HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - Veto of ordinance No. 2638 OITT O! AM=
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO Members of the-Ames City Council DATE March 7, 1978
FROM Lee Fellinger, Mayor
SUBJL T Veto of Ordinance No 2638
I find it necessary to veto Ordinance No. 2638, Mandatory Procedures for the Mayor
in Making Appointments, for the following reasons:
1. The ordinance does not specify a time deadline for response from Council Members.
This makes it very clumsy and can lead to requiring almost a month to make an
appointment.
2. The ordinance does not specify the form of Council 's response or require a
Council Member to give reasons based on the individual if the Mayor's prefer-
ence is unacceptable. Since the Mayor is required to give reasons for a
preferred individual it seems that the same rule should be required of Council
Members if they do not approve that choice.
3. The Council response should be in writing and not oral since the response
concerns public business, and if the Mayor's report is made public so should
the Council 's response.
4. A simple majority rule is adequate to prevent the Mayor from voting on appoint-
ments. This would mean three votes necessary for approval if a legal quorum
or five members present and four votes if the full Council were acting.
At the present I am voluntarily following these procedures in order to find addi-
tional modification if needed. Over all I believe that Council 's action in mandating
rules by resolution and ordinance has created a public impression that those previously
appointed have been unsatisfactory and their volunteer public service unappreciated.
This procedure leads to the possibility of public knowledge of second and third
choice appointees. This is very poor public relations. Please refer to my policy and
procedure statement distributed a month ago and you will see that the files have been
open to Council members all along.