The Goodman City Council continues to make changes in how business is conducted.
As part of a cost-saving measure, Goodman aldermen approved the purchase of a new timeclock for $214. Council members approved the expenditure at the Feb. 18 council meeting. Talk of a timeclock started in early January when alderperson Beth Hallmark approached the council about the idea. The council has discussed utilizing a time clock or a similar method to better track employee hours. Hallmark has said that the city incurred $16,000 last year in paying for overtime and personal time off. Hallmark was not present at the Feb. 18 meeting.
Aldermen also discussed opening up the new city of Goodman Facebook page to comments. Hallmark, who started the page, initially said she had the comments turned off on the page's setup. Last week, however, members discussed the possibility of allowing people to make comments and read those comments. Members discussed the problem of having negative posts and recording the posts should someone request it as part of the Sunshine Law.
Alderman Ron Johnson said if someone posts something around midnight, then chooses to take it down a few minutes later, what options would city officials have for recording that. "Will we have a way of retrieving it?" he asked.
After some discussion, aldermen decided to leave the page in its current status for now, without allowing others to comment. The city previously had a Facebook page, but the city council voted to abolish the page after receiving input from then-city clerk Karla McNorton. McNorton, who had returned from clerk training, said all information posted on the Facebook page had to be recorded due to the Sunshine Law. If someone posted something, then deleted it, and a person later requested that information, it would have to be logged somewhere, she had told the council.
At that point, members decided not to invest in a system that would record that information and voted to take down the city's Facebook page. Late last year, however, Hallmark launched a new page on behalf of the city as a way to inform residents.
The Goodman City Council also has voted to fire the city attorney. Council members voted at a Jan. 23 special meeting to release city attorney Duane Cooper from his duties, according to meeting minutes. Council members then voted at a Feb. 10 special meeting to temporarily hire attorney Jordan Paul to assist the city.
According to minutes from that meeting, Mayor J.R. Fisher said that Paul's rate is $200 an hour. He asked that the council bring Paul on board in a temporary position because the city currently has some issues for which legal guidance is needed. The city attorney's position will be bid out at a later time, Fisher said. Paul will likely be a part of that bid process, Fisher said.
Other recent changes include not requiring city department heads to attend city council meetings. According to Feb. 4 meeting minutes, attendance is not required in the future. If issues arise within a particular department, those can be addressed during the workweek. Fisher asked department heads who have issues to report to attend. A representative from the police department, however, is asked to attend each meeting.
For council meetings, residents and guests are now asked to speak from a podium. Residents, or those who wish to speak at city council meetings, will continue to have that opportunity by signing in before the meeting. That was instituted late last year. But those speaking now will be asked to approach and speak at a podium in the center of the room.
In other business, Goodman Elementary principal, Samantha Hamilton, spoke to the group about supporting an upcoming bond issue in April which would support building a FEMA shelter for four schools in the district -- a performing arts center, multipurpose end-zone facility, NHS maintenance, salary schedule improvements and expansion of early childhood.
"The Next Step" is a ballot measure that will include a Proposition C waiver and a levy increase to fund about $22 million worth of projects for the Neosho School District.
The proposed increase is $0.59 per $100 of assessed valuation, according to the Neosho School District's website.
Hamilton said that the Neosho School District has invested $5 million in the new Goodman Elementary School after the former school was destroyed in the April 2017 tornado. Insurance paid $7.3 million for the $12 million dollar facility, which features state-of-the-art design, ingenuity and 21st-century thinking, Hamilton said. The current FEMA shelter at the school is large enough for all the children and the community, she added. She asked meeting attendees to spread the word and support the bond effort in April.
In related news, Hamilton said that some interested folks had nominated the city of Goodman as a candidate for a makeover on an HGTV program. If approved, home improvement officials with the show would make improvements to Main Street and showcase the updo on the show.
Other speakers during the open forum part of the Feb. 18 council meeting included Katharine Grieser of the Salvation Army, who said her grass-roots effort group is trying hard to spark change in the community. Volunteers recently raised $5,000 for less fortunate people, she said. A benefit also was held for a Goodman resident who lost her house in a fire. Approximately $300 was raised for that effort. Grieser said a spaghetti dinner and silent auction will be held on March 7 at the First Baptist Church in Anderson to raise additional funds for McDonald County efforts and to bring awareness to the cause.
General News on 02/27/2020