Story Published: Feb 28, 2012 at 10:55 PM PDT
Story Updated: Feb 29, 2012 at 9:01 PM PDT
New Lewiston Library under construction.
Some residents spoke out against using money from a city sanitation account to fund the completion of the new Lewiston library.
Lewiston's downtown library is facing a shortfall of almost $800,000. To bridge the gap, the city proposed using excess money from a sanitation fund.
But some residents are opposed to it, claiming the excess money has been accumulated from over-charging residents.
"The money that they're collecting is in excess of what their needs are," said Jim Kluss. "Not just for their current needs, their reserve needs."
Mayor Kevin Poole says the Idaho statute states very clearly as to what the city can or cannot use enterprise money for.
"There have been some concerns about using enterprising funds that we're overcharging, but that's not the case, " said Poole. "On the sanitation side, we have some post closure costs once the Asotin County landfill is completely built up, but the state of Washington is going to require every party that puts one pound of garbage in there is going to participate in post closure cost."
Mayor Poole pulled the item off the agenda, delaying the vote and that had some residents asking whether he had the authority to do so.
In an email sent to KLEW News by the Nez Perce Commissioner's office, the city code states as follows:
"Prior to each regular council meeting, the city manager shall prepare an agenda of such meeting, which agenda shall fix the order in which council business for such meeting shall be considered. The council may, with the consent of a majority of the council present, vary or add to the agenda at any such meeting."
However, Mayor Poole denies doing anything wrong.
"State statue is really clear, one of the prerogatives of the mayor is that the mayor sets the agenda for the meeting for the council and under the advice of our city attorney, Jamie Shropshire, I asked her to make sure that I was on firm ground legally and she confirmed that I was so I took the prerogative as mayor to pull the issue from the agenda," said Poole.
"In the city code, it's the city manager not the mayor who has the ability to withdraw agenda items," said Kluss. "And that's public record. It's there at city hall and the mayor can argue it, but apparently he doesn't know city code either."
After we spoke with Mayor Poole on camera about this story, he has since spoken with city attorney Jamie Shropshire who says she originally gave him incorrect information and the city will go over the statute at the next work session.
