We knew it would happen someday. We
now have documentary evidence that Jeff Vaught does NOT understand his job on
the city council. His ego has overtaken his responsibilities.
OK, here is what happened. I
submitted a KORA request for some emails for an item I was researching.
Included in the group were some emails between Vaught and the city manager about adding an item to a meeting agenda
Keep in mind that last April Vaught was elected by the rest of the council
to be council president (a one year term).
Apparently another councilmember
(Dan Pflumm) had an item he wanted to add to a meeting agenda. So he requested
that to the city manager in accordance with Policy Statement 7:
Agenda
A.
Agendas
are set by the City Manager. Any member of the Governing Body can request an
item be placed on the agenda by 12:00 (noon) on the Wednesday prior to the
meeting.
Now here is what happened.
In an email about this to the city manager Vaught said: "As the council president he should be making
the request to me anyway, but I guess he doesn’t know that."
Surprise Mr. Vaught...............no council member has to go through you for anything. Charter Ordinance 40 and Policy Statement 7 are very specific about the duties/responsibilities of the council president. To preside over council meetings in the absence of the mayor, to become mayor if something happens to the mayor and to be the chairman of the Council Committee. No where in either document is the council president put in a postiion where the council members have to submit anything to him/her to be passed on. Now, just in case I missed something, I asked the city manager about this. Her response: "You are correct,
there isn't any 'published procedural requirement' that states that a
councilmember 'has to go through the Council President for anything'"
Apparently, egomaniac that he is, Vaught apparently wants to give himself additional authority over his fellow council members. Maybe he needs to re-read the appropriate documents. That is, if he can understand them.
