Dunkirk council questions mayor (12/30/06)

DUNKIRK - A spirited discussion relating to the recent purchase of cell phones for all city employees here, except fire fighters, left the mayor and council members with their ears ringing Friday afternoon.

Council member James Doughty touched off the debate by questioning why the full council had not been more involved and informed concerning the matter from the beginning.

Mayor Sam Hubbard explained that the cell phones were purchased to upgrade communications between employees, replacing a pager system.

Hubbard said the cell phones had many technological advantages over the pagers, and the topic was discussed at meetings between him and city department heads. However, Doughty questioned why the matter had not been fully discussed at a council meeting, prior to the signing of a one-year contract with Verizon for the use of 25 cell phones at a cost of $27.50 a cell phone per month. The rate for the pager system was $511 every three months, city clerk-treasurer Jane Kesler said.

Doughty asked about the reasoning behind the move and why council members were not more involved and informed about the decision.

"Are we just up here to draw paychecks?" Doughty asked. Doughty said he had only learned about the cell phone issue after the purchase was made, and he consequently was not happy about getting "flak" from members of the public about buying cell phones for city employees while starting to charge a trash collection fee on water and sewer bills at the same time.

After noting the amount of money involved, Hubbard continued that it now appeared that perhaps there should have been a vote by the full council. Council president Craig Faulkner said, "That is a major expenditure," noting that the volunteer fire department members were still using pagers.

In other action at Friday afternoon's meeting, council members:

•Heard a presentation by Jay County Hospital chief executive officer Joe Johnston about the hospital board's recent decision to purchase and take over operation of the West Jay Clinic. With the threat of the clinic having to be closed for financial reasons, Johnston said the hospital board thought this was an important step to take.

"We're in it for the long haul," Johnston added, saying he was excited about the move which he felt would benefit the Dunkirk community overall.

"Over the next several months, we'll be looking at the practice and operating it more like a clinic - maybe adding some more hours," Johnston said. He added that possibly the clinic will have a nurse practitioner again and maybe some Saturday morning hours.

•Reviewed and gave a one-year temporary approval to a request by deputy clerk-treasurer Jacinda Jarvis to have her pay status as an employee changed from an hourly rate to a salary figure. Kesler said that since the city hall is closed on Wednesday afternoon, Jarvis is limited on how many hours she works during the week. She normally falls short of a 40-hour week by the three and a half hours time that the city hall is closed on Wednesday afternoon.

The council approved changing her status to a salaried employee on a trial basis for a year. She will receive her 2007 pay figure of $13.94 an hour, based on a 40-hour work week. This would mean a weekly salary of $557.60, but no chance for overtime.[[In-content Ad]]