By Pauline Masson –
Ward Two Alderman James Cleeve took on the Pacific Partnership over comments organization leaders made at the Dec. 19 board of aldermen (BOA) meeting.
Speaking at the Jan. 2 BOA meeting, Cleeve said he felt like he took a beating from the Partnership on Dec.19 and he was not happy about it.
“But I just sat here and kept my mouth shut, like a good little boy,” he said.
With time to think it over, he wanted to clarify his position.
“I just want to explain to them – to say, hey, we gave you guys all this information and you didn’t do anything with it.” he said. “In the BOA packet on Nov. 7, there was the financial report from the Partnership in that packet. That was the first financial report we had gotten from them since February.”
“I asked the mayor and city administrator for an update on the contract on Nov. 6 and was told by the mayor that we would discuss in first meeting in December.
“The mayor and city administrator met with Partnership about the contract on Friday Dec. 1. The first time the BOA received anything about the contract and anything to review was on Dec. 7. As part of the special meeting packet, we reviewed the contract and discussed it at the Dec.14 (Administrative Committee) meeting.
“Then we were told (by Partnership leaders) at the last meeting that we had plenty of time to review the contract and we were making the Partnership look bad,” he continued. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad word to say about the Partnership. And, it really gets to me when people want to try to spin stuff, like I’m against the Partnership or I don’t want an agreement with the Partnership or anything like that.
“It’s wrong. I see the value in the Partnership and I want the Partnership to be in partnership with the city. So, whoever doesn’t believe it . . . if you don’t believe it, tough.”
These comments followed Cleeve’s second thoughts rebuke of City Administrator Harold Selby for comments Selby made in the Dec. 19 BOA meeting regarding city employee pay raises and for Selby sending aldermen too many emails.
The ordinance raising the pay of all city employees failed when it was read during the meeting, after Cleeve and Scott Lesh voted ‘No.’ Rafael Madrigal, Anna Meadows and Rick Presley voted yes. Debbie Kelley abstained, which eliminated the opportunity for the mayor to break a tie as she (the mayor) did in the first reading of the bill on Dec. 2.
Cleeve said he was referring to comments Selby made after the pay raise vote failed.
Addressing his comments directly to Selby, Cleeve said, “I don’t think some of the things you said, and the way you went about it was professional, at all.”
“I thought about changing my vote, but you made it real difficult for me, but I rose above that and said I’m not going to worry about what Mr.Selby is saying. I’m going to do the right thing. So that’s what I did.”
He chastised Selby for comments that he (Cleeve) had not spent enough time on the budget.
“I went over every line of that budget,” he said.
His largest line of disappointment in Selby was that Selby had sent him too many email messages regarding the budget.
“One of the things I’ve struggled with, with you Mr. Selby. . . is Mr. Roth always gave us the information in a single document. From you I get a shotgun of information. And I would appreciate it if we could stop doing that. I want the information but I can’t have ten emails on one thing and put it all together.”
He said he spends 15 to 20 hours a week as an alderman.
“I do everything I can – and I can’t add more to my workload.”
Selby apologized for his previous comments, which were made immediately after the employees’ raises ordinance failed.
“I apologize for that,” Selby said. “I apologize to everyone. I was really disappointed when the raises failed. We were in trouble. I knew what was going on downstairs and it wasn’t pretty.
“Major Locke was downstairs trying to figure out how we would go forward,” Selby said. “I was concerned about city workers, especially the police department. Several said they were going to leave. Short circuits were going on all over.”
“But, you won,” he said to Cleeve. “It took courage to change your vote.”
Cleeve, Kelley and Lesh all changed their votes, after Alderman Madrigal asked the city attorney whether the board could recall the failed ordinance and vote again, which Attorney Bob Jones said could do. Cleeve made the motion to recall the ordinance. The board voted unanimously to approve the raises.
Cleeve’s mission to take on the Partnership and Selby was a highlight of sorts of contentious meeting.
Earlier Lesh asked for clarification of earlier discussions on the budget and said he wanted to step up the city’s search for a permanent city administrator.
He made a motion to remove discussion of the new city administrator search from the administrative committee – which Cleeve chairs – and bring a proposed public posting for the job and city administrator job description directly to the BOA Jan. 16 meeting, Cleeve agreed.
Mayor Heather Filley noted that it was the language of the posting and the job description that would be discussed Jan.16, not details of the actual search.
There was also a confusing discussion on citizens getting late charges on water bills that some officials want to see changed. Hometown Matters will follow developments on this story and report to citizens.
The entire two-hour meeting was recorded and is available for viewing on the City’s web page under the Agendas and Minutes section.
