It was a very long night for Carmi citizens and Carmi City Council members, as the Tuesday meeting ran for more than 90 minutes.
The over $21,000 bill to the law firm Lashley and Baer dominated the discussion, with community members and even board members gravely concerned about what it will cost given the large number of FOIAs and ADAs requested. Alderman Jack Bradshaw shared his feelings about the issue with acting mayor Doug Hays, hopeful for resolution in the near future with citizens,
J Bradshaw: “This, this here doesn’t really worry me as much as the next bill is gonna be in 30 days. And if it’s gonna be 20-some-thousand dollars, the city of Carmi cannot afford to pay this kind of money.”Hays: “My true goal is to make the town willing to come talk to me before this becomes just the first order. This is, that is my hope, is for communication, for dialogue.”
A pending lawsuit challenges the legality of the firm’s contract, and a prior restraining order preventing payment to Lashley and Baerh has since been lifted. Many pages of the law firm’s bill are mostly redacted; even the board didn’t have unredacted copies, so they weren’t sure why certain payments were included in the statement.
Should the former mayor, Bill Stendeback, be held personally liable for the legal fees in the first 14 days because he authorized the law firm to begin services without council approval? Many citizens wanted that answered and even suggested it happen. With the lawsuit pending, the community will have to wait for that answer; until then, the board must face the repercussions of its actions. With that in mind, Alderwoman Lacey Bradshaw suggested tabling the item until the council meets again on November 2. That was unanimously approved, with a sigh of relief from the visitors.
“Technically, if we have 30 days, this would not be due until November the 7th. We meet before then. So I make a motion that we table this invoice payment until every council member has the opportunity to review the unredacted copy of the invoice, and then we pay it if we feel like we should.”
During public comments, a few residents shared their concerns with City personnel and the lack of communication within the Light and Water company. Visitors asked staff and council members to focus on improving the community and do better; answering residents’ calls for help would help.
Landon Rudolph again asked acting Mayor Doug Hays during public comments why he wouldn’t resign as Alderman for Ward 2. Hays gave his answer and expressed his thoughts on the subject,
“I know what I expect out of this chair and out of that office up there, and I am my own worst critic when it comes to, you know, my job. I take pride in what I do, and I truly feel that I’m going to be a good Mayor. I truly believe I can do justice to this office. But if I find out that I cannot, trying to manage other things, I will resign from this seat, and I will go back to that (Alderman Ward 2). This is not about me. This is about the City of Carmi.”
Rudolph said his only worry was that if Hays stayed as Mayor and Alderman and the council split on future decisions, no one would be there to even that out. Hays explained that in his 17 years on the board, the Mayor has never had to break a tie. He also said that if he gave up the Alderman position after the election, he would make sure citizens could elect who fills that spot.
“If the public feels strongly enough to weigh-in, call me. If you call me, you can be anonymous that way. If you want to email me, email me. I will certainly take input from the town. My goal is to service this town, and work with everybody that I can.”
Council members moved on to the remaining agenda items for approval. Those included nine resolutions changing Hays as an authorized signer for the City; an alley closure on November 14 from 8:00 am until 11:00 pm for Danny’s Pool Room, where they will be hosting an all-day pool tournament.
Payments were also approved: $1,911.55 was added to a contract with Wiggs Excavating for the water meter replacements at Carmi Manor, which will be paid from the IEPA loan. The same loan will also cover payments to Brown and Roberts totaling $60,318.70. Lastly, the contract time with Wiggs Excavating was extended by an additional 33 days in case the company needed to return to fix anything or if something was unsatisfactory.
To close out the meeting, John Bolerjack addressed the council regarding the wate water treatment plant.
The next Carmi City Council meeting will be on November 2nd at 5:30 pm, due to that Tuesday being Election Day.