The Avondale Estates City Commission held its final regular meeting of the year with a stand-room-only crowd. Normally these sessions last a half hour or less with only a handful attending. But on Monday, city hall was packed with roughly 150 people curious about the fate of City Manager Clai Brown and the 2018 city budget.
After holding the job for nearly 10 years, Brown unexpectedly resigned on Dec.6, agreeing to work through Feb. 16. He has not said specifically why he’s leaving, though partly it relates to the contentiousness surrounding that budget, which was scheduled for commission approval Monday. This budget has undergone at least five revisions since July including what some assumed was a final draft on Nov. 28.
It emerged Monday that Brown and Finance Director Ken Turner were not involved in crafting the final budget revision.
Commissioner Brian Fisher, who produced the final draft, projected an additional $82,000 in revenue. According to several sources, much of that is based on revenues of the previous 22 months (all of 2016 and 10 months of this year). Brown, according to these same sources, projects revenue based on trends from the previous five to 10 years.
About a week before Brown’s resignation, Elmore told the AJC, “I think in Avondale we are trying a lot of new things …We’ve been trying to grow [the downtown business district] with a limited budget. What we’ve been doing hasn’t been working … That’s not a knock on anybody. But we have to change things, shake things up.”
On Monday, when the budget was ultimately tabled, Elmore seemed genuinely surprised there was any disagreement with the final revision. He pointed out that it was balanced and that all board members “agreed to it. We all agreed to it, everybody is okay with it.”
Both Commissioners Randy Beebe and Terry Giager said they opposed it.
“I’ve have complained about this budget from day one,” Giager said. “I have supported Clai and Ken’s numbers for eight years. I have complained we should not change their numbers. On one item there was a 69 percent increase in revenue [from the Brown/Turner budget] and 89 percent on another. I am very upset the mayor would sit here and say we all agreed on this budget.”
“This is the hardest decision I’ve made in my life,” he told the audience. “But having said that, I believe in fiscal responsibility, transparency, honesty and trust are the core values that build the foundation for a successful government. Right now I do not feel those core values are representing our government.”
Then he cited a portion of the city charter. After pointing out the mayor/board is responsible for setting policy and the city manager runs day to day operations, he said, “Neither the board nor mayor shall give orders to any [staffer] either publically or privately. … The board exercises its powers only in session.”
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