along. You have to have discussions. It doesn't mean we're criticizing you. I appreciate all the improvements you made. I think Teresa isn't criticizing Gary, she's just trying to get him to step up. That's not bickering, that's asking. All the council members need to step and make sure the finances are being taken care of."

Kirk said, "I'll be the first one to say i was caught totally off guard. I was given false information. ... We asked for budget reports every month but we didn't get them. There was always an excuse. These girls have done a fantastic job."

Mills said she appreciates the city hall employees. She said she does speak her mind and she wasn't elected to come in and "schmooze along with everyone else and get along great." She said she doesn't want to bicker and argue, she just wants action.

"We've been in here since May and we have accomplished not diddly squat except what we've accomplished since you guys (the new city clerk and treasurer) have gotten in here
and got stuff straightened out. Pretty much other than that we've not gotten anything done."

Anderson replied that they are moving forward on the water plant.

Kirk concurred. "We are moving forward we have gotten off high center," he said. "I think having someone who's always wanting to present a view point even though they know everyone's not going to agree with it, because they know it's right - there's nothing wrong with that. That's a strong thing."

City Attorney Shane McLaury said he wanted to speak to the legalities of what was going on. He said he spoke with Mills and Anderson separately about the causes and procedures for removal from office and he wanted to make sure the other council members understood. This ordinance is mirrored on state law. It allows removal of appointed and hired officers and employees from office, but does not apply to elected officials such a council member or the mayor.

"I think Teresa did want to voice her concerns and she's done a very good job of that tonight and she's had support from some of the citizens and each of you have too," he said. "In my opinion there's not really any action to take against the mayor on this other than voice concerns as Teresa has been doing."

McLaury went on to say that in order to remove an elected official from office it has to be done by the state district attorney or by the attorney general's office according to state law. He recommended going on and proceeding past the matter.

No action was required.

During public participation Shirley Mills asked how much money is being saved by the trash service switching to poly carts instead of dumpsters. Mayor Anderson replied that it's hard to tell, but at least $5 per customer. Teresa Mills said she has heard a lot of negative feedback regarding the change; city hall employees reported the same.

Kirk said he originally was against them, but after learning about the service offered by IESI and studying the pros and cons he decided they are a good idea. Positive aspects of the poly carts include: absolute control over personal trash with the container remaining on your property until it's dumped; the city's expense of keeping roll off boxes for bulky items will be over because large items will be picked up by IESI at the curb; anyone unable to move their cart to the street has only to let them know and they will collect the cart and return it to their house; anyone needing an extra cart may request it for an extra $5.95 per month.

Kirk stated that all other similar size cities have gone to the carts and it was inevitable that we would have to switch eventually. Businesses will still have dumpsters in the alleys. Concerns were voiced about country people using the dumpsters. City Attorney Shane McLaury said there is a 1993 ordinance against unauthorized use of dumpsters.

Biddle told the council that the budget amendment items and grant reimbursement were tied together. She and treasurer Patti Locklear discovered that funds from a REAP grant had not been reimbursed to the Street & Alley fund, so that account has an extra $17,902.09. The fire department account had not received funds from a State of Oklahoma annual grant totaling $5,100, and $18,843.75 from a Dept. of Civil Emergency Management storm sirens grant had not been reimbursed to the city hall account. Also, some payroll expenses which were actually SPWA had not been reimbursed to the city hall account. These reimbursements brought all budget balances back in the black, but the budgets will have to be amended at a later date.

Police department spending has long been a bone of contention with the council. Mills suggested that 24/7 patrols are not needed. Hours could be cut back with an officer on call who would only be paid if called out. Kiowa County Sheriff Department assured her that any time the city should have a lapse in coverage, if the officer could not be reached, they would be glad to step in and assist.

Assistant Chief Terry Taylor said he has been working on the scheduling and they are trying to cut back as much as possible but we also want to provide 24 hour coverage for the citizens

There was some discussion about dissatisfaction with Chief Johnny McBee, who was not present at the meeting although his department budget was on the agenda. Several citizens said they never see him outside the office - he needs to be more visible and seen out on the streets. Tannah Abernathy asked what the chief does. Taylor replied that he is responsible for all administrative and other daily business. The mayor was very defensive of the chief.

Another complaint was about the door to the police station being kept locked. Several agreed that the door should be unlocked whenever an officer is present in the office.

Biddle said that you have to know how much money you have and how much you need to spend and these correct figures were not previously provided to the council.

Anderson said department heads will participate in the budget process this year.

Kirk made a motion for all department heads to present a report of what they might be possible budgetary savings during the remainder of this fiscal year. The reports will be due at the next special council meeting scheduled for March 29. Motion was approved.

Establishing fees for water and sewer service was tabled again due to Ronny Jones, representative of Rural Development, not being able to attend.

Kirk commented on how good it is to see citizens attending the meeting and voicing their opinions.

Anderson reported a place has been approved for burning tree limbs from the ice storm. Department of Environmental Quality and two other agencies had to approve the site. Residents may place their limbs by the street and the city crews will pick them up.

The council meeting was adjourned and Public Works Authority was called to order at 8:26 p.m.

Snyder Public Works Authority

Under public participation Bill Ford stated his water bill is about three times higher than normal. Biddle said she would put out a work order for his meter to be checked, and if it is faulty his bill will be averaged.

Funds transferred from SPWA to the city account as per discussion in the council meeting was approved and water and sewer fees were also tabled.

Final contract with IESI for trash service was approved after minor adjustments requested by McLaury had been made. Mills voted no.

Carol Middick made a presentation to the council regarding the possibility of building a water bottling company when the new water plant is built. She said the city could clear $86,400 per year from such a business, plus jobs would be created. Her main point was that the city should not sell any more water to entities such as CKT without looking at other options.

Council members thought the idea has some merit and would be worth checking out after the new water plant is built.

Randy Archer, member of the water plant advisory committee, explained again the findings of the committee. He listed the three options: number one choice - building a reverse osmosis plant which will need a supplemental water source; building a chloramine plant with surface water from Tom Steed; or at the very minimum repairing the existing plant.

The council approved a motion by Kirk to accept the findings of the committee, and extend the authority to the committee to investigate financing of the plant.

The next council meeting will be the regular monthly meeting, March 15.