Administration Nowhere To Be Found, Deadlines for City Looming
Moments from August 5th meeting.
8.6.2024 / News / munciepostdemocrat.com
Last night at the August City Council meeting, members of the administration usually at the monthly meetings were not anywhere to be seen. This comes after many questions have been pointed at the administration both from elected officials and the general public. The pertinent issues spoken about last night, including the ongoing negotiations with AFSCME, financial reports, and transparency, were all met without responses by administrative officials.
Early in the meeting Council-member Nora Powell stated that a budget report from City Controller Craig Wright won’t be available until the next meeting, putting the Council and the Finance Committee into a “holding process” according to Powell. The delay also had an impact on discussion of Ordinance 16-24, in which there could not be a lengthier discussion on appropriations for the fire department because of the lack of knowledge on finances.
Negotiations between AFSCME and the Ridenour administration began over a year ago in May of 2023. Although terms for the new contract have not been made, an Evergreen clause allows the previous contract to automatically renew terms from the previous year. While several negotiation meetings have taken place in the past month alone, the discussions have been restricted according to sources. In a meeting held on July 9th, Council-member Billy McIntosh was kicked out over fears that he might repeat details at the next council meeting.
Parties involved reportedly were hopeful for an agreement to be made before the next council meeting, although the union has heard very little from Mayor Ridenour. After AFSCME was willing to compromise on the Me Too clause of the contract, a clause to ensure city employees under their union receive the same pay increases as the Police and Fire departments in the future, Mayor Ridenour has been unresponsive.
The next negotiations meeting is now expected to take place August 12th.
At last months meeting the council voted 7-2 in favor of tabling Ordinance 12-24, essentially an ordinance allowing the administration to provide their offer of a 10% raise without agreeing to other aspects of the contract. While the ordinance could have been taken off the table for discussion once again, City Controller Craig Wright wasn’t present to discuss it as he had in both June and July.
Close to the end of the meeting, Council-member Sara Gullion pointed out that she reached out to Mayor Ridenour and Communications Director Michele Owen regarding the recent decision to get rid of commenting on the City of Muncie Facebook page, saying that she would like to know if their livestreamed meetings can at least have commenting enabled while other board and commission meetings don’t have to be required to.
Matt Wagley (left) and Craig Wright (right) at the July 1st meeting.
Gullion has not heard back from either Ridenour or Owen.
Discussion for Resolution 7-24.