Ordinances Sponsored
To place for bid, the sale of the Legacy Golf Course. This operation has been a burden on the taxpayers to try and manage too long! Many members of the city Board of Aldermen will agree that the course was a mistake in the size and scope of project. The original concept was for a "community course," but it wound up as a signature, high end, oversized white elephant. As with most government projects, when no one takes a stand it just gets bigger by the day. I have had two groups of people interested in its purchase. The City Board would not support this.
To determine how too much money is being borrowed by the city, increasing the need for a tax increase and leaving future generations to try and pay, I proposed that any property tax increase must be approved by the voters. Again, the City Board would not support it.
A blatant abuse of the city’s ethics policy by a member of the Board of Aldermen has been known for years. Not one to stand down from what is right, I brought the issue before the board to address. Again, the board would not support correction of the infraction.
A later attempt to change the city’s ethics policy to close any idea of a loop hole to stop the action of the board member only failed by 3-4, with the board member in question being allowed to vote and our mayor voting with three others to NOT CORRECT the loop hole. The board members who supported the change were Cherry, Ellis and Sneed. The ones who voted no were Mayor Carneal and aldermen Hubbard, Mason and Head.
A request to let the people vote by referendum on whether the city should borrow $3 million and add to our $25 million in debt for a duplication of facilities for remedial and some select first and second year college classes. The board voted 3-3 and the proposal failed due to a tie. Voting for the referendum were Cherry, Ellis and Sneed. The ones who voted no, do not let the people decide, were Mayor Carneal and aldermen Hubbard and Mason.
There are many times I have said no to waste and unnecessary spending of our children’s tax dollars and voted against the entire budget. But I can't achieve a conservative and balanced, spend-what-we-can-afford policy when too many others on the board want to say yes to everything the city manager and mayor want to do to support "certain local developers" and "pet projects" with your tax dollars.
Established a travel policy that provides each member with a limit to one national trip and one state trip per year. Additional travel would require the Board of Aldermen’s approval. Before this rule there was no limit and travel expenses for three members totaled more than $23,000 in 18 months.
Stopped the construction of a $65,000 storage shed for plastic pipe. Rolls of plastic pipe do not need a shed, as the manufacturer’s engineers replied to my questions, as they store it outside up to four years. This city department never brought pipe from this manufacturer again.
Fought against the purchase of a $165,000 under-road boring machine for running pipe from one side of road to the other. The city was paying a contractor on an as-needed basis. The total amount of money paid to the contractor in the previous year was about $13,000. They are more professional and assume risk and repairs. The vote was 5-2 in favor of buying. It would take 14 years at that rate of use to justify a break even point of cost, as this fact was pointed out. The machine was so big the city had to buy a larger dual axle dump truck to pull the machine and a supply tank of water for its use. Price tag of truck? $90,000.
