Mayor’s Weekly Update
February 4, 2011
The weather has not been a very pretty sight this week in the least. City road crews worked
some very long hours to get the streets passable. Our thanks to them and their efforts. The City
OEM was up and running and co-located with the County OEM Emergency Operations Center.
Solid communications, coordination, and cooperation was the word of the day as these two
organizations were able to run continuously from Monday evening to Thursday afternoon. Great
job to the men and women of both OEMs. A special thank you to the Missouri Army National
Guard for providing some needed assistance with their HUMVEEs. These men and women
provided some critical transportation support when nothing else could make it through in both
the County and the City. Again, thank you to those Citizen Soldiers of the Missouri Army
National Guard. The Mills Center was open but used to any degree. Thank you to our Laclede
County Red Cross for manning the Mills Center. The extreme cold is still a factor and with more
snow coming on Monday. Hopefully all will be prepared.
I have posted my Report to Council below to provide another avenue of information to our
citizens.
Next City Council will be on Monday, February 14th at 7PM in Council Chambers, City Hall,
401 North Jefferson St. Please do join us. The Tuesday meeting is due to the Martin Luther
King federal holiday on Monday.
If you wish to make a comment, ask a question, express a concern, or make an appointment to
speak with me; please feel free to e-mail me at mayor@lebanonmo.org or call City Hall 417532-2156 for an appointment.
Respectfully,
CP Craig
Mayor
Mayor’s Report to Council, Monday, January 31, 2011
"The vote of no confidence is basically just, kind of like public humiliation," says Pitts.
(http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=389466)
We do not need to publicly humiliate anyone. We do have the legal requirement to protect
the fiscal resources of this City, to act in the interests of public welfare and safety, and to
accomplish the business of this City as proscribed by law. I was elected by an overwhelming
majority of the people of this City to do these things, just as each member of this Council
was similarly elected. The powers of city government for a third class city are enumerated in
the Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri (RSMO). As a third class city, the City of
Lebanon enjoys only those powers granted to it by the State as contained within the State
Statutes and the State Constitution. We are legally obligated and have sworn an oath to
uphold and enforce these statutory requirements.
As a Council and governmental body, we do not have to like each other but we do have to
work with each other to achieve the desired end-state and that is to accomplish the business
of the City of Lebanon within the laws of the State of Missouri. I have tried on many
occasions to engage this Council to provide constructive feedback, input, and public dialogue
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Mayor’s Weekly Update
February 4, 2011
to achieve these goals. As I have previously; I still ask Council to provide their input, their
thoughts, their concerns, and their recommendations as we move forward in addressing this
City’s business. Recent actions do not achieve this in the least and is contrary to the oath of
office that each of us took to serve the citizens of Lebanon in the best interest of the
collective body. It is time for all of us to put aside personal differences and work together in
the best interest of the City and her citizens.
Frankly, I am disheartened by Council’s actions. Not because of any personal
embarrassment that Council may have sought to impose upon me but because of the
embarrassment that Council has brought to our City, our citizens, our businesses, and our
City employees. This style of conducting business has severe long term negative impacts on
our ability to attract other businesses and industry as well as individuals to our City and
County. It hurts growth and jeopardizes the very future of our City. I hope that we can set
aside this style of operating and get down to doing business in a professional manner.
In other important events to our City; the jury trial of the lawsuit brought by Public Water
Supply District 3 against the City of Lebanon in the Federal District Court of the Western
District of Missouri has concluded. The jury found in favor of the City of Lebanon. This is a
major victory for the citizens of Lebanon. Despite the best efforts of the City to resolve the
issue, we were unable to do so and faced this trial. The jury’s decision vindicated the City’s
position on the matter throughout this process. A trial date for the state lawsuit has yet to be
determined. I address this here as this positive news didn’t garner much media attention. It
is now time to move forward in this area as well. The City will be seeking reimbursement of
expenses from PWSD-3 in both the federal appeals case and the state case.
I wish to address an item raised by Mr. Anthony and discussed by Mr. Davis at our last
Council session concerning the number of City employees. Since mid-2008 the City of
Lebanon has reduced its workforce by over 40 employees to include the redundant and
unnecessary positions of Community Services Director and Project Manager. During fiscal
year 2010 and for the FY2011 Council approved budget, the City has added ten positions.
These ten positions have replaced other positions that were eliminated. The result is still a
net reduction of thirty (30) employee positions within the City.
In addressing Mr. Anthony’s call for a hiring freeze, which I initially agreed to, I feel that I
must reverse my original position. A hiring freeze would have several significant negative
impacts on the City and our ability to provide services to our citizens. It would mean that we
could not replace personnel losses that occur through normal attrition, i.e. voluntary or
involuntary separations, retirements, or other losses. It would mean that we could not fill
vacancies. What may be a better solution and actually addresses Mr. Anthony’s and Mr.
Davis’ concerns is a freeze on the creation of any new or additional positions on the City
staff. I ask Council to consider this compromise position. Given FY12 goals and challenges
– still hinders citizen services and needed forward movement.
With regard to the issue of structures contaminated by meth “cook houses”; we have
temporarily resolved the issue that Mr. Sien brought before Council. However, the issue is
much more complicated than what was presented by Mrs. Hurney and has direct and
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February 4, 2011
immediate impact upon public safety. Additional research was conducted by the Community
Development staff, assisted by the Lebanon Police and Fire Departments. This interim
information has been provided to Council. Further research and coordination with outside
agencies such as the Laclede County Health Department is necessary to fully inform the staff
of the issues and to help guide the City in developing a comprehensive and properly
coordinated response to this significant threat to public safety.
Respectfully submitted,
//s//CP Craig
CP Craig
Mayor
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