Revelation about City finances overshadowed by personal complaints
(Posted: June 21, 2010)
The standing-room-only crowd that packed the City Council Chamber June 14 in anticipation of a dirty showdown got what they came for. But, as elected officials and city staff hurled jabs at each other, the real news of the day seemed to go virtually unnoticed.
"It seems like we get nothing done. We vote on things, but nothing gets done," said Councilman Wendell McLeod.
Minutes later, Mayor Michele "Mike" Murphy, Mayor Pro Tem Charles Canady and City Secretary Tammy Kirk engaged in a series of charges and counter-charges that seemed to reinforce McLeod's observation and a commonly held notion that personal grudges and a struggle for power may be standing in the way of effective city government in Liberty Hill.
During the Council's regular meeting last week, McLeod brought for discussion the possibility of hiring a city manager. While some Council members agreed it might be time for Liberty Hill to have a manager or full-time administrator, the idea was met by a revelation from Canady that the City's finances may be in trouble as it enters the final quarter of the fiscal year.
"We're barely meeting payroll as it is," Canady said. "The question is who are you going to lay off (in order to hire a city manager)?"
Department heads were notified in recent weeks that they should refrain from spending money on any unnecessary items, even though the items may have been funded in the current year's budget.
Canady told the Council on June 14th that the City has expenses totalling $48,000 for July. However, available cash is limited to $11,098 in TexPool and $38,336 in the General Fund.
"I think we need a city manager, but can we pay for a city manager or a city administrator looking at what we're going to pay out?" he said.
McLeod withdrew the item from further consideration, and the Mayor withdrew her item to hire an assistant for herself. A workshop to discuss the upcoming year's budget is set for 6 p.m. Friday, June 25, in the Council Chamber. Councilman Jack Harkrider suggested the city manager position be discussed again at that time.
Both McLeod and Harkrider have previously expressed frustration that little seems to get accomplished after the Council takes action on some issues. And although it is not clear what was accomplished by last week's public meltdown between the Mayor, Canady, and Secretary Kirk, or if there is a plan for how to move forward, Harkrider said the discussion did not belong in an executive session.
"This sounds like something that happened between you (Mayor) and Tammy, and you (Mayor) and Charles (Canady). I would rather see you guys work this out between you," Harkrider said. "I don't feel comfortable sitting and listenting to personal arguments."
Ms. Kirk told Radio Free Liberty Hill after the meeting that the "Special Meeting" was called by Council members Liz Rundzieher, Glen Gavin and Canady on Thursday, June 10 -- one day after she had prepared the agenda for the Regular Meeting. The Special Meeting was called for the purpose of an Executive Session on personnel matters. Specifically, the item read: "To deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee - specifically, Mayor Murphy." Ms. Kirk said the description was identical to language used on every agenda to indicate a personnel item.
Mayor Murphy said she did not know who called the meeting, but she wrote in an email sent Saturday, June 12, that she would not go into closed session because she wanted the public to hear what her accusers had to say. She asked supporters to attend the meeting, and on June 14, they packed the City Council Chamber.
"I have discovered to my dismay that our doubts associated with the City of Liberty Hill are apparently valid," she wrote in the email, which was obtained by Mrs. Rundzieher and read aloud at the start of the open executive session. "The City has squandered its money on frivolous amusements, failed to apply available funds to infrastructure, missed opportunities for help from the State of Texas and Williamson County, and generally alienated the support system available to Liberty Hill.
"I have heard reports of rude receptions to new businesses wanting to establish themselves here, discouraging rejections of community projects, ugly comments on lifestyle choices of our citizens (including mine), and amazingly open gender bias. Process is ignored, favoritism is rampant, the 'good old boy' system of intimidation, shame and shunning is in full swing. Nepotism, despite being prohibited by the City’s own ethics code, is the rule of the day," Mayor Murphy wrote.
When the Mayor asked whether the email was the reason for the Special Meeting, Mrs. Rundzieher said it was not. Canady then took the floor and proceeded to air a number of complaints against the Mayor, many of which seemed to originate with the City Secretary. Canady said the Mayor was wrong to suggest that it was "unethical" for Ms. Kirk to be renting a house from Canady's family.
Further, he said the City Secretary does not answer to the Mayor, and the Mayor does not have the authority to approve a Council agenda.
Ms. Kirk complained that the Mayor had called her personal cell phone after business hours and directed her to remove the Special Meeting agenda from the City's website because she had not approved it in advance. Ms. Kirk said the Mayor used a curse word on her voice mail that would have offended her daughter had she heard the message by accident.
"Nowhere does it say you (the Mayor) can strike an item," Canady said. "You have a right to view it (the agenda) as set by ordinance. You feel like you have more authority than what you have."
"My understanding was that it was my duty to approve the agenda. That's what I understood when I talked to Art (Rodriguez, a City attorney)," the Mayor responded.
Rodriguez, who was present for the meeting, said he was not sure how the city ordinance addressed the issue of someone removing an item from a Council agenda.
Canady accused the Mayor of contacting the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to discuss downtown parking issues -- "interference" that he said could cause the City to lose downtown parking on the state roadway. Mayor Murphy responded that she never contacted TxDOT for any reason, but she did ask a staff member to inquire about the possibility of obtaining a blinking red light at the intersection of Loop 332 and RR 1869.
"We should all be getting along," Canady told Mayor Murphy. "For some reason you are really pointing the gun at all of us. You sent this (email) all over town, but you didn't send it to us. It would have been nice if we (the Council) had gotten a courtesy letter that this is how you felt."
"I'm sorry if I offended anyone," she said. "I'm having to learn my own way here. Processes are not observed, and there is a lot of frivolous activity on the part of this Council instead of dealing with what needs to happen to attract new business, to clean up this town and really get along with each other.
"Sure, I'm going to step on toes, but I don't appreciate what you've done here," she said. "It's not necessary to hold the City Council hostage for issues such as these."
Canady then solicited negative comments about the Mayor from a senior citizen seated in the front row who had not requested to speak. After a "he said, she said" exchange, Harkrider made a motion to adjourn to closed session to discuss the other personnel matters -- annual evaluations of Officer John Fontana and Ms. Kirk.
"I hate to repeat myself, but we could be here all night when we could just take it out behind the barn," Harkrider said. "Let's put an end to this."
When the Council reconvened, members voted to give Fontana a 5 percent pay increase and took no action on Ms. Kirk.
In other business, the Council:
* Authorized Royal Vista to make repairs on city streets up to $4,900. The repairs are not related to those made in conjunction with the sewer project. McLeod explained the company would be repairing potholes and the work would begin in three to four weeks.
* Approved a contract with Your Plumber, Inc. to connect a duplex at 206 Fallwell to the City's wastewater system. McLeod voted no.
* Heard comments from two citizens -- one who urged the City to consider a recycling program and not fund the Shin Oak Fest again, and another who complained about Royal Vista not completing work on his property.
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