Minutes approval grows convoluted

— Under most circumstances the review of the past month’s meeting minutes is one of the most mundane parts of a city council meeting, but at Decatur’s Aug. 16 council meeting the usually-routine approval became a contentious issue.

Aldermen Nan McClain, James Jessen and Gina Holt, as well as Mayor Charles Linam, found at least nine instances where they disagreed with the minutes written by city recorder treasurer Leslie Haag.

“I don’t know where to begin; there were so many things skipped over,” said McClain.

The council members took issue with the accuracy of the minutes in regard to bids to resurface Second Street, the percentage FEMA and the state emergency management agency will pay to repair two bridges washed away in the April floods, the percentage a grant for the newly proposed park will pay, the public vote taken during the public hearing about the proposed park, electrical repairs to be done at Veterans Park, whether the council voted to pay for half of the costs of a new flag pole in Veterans Park and, finally, the discussion of Margie Lovitt’s personalissue with the mayor. Lovitt is Haag’s mother.

Council members referenced their own private notes on the meeting as proof of the errors andwere in consensus on the changes they felt should be made.

Haag is responsible for making audio recordings of the meetings as well as typing written minutes.

McClain asked that it be noted that no action was taken regarding Lovitt’s allegations toward the mayor.

Lovitt appeared before the council during the July 11 meeting to complain that Linam had been placing harassing collections calls to a water customer at their workplace. She did not reveal the identity of the customer. Lovitt also alleged that the mayor was breaking privacy laws by discussing the customer’s water bills with other parties.

Linam later revealed that the water customer in question was Haag. Linam said he placed one phone call to Haag at her place of work because that is the phone number she supplied to the city,both for her water bill and for her contact as city recorder treasurer. Haag was months behind on her water bill. The arrearage started because of a water leakand Haag owed the city a running balance on her water bill, in excess of $300 at times, for more than two years.

Linam said Haag had worked out a payment plan to catch up on the bill with former mayorBill Montgomery, but water department records show Haag skipped payments for months at a time after Montgomery left office in January. City policy required water to be shut off if more than $75 was past due.

Linam said the privacy law issue was brought up because he placed a phone call to Haag’s parents to inform them of her situation so they could take action to help her keep her water turned on.

There are no privacy laws regarding city utility customers and the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act does apply to private customer-specific water bills, according to municipal league attorney Mark Hays.

“When it comes to city government, there is very little that is private,” Hays said, “The whole privacy issue, it’s a red herring.”

Publicly owned water systems that supply drinking water are required by FOIA laws to release the water bills of private water customers that include the name, address, account number, water usage and payment history of the customers, according to an opinion number 2007-192, released by Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel in August of 2007.

There is also an Arkansas Law that prohibits elected officials from receiving free utilities because of their position, Hays said.

According to Arkansas Code 14-47-137, officers and employees are prohibited from accepting or receiving free tickets, passes or services - including public utilities - or any terms of service that are more favorable than those granted to the public generally.

“Just by definition (as an elected official), you need to make sure your bills are paid. Then you don't have to worry about anyone calling your integrity or the city's integrity into question,” Hays said.

After more than 13 minutes of discussion, the council voted to approve the minutes with corrections made.

News, Pages 2 on 08/31/2011