Timing of meeting raises greatest concern
One of the great things about living in the United States is this country is a democracy — the citizens have the option of selecting their leaders at the federal, state and local levels.
We decide the officials we want to create our laws, the officials we want to run the business of government and the officials we want to balance the budgets and create new programs.
There is not a king who ascends to power by birthright and there is not a cleric who comes to power through his association with an organized religious body.
We, the citizens, choose how we want our governments run because we, the citizens, love our democratic way of life.
Unfortunately, democracy is a fragile thing.
For it to thrive, there must be two things — transparency and trust.
We must have transparency to know what our elected officials are doing and where they are leading the government.
With transparency comes trust. Trust allows us to have faith in our leaders to guide us in the right direction.
The actions of the Russellville City Council last week undermined both.
The council approved the budget for the upcoming fiscal year Friday night while many of the citizens of the town were 60 miles away cheering on the local high school football team.
City school officials, which lost $400,000 in funding in the new budget, are upset about the council meeting because it feels as though it did not get the opportunity to address the council before the vote.
The council maintains that it was important to pass the budget before the start of the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
If approval of the budget in a timely manner was so important, why was it not done at a previous meeting of the city council?
There are two reasons. First the council failed to approve a budget last year until Dec. 21 — three months into the fiscal year. The pressure was on to avoid a similar fiasco this year.
Second, three members of the council decided not to vote at last Monday’s meeting until the council could discuss the budget with the school board. Officials from the board of education requested a meeting for Oct. 7.
Friday’s meeting was a special called meeting and two of the three members of the council who wanted to meet with the school board — William Nale and Jeff Masterson — were not there Friday.
The three remaining council members — Gary Cummings, Lanny Hubbard and David Grissom — along with Mayor Troy Oliver proceeded to approve the budget.
They did so without the other council members or representatives from the school board, who were unaware of the meeting until Friday morning, in some cases.
With such short notice members of the school board were unable to change plans so they could attend.
While the action of the council is legal — it had the required number of votes and the council does not need approval of the school board on budget issues — the timing is certainly questionable.
The actions of the council make it appear as though it is trying to sneak something through the back door, which flies in the face of the trust and transparency that is crucial to democracy.
If the city does not have the $400,000 for schools, that is understandable. Meet with the board of education and explain that.
The mayor and members of the city council are elected to office to represent the citizens of Russellville in an ethical manner that maintains trust in our local government.
