Creston City Council failed to move forward with appointments to the finance committee after arguments surrounding proper procedure.
Originally on Tuesday’s agenda were three separate action items appointing Rich Madison, Jen Worisek and Josh Thompson to the finance committee. This committee reviews the city’s annual budget, amends the budget documents when necessary and determines the tax levy in order to carry out the budget.
The committee is supposed to be made up of five members: the mayor, the city administrator and three council members. The finance committee is unable to review any matters that come forth until three council members are appointed.
When the first appointment came up to be approved, councilmember Jocelyn Blazek read a prepared statement, referencing a meeting held the previous week in regards to the finance committee.
“The mayor seemed receptive to the feedback regarding said processes and procedures, even going so far as to request input and recommendations from other council members and city staff, only to disregard the feedback he had solicited,” Blazek said. “In addition, he has made it clear he has no intention of utilizing the finance committee in the manner in which it is intended, which has given me serious reservations about moving forward with the appointment process at this time.”
Blazek was concerned about the process by which the members were appointed and said she would vote no on all three appointments until she felt more confident in the mayor.
Mayor Waylon Clayton in turn read his own statement regarding the process, though he didn’t address Blazek’s concerns.
“While we may not all agree on how these should align, I’m willing to let the council move forward with these changes if someone feels strongly about serving on the finance committee,” Clayton said. “My primary goal is to ensure that these meetings are held openly, providing all our citizens the opportunity to observe and fostering trust through transparency.”
Councilmembers Madison, Steve Wintermute and Kiki Scarberry expressed their unhappiness with how the appointments were arranged. Wintermute and Scarberry specifically requested the appointments be under a single action item as to not single someone out if voted down, with Scarberry adding she would also vote down all appointments until changed.
Worisek expressed her concerns regarding her own appointment, saying she worried about her lack of experience and already heavy workload. She also questioned the need for a finance committee if the full council is to go over the budget in a work session anyway.
City administrator Mike Taylor said he thought the finance committee was important, despite the work session. “I think there is still a need to have a committee. We haven’t even considered meeting for 10 months. It’s not like it’s being used every week. I think it’s key to keep it, because I think at some point there will be a need to have that meeting.”
Most of the council agreed to let the appointments come back at the Feb. 5 meeting, with changes made to exclude Worisek and put all appointees in the same agenda item. While the next two appointments could be left to die, a motion and second had already been made for the appointment of Madison. The appointment was voted down 6 to 1, only Madison voting in favor.
In other council news...
The full Hotel-Motel funding requests have been approved, passing 5 to 2. Against the full approval were Blazek and Worisek. Programs funded by the fund include the Fourth of July celebration, holiday decorations and community events by the parks and recreation board.
Kansas-based software company CivicPlus has been approved to begin working on a redesign for the official city website.