Palmer council meeting adjourns over spat on agenda

Palmer’s city council adjourned its meeting Tuesday evening, Nov. 12 a few minutes after it started.

Two council members, Victoria Hudson and Joshua Tudor, objected the meeting agenda and while three members voted to approve the agenda Hudson and Tudor voted no.

With only three members voting for the agenda, one short of four required by the city’s code, Palmer Mayor Steve Carrington was forced to adjourn the meeting shortly after it began.

Carrington and council members Jim Cooper and Richard Best voted yes on the agenda but three votes weren’t enough. The council must have an approved agenda to have a legal meeting, Carrington said.

The upshot is that several items of city business that needed council approval Tuesday will be delayed and rolled to the city’s next regular council meeting.

Carrington is known for a gentlemanly manner and trying to keep an even keel at meetings, but frustration was obvious in his voice.

Meanwhile, a special meeting of the council called by Hudson and Tudor is set for Thursday evening to further engage a prolonged debate over matters left from the resignation of former city manager Stephen Jellie.

Carrington has asked earlier for a formal review of matters leading up to Jellie’s departure, after two months on the job, so city officials could review what happened and set procedures to avoid a repetition.

Hudson has called for the inquiry to be broadened to include the mayor’s action in retaining outside legal counsel in drafting an agreement for Jellie’s departure. The city has retained outside counsel at times in the past for special tasks.

Extended debate on the matter now appears to be affecting functioning of city business, evidenced by the delays in matters that were to be decided at the Tuesday meeting.