The ordinance that seemingly would never end has finally been knocked off the Pine Bluff City Council’s agenda, but its sponsor indicated Monday night that he plans to reintroduce the notion yet again in newly amended form.
Alderman Steven Mays’ call for a “community-friendly privilege fee” to be assessed against city department heads had been on and off the council’s meeting menus the past three months while dispatched back to committees for fine tuning. During the ordinances and resolution committee’s session before Monday night’s council assembly, Mays said he had received additional guidance on the proposal and wished to pull from it from consideration with a scheduled final reading and vote.
Drawing some good-natured kidding from his counterparts, Mays changed his mind and agreed to put the measure to a vote, even though he was assured it would fail. Senior Alderman Bill Brumett told Mays that when he formulates the next version, “Make sure you get it approved” following council processes.
Alderman George Stepps warned Mays that in its current form, the ordinance was inviting lawsuits.
The council then put down the measure in a 7-1 vote with Mays giving the only nod.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Mays was asking that non-resident department administrators hired after Jan. 1, 2014, have 4 percent of their gross wages withheld if they decided to live outside the city. He had suggested that the collected revenue be set aside to help prevent crime among teenagers and enable drainage enhancements and sidewalk construction and improvements.
Mays became testy later, however, with his reaction to a resolution that removed a house at 1614 South Lee Street from the city’s condemnation list, where it was placed with a council vote last month. The house once belonged to the now-deceased parents of Alderman Glen Brown, who described the site as “heir property.”
Brown complained at the time that he had been “targeted” by inspection and zoning department officials in the matter.
Mays angrily asked Monday why the house had been deleted from the condemnation list, saying the notice was “hidden” on the second page of the resolution. Mays said he thinks everyone should be treated equally and indicated he felt Brown was drawing favor.
“Let’s do this right,” Mays said.
Assistant City Attorney Joe Childers said Brown had “nothing to do with the decision.” Childers said the determination was made after a background check that concluded that the house is heir property and that “all parties needed to be notified.”
Mays accepted the explanation and helped in giving the new resolution unanimous approval.
Afterward, Alderman George Stepps scolded Mayor Debe Hollingsworth for her response to Mays’ outburst, suggesting she didn’t “treat” Mays “like she does others” and “should have stopped him when he first started” his comments. The mayor had rapped her gavel several times in calling for order before suggesting Mays should perhaps receive Childers’ explanation.