By John Howell Sr.

Against a backdrop of town bills totaling more than triple available revenue, Como town officials met for over three hours Tuesday night, attempting to reconcile municipal business and wrap up loose ends from a series of meetings and attempts at meeting during September.

September recap

Minutes approved Tuesday night state that during a special meeting Tuesday, September 25, aldermen unanimously approved a $1.2 million budget for fiscal 2013. Attempts for an earlier budget approval had failed when a September 15 meeting failed to attract a quorum of the town’s elected officials.

During the September 25 meeting, elected officials made cuts in several municipal departments to bring anticipated expenses under revenues. Cuts were made in the police department, the maintenance department and cut the municipal clerk’s position to part-time, according to the minutes.

Mayor Everette Hill cut his salary in half to further reduce expenses. The mayor followed the lead of three aldermen — Forster Ruhl and Bill Mitchell — who serve without salary.

Selection of the part-time municipal clerk as well as a court clerk was made later in that meeting. Kara Killebrew was hired as town clerk at a salary of $1,000 monthly; Lou Bertha Jones was hired as court clerk at the same rate. The hirings were for three months, “until a determination is made,” the minutes state.

On Tuesday night, with all elected officials, the new municipal clerk and police chief attending and the Como library’s meeting filled with citizens, many meeting minutes were spent discussing payment for lights at a children’s park, partially funded by grant proceeds and presently under construction.

Park construction

Alderman Clark Gregory, who had expressed opposition to paying for the park lights pending an explanation by engineer David Evans, voted with the four other aldermen to pay the $4,000 bill that has been under discussion for two months. Gregory said that the original park plans included no cost to the town for electricity and has repeatedly asked when the specifications were changed without board approval.

“We had a town meeting with the citizens and these are things that were asked for,” park project chairman Josie Birge said. “And the police department requested it.”

Further discussion among elected officials and townspeople raised the question of whether the electricity could be paid from tourism tax proceeds, which now total over $80,000, Mayor Hill said. Several citizens questioned whether racism had become a factor in the payment delays.

North Delta Planning and Development District representative Jeff Walters, who is administrating the park grant, attended  and lent his voice to encourage payment for the lights and for approval of construction to complete the fence surrounding the park.

Walters said that he will request a reduction in the percentage of the town’s in-kind contribution requirements to from 37.5 percent to 30 percent. Walters also asked that costs for the park’s construction and tabulation of the value of in-kind contributions be fully tabulated to be sure the town’s work meets the grant specifications.

Alderman Ruby Higgenbottom asked Walters to push forward with completion the fence construction with a goal of full tabulation by the November 13 meeting.

“Let’s get together and finish this park and move forward,” Hill said.

Cash flow problems

The lack of a town clerk has apparently triggered a cash flow problem, leaving the town on Tuesday night with about $21,000 on hand and over $70,000 in bills payable. The town’s phone service had been cut off, and the electricity bill was two months in arrears, Gregory said.

After lengthy study of the docket of claims and outstanding checks, aldermen voted unanimously to pay with available funds the most urgent bills, including the telephone bill. Compounding the problem, utility bills have been delayed by a software glitch, pushing the anticipated cash flow from municipal customers’ payments later in the month.

Clerks’ hours extended

During another extended discussion Killebrew, the new clerk, explained the difficulties she had encountered at the new post.

“To get that job legal,” Killebrew said, “to pay the finances legally for the town, to make sure the deadlines to submit the budget, to make sure the other deadlines are met, I need to know, do you want me to walk out on my 20th hour?”

“You don’t need to walk out on it, figure out how you can get paid, legal,” Higgenbottom said.

“If the town hall’s a mess, it would be money well spent to get it organized,” Alderman Forster Ruhl said.

Alderman Teresa Dishmon, acknowledging that the court clerk had “catching up” to do also, offered a motion as compromise: Authorize both clerks up to 40 hours, to be paid at an hourly rate for two months.

During the discussion, town board attorney John Calvin Patterson offered to forego for two months his $400 monthly salary to help offset the additional cost of the extra clerk hours.

Birge, from the audience said that if the board moves toward making the clerk’s position full time, “You’ve gone against what you started out to do as making that position a part-time position from beginning … if you eventually roll that position over into a full time job, be aware that you’re going to have lawsuits coming because you eliminated some candidates that were more qualified in order to hire someone part time.”

Ruhl provide the second for Dishmon’s motion, and it passed with Mitchell and Gregory voting for it, Higgenbottom voting against.

Rights not violated

Attorney Patterson announced the findings of an investigation by the town into American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) allegations that a Como police officer had violated a citizen’s constitutional rights.
Donna Taylor had contacted the ACLU about actions of the officer in a September, 2011 incident.

“After full investigation, the Como Police Department is not in violation of any provision of the Constitution. Our investigation into the matter is now over,” Patterson said.