Though he met twice last week with Mayor Jonathan Elmore, Avondale Estates City Manager Clai Brown isn’t backing down from his Dec. 6 resignation. On Saturday morning Elmore sent out an email saying as much. Although omitted from the email, Brown is scheduled to work through Feb. 16.
“We will meet soon with Clai to develop and communicate a plan that ensures a smooth transition,” Elmore wrote.
Brown has not yet gone on record with his reasons for walking away from a job he’s held for nearly 10 years.
Meantime the city’s Board of Mayor and Commissioners has a special called work session regarding the budget scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Dec. 18 at Avondale Estates City Hall, 21 North Avondale Plaza. After the special session commissioners will hold a special called meeting to vote on the budget.
Though officials confirmed the meeting, as of late Sunday no public email announcement had been made and it was not posted on the city’s web site.
Brown has said the proposed 2018 budget is not the reason for his leaving. Nevertheless the process has sparked contention among commissioners and between the commission and city manager. The budget has undergone at least five revisions since July, the most recent presented Nov. 28.
For his entire duration Brown along with Finance Director Ken Turner prepared the budget. But in recent days it has emerged that neither were involved in this latest iteration.
Commissioners were supposed to vote on the budget Dec. 11. But that meeting lasted 2½ hours and was dominated by a standing room only crowd that almost universally opposed Brown’s resignation. The budget vote was subsequently tabled.
It’s supposed to be approved by Jan. 1, but that’s not required. If it remains unapproved, Jan 2017 numbers would get plugged into the Jan 2018 budget, and this would continue month by month until the new budget passes.
Elmore along with Commissioners Brian Fisher and Adela Yelton favor the latest revision while Randy Beebe and Terry Giager oppose it. From the beginning Giager has been particularly vocal, calling it “blue sky budgeting,” while adding that the projected raised revenues in the latest revision are “speculative at best.”
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