Interview with Councilman May

Saturday, September 16, 2006 I had the opportunity to discuss some of the issues facing Overland with Councilman Jerry May of Ward 1 (one of my 2 Council Members). I hope other members of the Council and perhaps even the Mayor will agree to interviews in the coming weeks as well. Councilman May deserves credit for being the first one to be kind enough to consent to an interview.

I had a long list of questions for Councilman May and he answered them all. We had a great discussion. I found him to be straightforward, laid back, and genuine, characteristics I would not have expected from anyone in politics. However, the more I am involved locally, the more I learn that there are a lot of people who are involved because of what they believe they can do for the community rather than what they can get out of it.

I think the most important comment that came out of this discussion was when Councilman May said "It is not about Mayor Purzner, it is about her actions". He wanted to make it clear that his concerns are about some of the actions the Mayor has taken, and the lawsuits that have followed as a result. Councilman May expressed repeatedly to me that he wished the Mayor and others would open up lines of communication and try to work together to find mutually agreeable compromises. He was adamant however that the Council needs to fight to ensure the Mayor follows the rules or we will just end up with more and more lawsuits. Councilman May doesn't feel that compromise is impossible, but knows that nothing can happen without communication.

Councilman May and I discussed the various letters that have been left in people's mail boxes and on their doors throughout Overland. He told me that he has only received 3 calls from residents and that he had good, productive conversations with those willing to talk. He said he was considering producing a letter of his own, possibly for publication in the Localite.

Some of the questions many of us have had were addressed. I learned that there has been no effort on the Part of the Mayor, or the Budget Committee Chairman Councilman Knode, to attempt to address the differences the Council has concerning the general revenue budget since it was voted down the second time. They do not appear to be making any attempt at all to negotiate or try to find a compromise. As a result, I suspect the next regularly scheduled Council meeting will present the same Budget as was presented the last two times that failed to get a Majority vote. I confirmed that the Mayor's General Revenue Budget proposal does not fund filling the 4 police officers and 1 dispatcher vacancies at the Overland Police Department or the 2 vacancies at Public Works.

Councilman May explained that the City Attorney has stated repeatedly that it requires a vote of 5 members of the Council to pass and Ordinance or a Resolution, but only a simple majority to pass anything else. I was also able to confirm that the Mayor did not Veto the promotion of 4 police officers at the June 26th, 2006 executive session and that the Mayor also did not present a Veto of those promotions to the City Council at or before the July 10th regularly scheduled City Council Meeting.

I asked Councilman May about the issues we currently have with Residents comments. He told me that he thinks all the residents who ask to speak should be able to. He's concerned that the city is risking a lawsuit over such a minor issue. As Councilman May pointed out, we have voted to extend residents comments at both the August 14th and the July 10th meetings, under Mayor Purzner. We also voted to extend residents comments as needed under the previous Mayor. Precedent has been set in Overland to do this, and Councilman May is concerned that failing to extend comments at this point is unfair to the residents. It takes the opportunity for residents to participate away, and it will likely take City funds away due to the costs of lawsuits that are likely to follow. I happen to agree. As I understand it, only 6 other residents submitted cards to be able to speak at the September 11th Council Meeting. The Council was forced to argue for over 80 minutes on whether or not to allow 18 more minutes of comments. Why would we risk losing lawsuits that could cost the City hundreds of thousands of dollars or more over just 18 minutes of additional comments from residents? I am surprised at Mayor Purzner's position on this issue considering what a strong advocate for residents comments she used to be when she was a member of the City Council.

When I asked Councilman May what he thought about calling the meeting to order, calling the roll, and then starting resident comments, he said he would be all for it if it will give us a more orderly meeting and protect the rights of the residents. Councilman May explained that he voted with the entire Council to adjourn the September 11th meeting because he felt they were accomplishing nothing other than risking another lawsuit. Councilman May also wanted it added to the record that he and several others on the Council opposed restrictions that violated the rights of Overland residents.

I asked Councilman May about Councilman Knode's recent letter to Ward 1 where he states that the Mayor was within her rights to appoint an interim Police Chief and City Attorney. Councilman May said that the Court ruled against this, these men had not died or resigned so there was no vacancy needing an emergency replacement.

My own research shows that according the Missouri Revised Statues, Chapter 77, Section 77.370 Subsection 5: "The term of office for each of the officers is two years except the office of mayor and the marshal which are four-year terms. All officers hold office until their successors are duly elected or appointed and qualified." (emphasis mine). Meaning basically that officers remain in their positions until properly relieved. In this case, according to Missouri Revised Statues, Chapter 77, Section 77.340: "The mayor, with the consent and approval of a majority of the members elected to the city council, shall have power to appoint a street commissioner and such other officers as he may be authorized by ordinance to appoint." (emphasis mine). The law seems VERY clear on this issue. Of course I would welcome the opportunity to Interview Councilman Knode on this and other issues facing the City of Overland.

