October 30, 2009
Friends,
With the City’s new web site we have the ability to communicate in a new way with the community. I’d like to use the mayor’s page to comment on issues coming before the city council and in the community.
Scott Construction Inc. Overpayment
On October 21st the Council reflected on the comments it received from the community and laid out the following process for having a full evaluation of issues associated with the Scott Construction Inc. overpayment.
Issues fell into four broad areas: financial systems, management systems, open meetings and use of executive session, and the City’s legal advice. I proposed, and the Council agreed to, a process where we would in open session learn about issues associated with each area of concern. Following the open discussion the Council would in conjunction with the community develop the set of issues to be addressed and a process for addressing them, including the formation of a committee of citizens to help. In addition, the City has referred this case to the State’s Attorney for possible criminal action. The City continues to aggressively pursue other channels for recovering the lost money.
On October 21st we had an overview of our financial systems. Sandy Gallup, Finance Director, reviewed how the overpayment happened, what practices where put in place when the overpayment was discovered and the financial management system currently used. Going forward, I expect that we will spend a significant amount of time looking at the existing financial management structure in city hall and how we use outside resources to evaluate this work.
On November 4th we will have a presentation on open meetings and the use of executive session. Paul Gillies, former Deputy Secretary of State and practicing attorney; Allen Gilbert, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont; and, Jim Barrow, Senior Staff Attorney for the Vermont League of Cities and Towns Municipal assistance center will review open meeting laws and the use of executive session by municipalities. In addition, I expect we will consider the use of e-mail and other forms of communication and the hazards of policy discussion that lead to decision making out of the public eye.
I hope members of the public will attend and ask questions. If you are not able, please send any questions you may have to me (mayor@montpelier-vt.org ) or your council representative.
I expect that we will have subsequent meetings devoted exclusively to consideration of legal and management issues.
Release of documents associated with the overpayment.
The City Council has released every document associated with past actions related to the Scott Construction overpayment. These documents are posted on the City’s web site and can be reviewed at City Hall.
The City continues to be actively engaged in recovering the lost funds. As a result, of the hundreds of documents we have posted on the City’s website, full content of two e-mails and a paragraph in a third e-mail have been withheld. These three e-mails explicitly discuss the City’s on-going strategy for recovering the funds. There is nothing in these e-mails to hide from the people of Montpelier. There is a discussion of our strategy for recovering the funds which if publicly disclosed could mean that we would not recover the funds.
So we find ourselves back on the horns of a dilemma. Do we renege on our fiduciary responsibility to the people to show that we are not hiding anything? It would be easy to say yes—but that would violate our obligation to the City. I believe the people of the City of Montpelier expect us to represent their full interests, not just do the easy or popular thing. Release of these documents will be discussed again at the meeting on November 4th.
As always, if you have any questions or thoughts, please be in touch.
Mary
802 223-2892
882 North Street
