Sunday, October 21, 2007
Salem council bypasses taxpayers
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Shanna Flowers is The Roanoke Times' metro columnist.
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There's one word for Salem city officials who slipped a taxpayer-funded retreat past taxpayers:
Busted.
You have to give City Manager Forest Jones and city council members points, though, for ingenuity in the way they executed their confab. The council recessed a meeting last month and resumed it four days later at a golf, spa and ski resort in West Virginia.
Because council members continued the previously scheduled public meeting, they didn't have to go through the rigamarole of notifying residents about the meeting-slash-junket at the golf resort.
Using Salem's flimsy argument, the West Virginia meeting was an extension of an earlier meeting.
Granted, the way Salem circumvented the public notification process was legal. But just because something is legal doesn't make it right. City leaders may have adhered to the letter of the law, but they trampled all over its spirit.
I'm not against the council and high-ranking staff having a retreat away from the incessant interruptions of everyday business at City Hall. But the way this thing went down smacks of the insular attitude often associated with Salem and its government.
To make matters worse, city officials were annoyed that Roanoke Times' reporter Marquita Brown did her job by writing about the trip, which was estimated to cost at least $9,160. Some city leaders tried to discourage her by saying it wasn't a story.
Guess what, folks? It is. Salem should have made a better effort to notify residents of the continued council meeting.
On Sept. 24, Councilman Chris Clemens made a motion to recess the meeting and continue it Sept. 28 at the Resort at Glade Springs, about two hours from Salem.
Clemens' motion came after many residents had left the room.
How convenient.
Mayor Howard Packett said, "We don't have any control over how many people are in the room."
No, but you have control over making sure your bosses -- the taxpayers -- know you're getting ready to drop nearly ten grand on a retreat where you say you will discuss city business.
What if some Salemites wanted to carpool over to West Virginia and sit in on the discussion?
What if they wanted to join the "pre-dinner reception"? I'm sure they'd be willing to pay for their own cocktails.
After all, the discussion is about city business, right?
There should be nothing to hide.
Shanna Flowers' column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
