It appeared to be a fairly quick agenda for Carmi City Council to work through Tuesday evening. It turned out to be anything but that and tempers flared just five minutes into the gathering. After a handful of procedural action items including approving minutes, approving a Moran Economic Development invoice, and a pair of resolutions, leaders hit a snag when alderman Jack Bradshaw took umbrage not only with a resolution regarding city council member’s ineligibility for health insurance, but also procedures.
Bradshaw: You’ve got on here that therefore be it resolved by the mayor and the city council, I’m not for this. I didn’t know anything about it until Friday.
City Clerk Cynthia Attebury: That’s when the packets go out.
Bradshaw: Wait a minute, wait a minute, please. I didn’t know anything about this until Friday. And I really think this is something that should’ve been discussed before the council before it was ever brought before the public.
Attebury: Well let’s just take a step back.
Bradshaw: Wait, wait, wait a minute though.
Attebury: We can’t do that.
Bradshaw: Can’t do what?
Attebury: You can’t discuss that with the aldermen…
Mayor Bill Stendeback: Not in closed session.
Bradshaw: You can’t discuss it?
Stendeback and Attebury: Not in closed session.
Bradshaw: Well then I make a motion. I’m gonna make a motion. I make a motion that we do not accept Resolution 10.09.2025 because I’m not for this at all and my name should not have been put on this because I didn’t know anything about it until Friday and I don’t approve of it because it’s affecting other people and the council’s lies. So, I got a motion on the floor…not to…NOT to accept it.
Now let’s back up. The question revolves around a decision made under a previous administration allowing a former council member to participate in the city’s insurance even though they didn’t necessarily qualify. You’re supposed to be an employee that works at least 30 hours a week. Council members don’t log hours or work 30 hours a week for the city.
So what this is…is back when I started in 2017…in 2019 there was an alderman that had the city insurance that was using the city insurance. But there was only one person at that time. So at that time I brought it to the mayor and he decided we could offer the insurance to the rest of the alderpersons. But there is an eligibility that you have to work so many hours per week to have the insurance.
Alderman Tracy Nelson would then second Bradshaw’s motion but wanted to further discuss the issue which resulted in more hairs and voices raised.
Nelson: I’m just giving a comment.
Stendeback: Well, I understand that, but you should…you can talk about it, we tried to talk about it and then he jumps in and makes a motion.
Bradshaw: Now wait a minute, now wait a minute.
Attebury: No, he’s in charge.
Bradshaw: You make a motion, and he seconds it and then you open it up for discussion the way I understand it.
Stendeback: No. You made a motion. He seconded it. Now you have to vote on it.
Bradshaw: Do you? Do you abide by Roberts Rule of Order at this meeting? Because if you do, you have to open it up for discussion between the members of this council.
Stendeback: But not after you make a motion.
Bradshaw: Yes you do. You have to discuss it. You have the right to discuss this motion.
Stendeback: Then you should have done that before you made the motion!
Bradshaw: You’ve got a motion on the floor and a second.
Attebury: Why don’t you hold on a second. She [Holly Healy] is calling Greg Stewart.
The city attorney was then brought in via phone to discuss procedures and if they could continue to discuss the issue after a motion and second or whether they had to vote on it. Stewart advised via phone it would be at the mayor’s discretion and Stendeback allowed the topic to continue. And then it devolved…again.
Stendeback: You either wanted to discuss it or you didn’t.
Bradshaw: I didn’t want…this should’ve been discussed before…
Stendeback: You can’t Jack. You cannot.
Bradshaw: Some things need to be discussed…
Stendeback: You can’t. You’re elected officials all of you. You cannot take that into closed session and talk about it.
Bradshaw: Make the decision…either discuss it or vote on it.
Stendeback: I just said we’ll discuss it.
Bradshaw: You first said vote.
Stendeback: I didn’t know for sure if I could. We’ve got the answer right here.
Bradshaw: I’m waiting on ya.
Stendeback: I’m waiting for you to discuss it. You want to discuss it.
Bradshaw: I just told you how I felt. I felt like I was throwed this on Monday and you’re presenting this as the mayor and city council and I’m not…I didn’t vote for this. I didn’t vote for this. Where’d this even come from? You just brought it out from nowhere. So no, I’m done discussing.
Stendeback: Well I’m not now. I’m not. This was done without council approval to start with. There was no council meeting that that was discussed back when they put whoever on the health insurance. We’re trying to do it the right way and let the council make the decision. It was not done properly the first time. He couldn’t do it; he knew it and he still did it. And I’m going to be honest and just give my opinion. If the rules say you have to work 30 hours a week to be eligible for it, then I don’t feel like you’re eligible for it.
Calmer discussion ensued but the motion created a bird’s nest of understanding on how a yes or no vote would be created due to the “double negative” (a motion to not). A yes vote would essentially allow council members to continue to be eligible for health insurance even though the plan the city has doesn’t technically allow for them to be eligible. A no vote would be to make city council members ineligible for city insurance.
Yes votes were recorded for Greg Knight, Tracy Nelson, Lacey Bradshaw, Mike Knight, Jeremy Courson, and Jack Bradshaw. Mark Blake voted no and Doug Hays chose to abstain. Only one current alderperson is covered under the city’s insurance currently.
More on the city and credit card processing from Tuesday night’s Council meeting is coming in a separate story.