Times Editorial : The white flag Aldermen sidestep responsibilities
Posted on Sunday, October 5, 2008
Since when did Fayetteville become Washington, D. C. ?
That question arose last Tuesday as hardball political gamesmanship reared its head at the Fayetteville City Council agenda session. Ward 3 Alderman Bobby Ferrell, probably Fayetteville's most conservative alderman, continued his annual tradition of pressing for budgetary restraint. But this year was different. Ferrell announced he would not participate in budget discussions because Mayor Dan Coody did not submit the budget proposal as Ferrell wanted. Aldermen Shirley Lucas and Lioneld Jordan, who just coincidentally (wink ) is running for mayor, joined the pledge to boycott the budget process. Alderman Nancy Allen said she just might join them. That same group, along with Alderman Kyle Cook, in August approved a resolution "requesting"Coody present a 2009 budget that uses no reserve funding. Now they're upset Coody didn't fall in line with their attempted coup of the mayor's authority.
Arkansas law requires each city's mayor present a proposed budget by Dec. 1 of each year. But the legal burden of passing a budget, by Feb. 1 of each year, rests squarely on the City Council. It is this requirement that makes the position of Ferrell, Jordan and Lucas an abdication of the responsibilities voters entrusted to them.
Our country's Founding Fathers wanted real power in government to rest with legislative bodies. The colonies had had enough of an all-powerful king who answered to nobody. Likewise, cities hold all budgetary authority with the assumption that members of the legislative body will do the work necessary. Walking away from budget discussions is failure to do that.
The history of the Fayetteville City Council has been one of intense involvement in budgetary matters. Aldermen have through the years held budget workshops and meetings with department heads before finally reconciling the mayor's proposal to their own liking. Is it easy ? No. Does it get contentious ? Yes, but it's the job.
None of this is good news for Dan Coody, either. The fact that the interaction between mayor and City Council has deteriorated into Washington-style hardball is a statement about the troubled relationship between the two branches of government.
But Coody has proposed a reasonable budget for 2009, as in not irregular.
Fayetteville has had budgets that dipped into reserves before. Lucas and Jordan both voted in 2004 to approve a 2005 budget that used more than $ 2 million in reserves with more than $ 392, 000 added by council members themselves.
The 2006 budget was approved 8-0 with a $ 120, 000 surplus. Was that because the mayor proposed a "balanced"budget ? No. Even after the City Council approved a 1. 3-mill increase in property taxes, Coody's budget proposal was $ 663, 768 in the red. Did aldermen walk away from their duty ? Not at all. They took the job seriously and made enough cuts to produce a surplus.
Would aldermen live easier lives if the mayor made those decisions ? You betcha, as Sarah Palin would say. But the mayor has his own responsibility to propose the budget he sees as necessary to the operation of the city in the coming year. It's more than surprising that Jordan, who wants to be mayor, believes the mayor's role as the full-time head of the city is subordinate to the City Council. Apparently, if he's elected, Jordan will take his lead from aldermen. That's following, not leading.
We don't fault Ferrell for his calls for fiscal responsibility. He's been the most vocal through his years on the council about just that. Where he's wrong is in walking away from the City Council's vital role in decision-making on the crucial issue of how the city's money will be spent. This time, he wants fiscal responsibility without doing the work to accomplish it.
As for Jordan and Lucas, well, their sudden boycott regarding reserve spending suggests election year gamesmanship, given that they voted in the past for much larger reserve spending.
Which is worse, a mayor who submits to the City Council in accordance with state law his proposal for a budget, or a trio of alderman who, contrary to the responsibilities of their office, decide to boycott the budgetary process in part due to a political effort in the midst of an election season ?
That answer's easy.
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