The strained relationships in our county government have been ongoing for the past three-plus years, but the lame duck season has shown a shift in how the lack of cooperation is being addressed on different levels.
As one example, magistrates called a special called meeting this past week after County Judge Executive Larry Russell Bryant refused to do so.
The meeting was necessary for the county to pay an invoice to the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office was low on funds and would not have made last Friday’s payroll without the county payment.
Bryant accused the magistrates of trying to have an illegal meeting. A majority of fiscal court members may, in fact, call a meeting if the judge executive is unable to or refuses to do so. Bryant said at Tuesday’s regular monthly meeting that magistrates needed a seven-day notice for the meeting, which is not correct. There is a 24-hour notice requirement for special called meetings.
The topic of the special called meeting, which was held last Friday, was also a point of heated discussion between Sheriff Gary Roy and Bryant.
Roy said since Bryant has been in office, the sheriff’s department borrowed money from the court to pay expenses this time of year. He has not requested that but then realized they were running too tight to make payroll.
Instead of borrowing money, the sheriff’s office requested funds that the fiscal court has approved from occupational tax revenue for the sheriff’s office.
To explain, the sheriff’s office operates on a calendar fiscal year. Much of their funding comes from commissions for collecting property taxes, which starts in October. Because a lot of their revenue comes in during the final quarter of the year, that often leaves them with a tight cash flow this time of year. At the end of the fiscal year, they actually have collected fees over what is budgeted for their department, and those excess fees are presented to the fiscal court.
The office also receives some funding from the fiscal court that was earmarked for deputy pay raises, but Roy’s office had not been submitting invoices for those funds.
Roy said his office has not been requesting funds from the county because of the “hostile environment.”
Roy then thanked the magistrates who attended Friday’s special called meeting to make sure his staff was fully paid.
“I want to thank the guys that came up on Friday. I know you are busy on Fridays, and you put your political differences aside, and you made the right decision, and that’s what true leaders do,” Roy said. Magistrates Chris Reeder, Sammy Baker, Todd Davenport, Mark Humphress and Billy Coffey attended the special meeting, with Coffey serving as chair.
Roy said that magistrates cared if his deputies got paid but accused Bryant of not caring.
“You didn’t care one bit that they got paid,” Roy said.
A brief argument ensued before County Attorney Jennifer Hutchison Corbin insisted that they move on, which they did.
It was also clear Tuesday that Bryant realizes many of his requests will not get approved during his final months in office. He wants to purchase property that was formerly a laundromat located near the courthouse annex but didn’t actually call for a vote.
Renewing a CD was on the agenda and magistrates provided a motion and second to approve. Bryant then said he wanted to use the money for the building purchase. The $161,000 remaining funds are part of $200,000 the county received when it sold the former health department on N. Reed Street next to city hall.
Bryant said the court “slipped out $50,000,” claiming he didn’t know what it was spent for, and that it “came up missing,” none of which is true. Following the building purchase, the court approved how to use the funds and how much to put in a CD.
Bryant said he wants to use the building for training programs for inmates, which would allow them to be released earlier.
“I don’t expect anybody to really understand the necessity of that except me,” he said. He did not ask the magistrates to change their motion, and they continued to approve the renewal of the CD without further discussion. Later in the agenda, he said there was no need to go into executive session to discuss purchasing the property because, “You don’t want to do anything I want to do.”
The court did approve Bryant’s request to rent space in a building on Jamestown St. for the ABC officer. The rent is $350 a month. There was no discussion about utilities, office equipment, etc. Deputy Judge Executive Bridget Compton said she had spoken to ABC director Chase Willis, who said he does need office space.
The only time the county paid rent for an ABC office occurred when the county paid itself to provide space in the historic courthouse, which in effect moved ABC funds to the general fund. That ended when an auditor said it was not allowed.
Bryant discussed the status of fiscal court minutes, which fiscal court clerk Amy Pike said are now up to date. Indexing of minutes is not complete, she added.
Bryant said the court has broken the law by not having minutes on time and told magistrates they need to accept responsibility for them. He has not signed many of the minutes, saying some of the pages are upside down. Pike said the printer does that on the last page and she can’t change it.
Magistrate Davenport said he is okay with the minutes if they are in the book and said if they are caught up, the judge needs to sign them. Several others made similar comments before they moved on.
Also during the meeting, the court accepted Bryant’s recommendations for two library board appointments. Director Lee Ann Jessee said Beth Grant has served one term and was eligible to serve one more. Bryant instead recommended Cynthia Coomer, a former classmate. For the second position, the court approved Cathy Abell.
There were long conversations about road funding and road materials. They approved a bid for several road materials from Gaddie Shamrock. They also approved for Humphress and Baker to begin road projects that require some matching funding from the county because they currently have those funds available.
In other business, the court approved $500 for a Halloween mixer being hosted by the county’s tourism commission.
All magistrates were present for the meeting.
By Sharon Burton
snburton@adairvoice.com
