WR council members express concerns

The Warner Robins City Council halted the appointment of five women to a city review board after Councilman Daron Lee expressed concerns about the prospective board members.

Council was set to vote on the appointments to the fiscal year 2020 CDBG (community development block grant) Review Board, but the matter was withdrawn after Lee voiced his uneasiness about the board, made up of volunteers, consisting of only women.

“My concern is that all five appointments are all women,” Lee said. “I don’t have a problem with the board being all women, but we need to have some men on this board to be fair.”

He also admitted to having an issue with one particular designation, but did not specify which woman he was talking about.

I do have another concern with one of the appointments; I’m just being honest. I don’t feel comfortable going forward with this board. I’d like to withdraw my motion.”

The appointments up for approval were Nancy Newell, Kathy Hart, Carolyn Mitchell, Lydia Humphrey and Cathy Silengo. Sherri Windham, community development director, said the board was strictly volunteer/invitation based. Windham informed council that the board would need to be in place before January.

Councilman Keith Lauritsen presented a motion for council to authorize an agreement with Shana Moss to perform the duties of tax consultant for the city. Councilman Tim Thomas was hesitant to vote due to not having a written agreement presented before the council.

“There is no written agreement to execute,” Thomas said. “We (council) didn’t get the agenda until late Friday and have not really been able to discuss this or see any of the terms. I’d rather us negotiate and then bring us back a final written agreement. My questions are how many hours a week will she be working, what is the cost and is there anyone local we can hire to do this? I’m sorry, but I am hesitant to approve without knowing any of the terms.”

Councilman Clifford Holmes said he, along with Thomas and other members of council, had some discussions prior to the meeting, stating that the cost would be $25 per hour and that the position would only be part-time just to get the city through tax season.

Toms said there is still some negotiating to do, but the city cannot pay for Moss’s millage. He also said Moss is to train the people who are hired now within that department. Thomas said he understood the need to help the department, but still wanted a final agreement before approval. Lauritsen called for the vote, but amended the motion to negotiate no more than $35 an hour. The vote was 4-1, with Thomas voting against it.

One matter brought up for discussion that all of council was in agreement on was creating an ordinance to allow food trucks on city property. Thomas brought forth the discussion because he said he had been getting calls from businesses and the Warner Robins Recreation Department asking if it was possible.

“It brings everybody to a central location just like they do it in Perry and Bibb County and we want to do it in Warner Robins,” Thomas said.

No vote was taken, but Toms and council agreed to begin looking at city ordinances from Perry and Bibb County.

Council also approved three different grant agreements for the Warner Robins Police Department. The police department was awarded the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant offered through the United States Department of Justice. Warner Robins Police and the Houston County Sheriff’s Office have agreed through a memorandum of understanding to split the total grant award amount of $36,884 equally.

The second grant, Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant, was also awarded through the United States Department of Justice to the Warner Robins Police Department in the amount of $14,647.25. The third grant was awarded to Warner Robins Police from the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety in the amount of $21,740, which will go towards updating the department’s breath alcohol testing mobile unit and to conduct highly visible and highly publicized traffic enforcement strategies and public education.