When asked about Trash Collection, Councilman May confirmed that the Trash collection bill had gone up to 1.2 million dollars, which is why the City was forced to end the service. The choices are to reduce police officers on the street or ask the residents to pay for the trash collection. He told me the Mayor has expressed in past meetings that we could stop collecting yard waste and recycling as a way to reduce to service costs.

Consider: the Mayor's own comments on this at the Nov. 8th 2005 City Council Meeting (that I recounted in this article):

From the Minutes of the Nov. 8th 2005 Council Meeting:

OLD BUSINESS
Councilman Purzner asked if there could be a choice to pay for
recycling and yard waste, some residents do not use these.

Councilman May stated he feels that having fully staffed Police and Public Works departments has got to come first, for the safety of the residents. Most residents I have talked to seem to agree, once they realize their choice is to pay for their trash collection with $15.00 a month, or 4 less Police Officers, 1 Less Dispatcher, and 2 Less Public Works employees.

I asked Councilman May what we could do to make our City more "business-friendly". He believes that we need to advertise. He suggested the rolling marquee that was included in the City Capital Improvements Budget and would like to see a second one added in the future. Keeping the public informed and promoting local businesses through these signs are a good place to start. He would like to see the City return to the table to work out a plan to improve the Woodson shopping strip between Midland and Lackland.

Councilman May also feels we need to focus on light industry at Page and Woodson because the City has not been able to attract any anchor retailers to that site in years. Councilman May pointed out that light industry would bring in jobs for the residents. It would also be a boost to local retailers and restaurants as the people working in the area would be likely to shop and eat here on their lunch hours (resulting in higher sales tax revenues for Overland as well).

Councilman May agreed that the Public Works department is lacking in direction and leadership. He suggested that we need to refocus Public Works on customer service. One solution for business would be to produce a check list of requirements that they can obtain in advance to better allow them to plan.

His most interesting idea to me was something that addresses a host of problems, all at the same time. Councilman May said "If you are going to have a Police department, then have the best one you can possibly have." He believes that holds true for Public Works, City Inspectors, Dispatchers, etc. Councilman May believes that if you develop these departments to be the best, not only would the residents and businesses of Overland be better served, but you have the potential of contracting these services to other Municipalities as well (as we currently do with dispatching). This could reduce the costs of these departments by providing revenue steams from them. The end result could be better services for everyone at a much lower cost.

I asked Councilman May about hiring a City Administrator. He told me he fully supported it. He felt that the City could be run more effectively with a full time Administrator and that the Administrator could actively work to bring more businesses to Overland. He wants to ensure that the right person is hired for the job. As a result he supports using the East-West Gateway Association (assuming they would even come back considering what happened in the past) to ensure that the best qualified person, not the best politically connected person, was hired.

When asked, Councilman May also expressed support for the idea of looking into developing a volunteer corps of residents to help out in times of emergency. He is open to the idea of funding training and the possible insurance costs increases if it helps make Overland a safer and more secure community. We can also look in the host of available grants from FEMA and the AmeriCorps and other Federal Agencies.

I asked Councilman May about several rumors that have been circulating around town lately. He told me he did not know if the Mayor was attempting to sell Wild Acres, that all he has seen or heard are rumors on the subject. He told me that he voted against paying a Consultant the Mayor wanted to see paid $800.00 at the August 14th City Council Meeting because there was never a vote of the Council to authorize his services and the Mayor has produced nothing in writing to verify what the gentleman was hired to work on. The Council has not even been given the opportunity to speak with this person. It is my understanding that the Mayor has still not given the Council any information on this matter.

Councilman May expressed concern over Mayor Purzner's personal website. He stated that he felt the Council has been handling so many problems and issues that this one slipped by but that he felt they were negligent in not addressing it. He is greatly concerned with how the connection of this website to the official City site looks. He was concerned that people would feel the views expressed on the Mayor's site were that of Overland because of this connection. Councilman May further explained that he feared the City could be entangled in yet more lawsuits should anyone choose to file a suit against the Mayor over some of the content on her site. The link to her site from the City site could suggest approval of the content by the City of Overland. A smart attorney could file against the City over issues regarding the Mayor's personal site as a result. Even if the City won such a suit we would still lose due to the expense of defending against it in court.

Finally, I asked him about what might happen should the Mayor be recalled. With all the rumors around about various recall efforts it is possible that the Mayor could be recalled. If the Mayor was recalled, Councilman May, being the President Pro Tem of the Council, would replace the Mayor. He told me he hoped if a recall did happen that the City would be able to quickly get a Mayoral election on the ballot so that the people of Overland could select their own choice to replace Mayor Purzner.

Councilman May says he wants to move forward, but without lines of communication being opened by the Mayor and some on the Council he feels it will be difficult, if not impossible. Compromise is the only option, but it takes two willing sides to exercise it. So far, we only seem to have one.