A Brentwood “code of conduct” for elected officials, first proposed by Mayor Pat Kelly in January, and “similar to a badmitten bird, going back and forth between various areas of the city,” as Alderman Tom Kramer said, was finally resolved on Monday at the Board of Aldermen meeting.
The code was recently with the Ways and Means Committee. Chair, Alderman Tom Kramer, said on Monday that he had tried to enhance it, to see if it could have some success in passing that committee, but it failed that committee 4-0.
It place of a code of conduct, Kramer suggested the city use the already existing, page and a half, “Board-Staff Communications Guidelines“.
- Channel communications through the appropriate City staff.
- All Board members should have the same information with which to make decisions.
- Depend upon the staff to respond to citizen concerns and complaints as fully and as expeditiously as practical.
- The Board of Aldermen sets the direction and policy – City staff is responsible for administrative functions and City operations.
The guidelines were included in the new Board of Aldermen information packet after the 2012 election, City Administrator Bola Akande said.
No vote was needed to accept the guide in place of a code of conduct because it already exists, Akande said.
Kelly said some of the guidelines needed to be reviewed.
“Make sure some of the aldermen know that in our codes it says that they shouldn’t be talking to the media,” he said.
“That that’s done by the mayor and city administrator. They should refer all comments to us. Those kinds of things. So they know what their roles are,” Kelly said.
This article was written from reviewing the YouTube video available on the city website.
that code was the dumbest thing I have ever seen in our government. and that is saying a lot.lol
Agree Tom. Brentwood needs to look at the wills of the citizens and protect their rights as tax payers. Current administration is more boisterous about his “Mayoral Rights” than the rights of the people. This is not personal. I don’t like the in-fighting, and hold the Mayor responsible. Pat just does whatever he wants, and that is not why he was elected. This Code of Conduct would have resulted in more Mayoral discretion to fire anyone disagreeing with him. Again, this is a remark on the performance; not a personal attack. We need to move on.
Total A’men.
Unbelievable. 1st any elected official can talk to the media, period. 2nd all of the information inside city hall has been bought and paid for and belongs to the residents of Brentwood. Any citizen or office holder is entitled to ask for any and as much of the information as they care to. Neither the mayor nor any city employee is s gatekeeper of public information.