Abuse of Power

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I received an angry phone call from a woman who identified herself as Joanne. I don’t know her and questioned how she came to have my phone no. Said a friend gave it to her. She was upset that I claimed Commissioner Mitchell was attempting to outsource the city water plant, and I should retract the statement, as it simply wasn’t true. She heard it from the “horses mouth.” I couldn’t convince her differently, so after some research, I offer a two minute excerpt from a WPB Work Session held On Nov 3, 2014 where the topic was the Water Treatment Plant. The entire meeting can be seen and heard on the city web site, if you choose to watch. CLICK HERE for video.

Assistant City Administrator Scott Kelly gave a presentation and he mentions he received a request from a commissioner to evaluate off site options for the Water Treatment Plant. In other words move the plant.

Commissioner James questioned when as a commission did we decide to look at off site options? Mr. Scott stated that Commissioner Mitchell requested he look into it.

Commissioner James asked if the commissioners had voted on the issue, and Mr. Scott responded with a solid “no” and James wondered aloud if he had missed a meeting and questioned why at the request of a single commission they were now looking at off site locations. City meeting excerpt time 16:00-18:00.

If you refer back to the Organizational Chart you will see that the Water treatment Plant falls under the jurisdiction of the mayor and city administration, not the city commission. The city commissioners oversee the Internal Auditor Dept. I have attended the meetings of the Audit Dept; for over two years, and I have never witnessed either Commissioner Mitchell or Materio at a single meeting. This is their business, and they can’t be bothered to attend.

The WPB Charter Sec.2.04 (Prohibition of Interference by city commission with appointments and removals) reads in part “Except for the purpose of an inquiry, the city commissioners collectively and individually shall deal with administrative matters solely through the mayor or mayor’s designee, and shall not, collectively or individually give orders to any subordinates of the mayor either publicly or privately.”

It further reads: “Any violation of this section by a city commissioner shall constitute misconduct punishable by the city commission and grounds for removal as provided in section 2.07″ Read Charter 2.4 here.

I hope Joanne reads this post and understands why no retraction from WPB Watch is necessary.