May 8th City Council Meeting

The May 8th City Council meeting was an informative and cooperative but the after effects have been unbelievable. Ms. Julie Wilson was voted in by a majority of the council, sworn in, and put on the bench as a City Councilor. The following morning Mrs. Wilson received a phone call from a city temporary employee who told her that the council vote was voided because she was not registered to vote. (She is, and was, registered to vote). This information was made plain to the mayor in a letter from County Clerk Terri Turi.
Ms Wilson has written the Mayor requiring to be recognized as a city council member or to be provided a written statement of release with just cause. She states that she has been placed in a position of responsibility that she is unable to fulfill due to the actions of Mayor Nelson. This places the city in a position of subjectivity towards the Mayor’s desires at the expense of a responsible and honest city government. There has been no formal response from the Mayor. Now it seems as though the mayor is trying to stop her from being on the council by claiming she did not get a majority of the votes because he did not vote. But, according to an attorney, by not voting he did vote.
Also, if the Mayor had a problem with Ms Wilson being put on the council, then why did he refrain from voting and why did he have her sworn in and seated?

cited sourses: letter from attorney, letter from Terri Turi, Letter from Mrs. Wilson, information from our Forum.

Section 17 of the charter provides that the mayor shall vote on all matters before it.

The matter before the council was the appointment of a replacement city council person. The mayor could have voted but in effect abstained. There was a quorum present, a vote was taken and Ms. Wilson won by a majority of the vote. The vote was valid.
City Council Meeting May 8th 2008

First off, thanks to everyone who showed up at the city counsel meeting. The house was standing room only. Three people applied for the position of city counselor. Julie Wilson was chosen to fill the position and was immediately sworn in and seated.

The meeting was expected to be somewhat tense and difficult. Instead, it turned out to be very informative and cooperative. Valid concerns were brought fourth by citizens. It appears that the city has found a way to deal with the STEP-STAGG problems. The Deputy State Fire Marshall spoke concerning fire lanes into the city complex as well as addressing the issue of inadequate fire hydrant pressure in the Kings Heights subdivision.

More to follow soon on this meeting and other issues.