Updating Iola’s purchasing policy and hiring a new city attorney dominated discussions in Monday’s City Council meeting. COUNCIL MEMBERS also discussed the need to hire a new city attorney as quickly as possible. Mayor Bill Shirley said the city has received multiple applications for the position, and no decision has been made about which candidates to interview.
Council members discussed issues with the current purchasing policy, which has safeguards in place to help prevent embezzlement and dishonest trading. However, several council members agreed the safeguards are more of a hindrance and the policy needs to be streamlined and reworked to show trust in employees.
“The policy shows that the council does not trust city staff,” City Administrator Carl Slaugh said. “It is not common to have bids (for purchases) opened at a city council meeting.”
The lengthy policy, at 18 pages, requires employees to obtain a purchase order and request approval from the council before making a purchase over $200. Slaugh said for certain situations, this can be a long process, especially if emergency purchases need to be made.
Councilman Joel Wicoff reiterated Slaugh’s sentiments, saying that the local government needs to give employees the right tools to get the job done.
“We need to trust our employees and find good vendors,” Wicoff said.
Slaugh’s proposition is to re-examine what the purchasing policy is meant to do, and streamline it for the city’s needs. Other council members, such as David Toland, believe that the policy needs to be scrapped altogether to make way for a better protocol.
“This policy has a lot of red tape,” Toland said, “And in many cases, time has a cost.”
He said in most cases, the council does not need to examine what is being purchased by the city. In addition, Toland suggested that the council adopt a provision to help give local businesses an advantage when making bids. He said the provision would give local businesses automatic preference over outside businesses if the bid amount was within 2 percent of the competitors.
Councilman Steve French disagreed, saying it could discourage the bid process and reduce competition between vendors. He said this would result in overall higher costs for the city.
Toland made a motion to approve a task force to look at the purchasing policy, consisting of some members from the council and the community — to be determined. Toland also made a motion to immediately accept some of the revisions proposed by Slaugh, as well as a motion to accept the proposal to give local businesses the 2 percent advantage.
Council members voted down the local business advantage, but approved the other two motions. Under the new provisions, city employees wouldn’t need to go before the council until a purchase is $1,000 or more.
Toland said he “feels nervous” knowing that the city does not have an attorney, and made suggested council members interview candidates directly, instead of through a panel.
French supported the suggestion and recommended that the council interview the top three candidates for the position as soon as possible. The council agreed to begin interviews with applicants, and select the top three prospects to be interviewed by all of the council members on Nov. 1.
IN OTHER business, council members:
— Unanimously agreed to repay FEMA for a $31,880.62 grant that was eventually denied by the agency.
— Agreed to accept the Cost of Living Agreement suggested by the federal government for city employees. The adjustment will raise wages 1.7 percent from last year, effective Jan. 1.
— Discussed hiring a new human resources manager. Administrator Slaugh said his department has not chosen who to interview, and “is still wondering if the city is going to fill the position.” Councilman Toland requested the city expedite the process, citing that an organization over 100 employees needs to have a full-time employee in that position.
— Approved the 2013 holiday list for city employees. Two exceptions were made, changing Columbus Day and Christmas Eve to half-days.
— Opened discussion to re-examine renovation of city entrance signs. Slaugh said the wooden sections of the signs are beginning to deteriorate.
— Selected a tentative date to meet with county commissioners to discuss an EMS merger between the city and Allen County. The proposed date is Nov. 19 in the Bowlus Fine Arts Center at 6 p.m. Council members discussed appointing a mediator to lead discussions. Slaugh said a mediator has been suggested, but was not announced at Monday’s meeting.
Council discusses purchasing policy and new city attorney
