Margaret – Weeks of stalled meetings created tension between the mayor and council members in the City of Margaret. The Margaret City Council finally came together Sunday but both sides were still blaming each other for the breakdown.
For multiple meetings, the council was unable to attract the quorum necessary to conduct City business – not enough members showed up. That meant that decisions on spending, equipment repairs, and other city matters were put on hold, including one of great community concern – the condition of the city’s fire equipment.
Mayor Matt Tortorice says the situation could become serious if more equipment fails, and emergency response is affected. He said that communication with council members as browken down communication has broken down. Council members have responded that they have concerns are about how money is being spent and whether they are getting the information they need.
Council members have asked for documentation on about $31,000 in spending, say they but have not received it.
Sunday’s called meeting was to work through a backlog of items that had built up over the past few weeks – fire department updates, staffing issues, ordinances, and funding discussions. While some of those issues were addressed during the meeting, the larger issue of transparency and communication remains unsolved for now.
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