2014-05-12 Reg - Laserfiche WebLink

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th Ms. Carr stated that she received the packet on May 10 and thereafter made numerous calls to Ms. Pumm, who was unavailable. She stated that she left her cell phone number and upon returning home received a message from Ms. Pumm indicating that she was taking care of the packets for tonight’s meeting and had been unable to take her calls. Ms. Carr stated that it is absolutely inexcusable for three members of Council not to be informed about this meeting. Ms. Pumm informed Ms. Carr that it was not her normal practice to send out emails, but to send the packets out via the Police Department to each member’s home. Ms. Pumm stated that it would be nice if members of Council would inform either herself, members of staff or Mr. Walker of when they going to be out of town, because otherwise they have no idea who is in town or not. Ms. Carr stated that one of the reasons she had not informed City staff that she was going to be out of town is because there was nothing scheduled. Ms. Carr then questioned whether it was the responsibility of the Mayor and Mr. Kraft to contact the other members since they were the ones who had made the decision to have this meeting? Mayor Welsch stated that every member th of Council had been notified of the meeting on Tuesday, May 6. Ms. Carr then asked Mr. Sharpe how he had been informed about the meeting. Mr. Sharpe stated that he had received a packet. Ms. Carr stated that she finds this disturbing because this meeting was about the certification of an election that is being challenged. She honestly believes that this was something that every member of Council should have been made aware of. Ms. Carr stated that it is her understanding that when the challenger asked Ms. Pumm if Mr. Jennings was going to be sworn in that morning, she had stated yes. But the evening before Mr. Jennings was served with a Temporary Restraining Order preventing him from being sworn in. She stated that it was also her understanding that after Mr. Jennings had been served and they attempted to hand him a copy that the City Manager intervened telling him not to touch it, and whisked Mr. Jennings away. Ms. Carr stated that this just does not smell right. She stated that the recount is happening, so she does not understand the urgency for calling this meeting on such short notice. But if the shoe was on the other foot and Mr. Jennings was six votes short she would want him to have the same opportunity for a recount. Ms. Carr stated that she is frustrated and angry that she was treated with so much disrespect as to not be informed. Dropping packets at her home to inform her of a Special meeting is not good enough. Mr. Crow asked for the purpose of having a special called meeting at 8:30 a.m. on a Thursday morning, which was less than two business days from tonight’s meeting. He stated that emails were sent out by members of staff informing citizens that as a result of this special meeting their meetings would have to be rescheduled, but nothing was sent out to members of Council letting them know ahead of time. Mr. Crow then questioned whether the City Attorney had been involved in this process, and if so, who had asked for her assistance. City Manager Walker stated the City Attorney was not involved in calling the meeting. Mr. Crow asked if the City Attorney had been present at the Thursday morning meeting. Mr. Walker stated that she was present. Mr. Crow asked who had asked her to attend. Mr. Walker stated that he had asked her to come. Mr. Crow stated that the notice of the meeting states “Certified Election Results,” for which the City Manager has no role. He stated that he has to agree with his colleague that something just doesn’t smell right, because the flow of information does not seem to be quite the same. Mr. Price stated that historically, the proper protocol is that members of Council are polled to determine their availability for such meetings to ensure that the meeting date and time accommodates everyone. He stated that in his sixteen years of being on Council he has never received a packet informing him of a special meeting, because it was always discussed in advance. Mr. Price stated that the other thing that was troubling to him was to be asked to attend a meeting and certify something prior to a final determination being made, since he already knew that a date had been set by the Court to hear this matter. He stated that the City Manager is not a part of the legislative body and therefore should not have played any role in this process. However the role of the City Clerk is to keep every member of Council informed of all 6