At the last council committee meeting (6/16/15) council member Jenkins had some suggestions for the new budget. If you read this blog on 6/19, 20, 22 & 23 you will remember that council members Vaught and Sandifer accused Jenkins of micro managing the staff and the city manager. In reality, Jenkins was doing his job as a council member to suggest possible changes. Vaught and Sandifer on the other hand just seem to want to rubber stamp anything the city manager does. If we have a council that abrogates their responsibilities then we don't really need a council.
Anyway, staff has been requested by the council president/chairman of the council committee Stephanie Meyer to provide specific information regarding certain, not all, of the suggestions Jenkins made. Plus some other items, so that the council committee can reevaluate and reconsider them at the 7/7/15 meeting. This is how a council is supposed to operate. Not the way that Vaught and Sandifer would do it. Maybe that is because they are incapable of independent thought?
Anyway, it's nice to see that the Shawnee Dispatch has finally (yesterday 6/29/15) covered what happened on 6/16 /15. But I don't remember reading anything about the reevaluations being done on 7/7/15. It only makes reference that the council will set budget limits at the next council meeting (which would be 7/13/15) and set a public hearing for 7/27/15. Well, now those figures could change based on what happens on next Tuesday. Methinks the Dispatch might want to inform the public of that.
The Dispatch makes reference to some comments of Mayor Distler's:
Mayor Michelle Distler said she would agree with Jenkins in that the council should be able to give the city ideas and suggestions for improvement. "I think anyone can always offer any suggestion," Distler said. "It all goes back to us thinking together, which is good for the city." and then this Lastly, Jenkins suggested that the city re-evaluates how it presents its budget each year so it is more understandable to the public. This idea is already being explored by Distler and Gonzales, and Distler said she would continue that conversation as a way to make the city's government more user-friendly to the citizens of Shawnee.
Now that is what we need, leadership and guidance by the governing body. Not an abrogation of responsibilities.
DTJVSD
