|
Top Stories
Tempers untamed in Beebe: Ward, Hill hurl insults
By Tim Bousquet
The Daily Citizen
Tuesday, August 3, 2004 12:43 AM CST
Beebe Mayor Don Ward and Clerk/Treasurer Paul Hill leveled charges of impropriety and incompetence against each other at Monday night's city council meeting, leaving the council to figure out how to bring some semblance of peace to city hall.
Ultimately, the council redefined beleaguered employee Sarah Brittain's job, and told Hill they'd get back to him about allowing him to hire some part time help.
But the battle between Ward and Hill continued apace, and the pair traded barbs and brickbats throughout the evening, as groups of supporters and detractors in the audience muttered muted reactions.
"Guys, I want you to roll the blanket off the sheep to get the wolf," Ward said to the council of Hill.
"This story is a pretty good roll," Hill said of Ward's version of events. "Now let's get to the truth and look at the disparities."
Bedlam in Beebe
Tensions have been heightened at city hall since July 6, when Hill put Brittain on paid administrative leave after he discovered she used a city hall address to order some goods from a catalog. The catalog company sent a past due notice to Brittain at city hall, and Hill said he needed to investigate whether she had improperly used the city's name to obtain the goods.
Brittain, who held the title of assistant city treasurer, vigorously denied she had done anything wrong, and asked the city council to address the situation. At a special meeting on July 12, the council voted unanimously in Brittain's favor, ordering her re-instated and demanding that her employee file be cleansed of the matter.
The council said they had hired Brittain and therefore they, not Hill, had supervisory authority over her.
Brittain showed up for work the next day, but Hill refused to return the keys of the office to her, maintaining that since he had no authority over her he couldn't in good conscience allow her full access to the city's records.
By Wednesday, July 14, Ward was involved in the imbroglio, and he called police to city hall in an attempt to force Hill to turn over the keys. Hill, however, continued to refuse to turn over the keys.
The police department had been put in such a difficult position that Chief Jess Odom abruptly quit on Friday, July 16. City council members, however, talked Odom into rescinding the resignation over the weekend, and by the following Monday he was back at work, maintaining that the conflict was behind him.
Brittain, however, faced an equally difficult situation. She showed up to work each day in a small anteroom outside Hill's office, and sat about 20 feet from Hill's desk. The situation was so tense, and the lines of authority so uncertain, that instead of paying invoices and processing city payroll, by last week Brittain was instead picking up trash at the city park and doing other menial chores.
Late payments
Ward had placed the matter on the agenda for Monday night's meeting, and presented the council with an ordinance that created a new job - assistant to the mayor - for Brittain, and that did away completely with her previous job of assistant treasurer.
But before discussing Brittain's position, Ward accused Hill of failing to pay several bills, one of which he said resulted in the city temporarily losing its fire insurance coverage.
Ward said he recently received a fax from Linda Montgomery, a representative of the Arkansas Municipal League (AML), notifying him that the city was delinquent with its insurance payment. The AML provides a self-insurance pool for cities across the state.
"The bottom line is there was an insurance bill for $6,368 that was not paid," said Ward. "In fact, we lost our coverage. We have 12 buildings on that list, and if any of these building had burned, we would have not been covered.
"I didn't sleep too well last week,"
Ward said he brought the fax notification to Hill, but Hill denied knowing anything about the late payment. Ward implied that Hill wasn't being truthful.
"I talked to Ms. Montgomery again, and she told me she had two, possibly three, conversations with [Hill] about why the payment wasn't made."
Contacted Tuesday, Montgomery had a different version of events.
INSURANCE PAYMENT
"The insurance payment is due on March 1," she said. "We sent our first notice on Jan. 30, and I mailed it to 321 N. Elm Street, attention Honorable Don Ward.
"I probably should have been more on top of it," she continued. "But I didn't send the second notice until July 20. That had a 'second notice' stamp on it and was addressed to Honorable Don Ward at the Elm Street address as well."
Montgomery said the city never lost insurance coverage.
As for communication with Hill, Montgomery said she didn't talk to him until after she had sent the July 20 notification.
"He asked why he didn't know about the late bill," she said. "He said he was a real computer guy and stayed on top of all the bills."
Montgomery was unaware of the recent conflicts in Beebe government, and thought the insurance payment was a simple matter.
"It's due every year at the same time," she said. "The mayor should know that, and the clerk/treasurer should know that."
Ward also accused Hill of making a late payment for some city-ordered trophies.
"That check was written in late February or early May, but the bill came in August," Ward said. "And there have been other items paid in the last couple of weeks - things with second, third and possibly fourth notices ... I think the council needs to be aware of these actions. I have some grave concerns. There's a serious problem somewhere."
Hill discounted the late trophy payment.
"I pay bills as soon as I get them," he said. "That's my policy. But we didn't have a Parks and Recreation Director last year - maybe that's why I never received the invoice."
Council member Carol Crump interrupted Ward to focus attention back on Brittain.
"We have a young lady that needs to go to work," she said. "I enjoy talking to her, but not every day."
NEW SCHEME
Ward explained that under the new scheme, Brittain would work at a variety of tasks that have been set aside for lack of staffing.
She would go to work Tuesday in the police department, he said, calling people with outstanding warrants to get them to come in and pay their fees.
"She'll be at work," said Ward. "And she won't be in the park picking up cigarettes."
The council saw the value in the proposal, and believed that Brittain would bring in more money than she cost in the new position.
While Hill didn't object to Brittain's move, he wanted the council to also act to give him some office help.
"Last month you said my office needed two full-time people to get the job done," he said. "Now you say it only needs one."
Hill outlined a proposal to have two part-time employees, one processing accounts and one figuring payroll, working alternating 30-hour weeks.
"I think we'll save money," he said.
"This is exactly what he wanted to do from the get-go," said Ward. "He wanted to get rid of Sarah and save the full time costs by hiring part-timers with no benefits and no insurance."
The council, however, wasn't willing to keep the argument going.
On Crump's motion, the council approved the redefinition of Brittain's job, and asked Hill to put in writing what he wanted in terms of office help.
|
