Opinion: Wood River Councilman Dettmers Comments About Cancellation Of Special Meeting Due To Lack Of Quorum
WOOD RIVER - A Special Meeting of the Wood River City Council was scheduled for Monday, February 24th to discuss failures of management to develop and implement the policies and procedures to properly administer contracts and agreements, follow City ordinances, storage and retrieval of City documents and records, and an investigation into unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. This meeting was cancelled for lack of quorum because three council members decided not to attend. The reason provided for not attending is the council members did not want to spend money on a forensic audit or independent investigation of the City. This explanation is nothing more than a “Red Herring”.
Nothing would prohibit a council member voting against a motion for a forensic audit and independent investigation following discussion. The real reason they didn’t show up was to prohibit discussion of these important issues. Once a meeting is scheduled and an agenda is prepared, the items on the agenda must be discussed. In order to prevent disclosure, the only option available to them was…don’t show up to force cancellation of the meeting.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
Over the past two years, I have been contacted by countless individuals and businesses expressing concerns they have about Wood River. I made a commitment to listen and address these concerns impartially, without bias neither for nor against the City or the individual expressing the concern.
As a result of some recent concerns, I have uncovered, 1) payment made to a business under an agreement which had been altered without council consent, 2) unauthorized TIF payments to a business that no longer owns the property, 3) failure to take action to correct issues after notification from members of the council and City Attorney, 4) City officials and management making false and misleading public statements about City ordinances regarding TIF agreements and the handling of TIF payments, 5) failures to provide written consent to transfer agreements, 6) unauthorized disclosures of confidential information, and 7) improper storage and retrieval of City records.
Documents regarding these issues were provided to each council member in advance of the meeting so they would have ample time to review them. They knew exactly what was to be discussed. Some of this information may have been personally embarrassing to them.
I have not made a thorough investigation of the City, so the question is what else will we find with a forensic audit and independent investigation? City management has not implemented the necessary policies and procedures to assure compliance and correct these failures. As elected officials, we have a responsibility to correct these deficiencies for the benefit of the public we serve. It is fiscally irresponsible not to order a forensic audit and independent investigation of the City of Wood River.
Bill Dettmers
Wood River City Council
Opinions expressed in this section are solely those of the individual authors and do not represent the views of RiverBender.com or its affiliates. We provide a platform for community voices, but the responsibility for opinions rests with their authors.
More like this:
- Most Popular
- Top Stories
- Most Recent
