CITY COUNCIL: Knock knock? Who's there? Nobody. No joke.
A seemingly tough approach to budget deliberations for the 2006 fiscal year has foundered with three meetings in a row lacking quorums.
The City Council set an ambitious schedule of meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays through October to go over the administration's proposed $61 million budget for the budget year that began July 1.
On two recent occasions, officials showed up to justify their budget requests, but not enough council members appeared to hear their pitches. Thursday (Aug. 11, 2005) again saw an empty parking lot at City Hall.
City Clerk Laddie Wyatt said Thursday an afternoon phone survey revealed there would be no quorum. City Council President Linda Carter could not be reached for comment on the inability to meet.
Carter was upset Monday (Aug. 8, 2005) at the council's inability at a special meeting to take a vote on an important bond issue, lacking the five votes necessary to approve or defeat the issue.
The present administration is in a "lame duck" mode, with incumbent Mayor Albert T. McWilliams having lost the June primary to Regular Democratic Organization candidate Sharon Robinson-Briggs. McWilliams was forced to run off the party line after angering Democratic bosses.
In political reality, the result may be that all important decisions will be deferred until the change of administrations in January.
But Councilman Cory Storch, a McWilliams partisan, said Wednesday he expects the city budget to be finalized within two weeks.
The budget process has gone every which way in recent years.
One plan involved having each council member invite two more citizens to join an advisory board that meant 21 people were involved in budget decisions.
Presently, only the seven council members decide on budget requests.
Ideally, the council will introduce the budget by Aug. 15, after which time changes can be made. The state expects passage soon after that deadline.
In past years, Plainfield has delayed its budget so long that state officials have warned they would step in and set the budget amount. The city would then have to live with that amount.
Considering that there may be a change in the administration, decisions may be pushed off until after January.
The City Council set an ambitious schedule of meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays through October to go over the administration's proposed $61 million budget for the budget year that began July 1.
On two recent occasions, officials showed up to justify their budget requests, but not enough council members appeared to hear their pitches. Thursday (Aug. 11, 2005) again saw an empty parking lot at City Hall.City Clerk Laddie Wyatt said Thursday an afternoon phone survey revealed there would be no quorum. City Council President Linda Carter could not be reached for comment on the inability to meet.
Carter was upset Monday (Aug. 8, 2005) at the council's inability at a special meeting to take a vote on an important bond issue, lacking the five votes necessary to approve or defeat the issue.
The present administration is in a "lame duck" mode, with incumbent Mayor Albert T. McWilliams having lost the June primary to Regular Democratic Organization candidate Sharon Robinson-Briggs. McWilliams was forced to run off the party line after angering Democratic bosses.
In political reality, the result may be that all important decisions will be deferred until the change of administrations in January.
But Councilman Cory Storch, a McWilliams partisan, said Wednesday he expects the city budget to be finalized within two weeks.
The budget process has gone every which way in recent years.
One plan involved having each council member invite two more citizens to join an advisory board that meant 21 people were involved in budget decisions.
Presently, only the seven council members decide on budget requests.
Ideally, the council will introduce the budget by Aug. 15, after which time changes can be made. The state expects passage soon after that deadline.
In past years, Plainfield has delayed its budget so long that state officials have warned they would step in and set the budget amount. The city would then have to live with that amount.
Considering that there may be a change in the administration, decisions may be pushed off until after January.
--Bernice Paglia
KEYWORDS: City council, budget
posted by Bernice at 10:06 PM
<< Home