City Council’s Remarks from Sept. 10^th Meeting

Mayor Tom Schneider responded on the city’s cable television  to what he called “derogatory budget related statements that were made at the September 10th City Council meeting directed at me, my Administration and staff during deliberations on mostly routine budget adjustments that were delayed by the indoctrination of a new Finance Director.” (Mayor Schneider had not sent a letter to council  members, but read a statement on the city’s cable tv network on the subject)

The mayor stated that when efforts are made “to distort the record it is time for your Mayor to speak out,”

Last year my Administration offered a proposed budget that was balanced and sustainable. Unfortunately the City Council chose a different path creating a dogmatic and rigid approach and abandoning decades of success that allowed prudent discretion. Without flexibility the Council’s budget vision demanded significant cuts in personnel without sacrificing services. I rejected this and asked that my original budget proposal be revisited.” In the letter, he stated “In frustration a better than nothing budget was passed with inadequate overtime and other flaws which added to the challenge of delivering services.” He returned the 2018 budget unsigned with a cautionary note.

At a later meeting the Council passed a “hastily crafted early retirement incentive which I vetoed with a detailed message listing the perilous consequences of losing too many experienced people at the same time.” Schneider contends that it was at odds with the City Charter. The Council overruled the mayor’s veto. There was a provision in the early retirement ordinance that interfered with what Schneider said was “ the Mayor’s ability to replace the retired personnel,”

“The City Charter does not give the Council that administrative power. This impasse created conflict and tension between these two branches of our government,” the mayor said in the letter.

“We had to rebuild a work force that lost 500 years of experience overnight including three department heads, two field superintendents and almost the entire finance department! I did make a concerted effort to reduce staff by eliminating two full time positions in Public Works, two in Parks and three in Administration. Recreation Director Cheryl Thompson stepped up to serve as acting parks director without filling her former position for 4 months.

The mayor commended our Human Resource Director Sonya Brooks White “for her tremendous job of helping me make outstanding promotions within and finding the tremendous new talent we needed to fill essential roles. I am especially encouraged by the fast and fresh start of our new Finance Director Kimberlee Johnson and our new Public Works Director Todd Hughes.”

Schneider said since 2011 when he took office the city has had a significant decrease in revenue from the transition of land phone lines to cellular and “other dynamics beyond our control that has compromised our revenue stream. Florissant voters have since approved several “increases in needed revenue streams” with Prop S for Safe Streets, A&R for Code Enforcement and Prop P for Public Safety

The mayor said he promoting the passage of Prop D For Missouri’s Transportation infrastructure of which Florissant will receive additional revenue. “The total additional revenue mentioned above should more than makes up for the decrease in revenue so I am optimistic that your City Government should not have to substantially reduce services at this time,” he concluded.

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