Close to a hundred residents were ready for something to go their way at the board of aldermen meeting last night.
They got it at the very end, when alderwoman Maureen Saunders made a motion in an almost “oh by the way” fashion, in the meeting at the Brentwood Recreation Center.
“And another thing,” she said, after agreeing to a time change for a joint ward meeting, “In listening to the residents, I am going to go ahead and make a motion that this board pursue civil action against Chris Seemayer.”
When Seemayer was found guilty last year of embezzling $30,000 from the city of Brentwood to pay gambling debts, he was allowed to resign instead of being fired, making it possible for him to get sick and vacation pay, and receive an almost $36,000 a year pension, to begin when he reaches 60.
In public comments, residents told the board how they felt about , spending up to $40,000 on a new car for the city administrator, raising the sewer lateral fee from $40 to $50 a year, overpaying firefighters for overtime in the past, paying city employees more that what comparable cities pay, and the fountain on Eager Road that requires $20,000 a year to maintain.
Resident Barry Williams launched into how the board let Seemayer leave the city after being convicted.
“Instead of firing (Seemayer) and trying to recoup the taxpayers’ money we did the opposite. You did. You did,” he said. “This body did the opposite.”
“At a time when our fiscal situation is not good, it’s hard to explain how this city is not trying to get that money back,” he said. “We need that money.”
He said the city can’t recoup the sick and vacation pay, but the pension can be stopped.
“I really would like to see this city launch a civil law suit,” Williams said. “He is not getting any of that pension.”
Mayor Pat Kelly defended how the city handled Seemayer.
“At the point he was arrested, of the $30,000, he had already paid back $15,000,” Kelly said. “As part of the settlement he paid an additional $15,000 to reimburse the city for all the funds he had taken, at which time he also gave up around half of his accrued vacation and sick leave days in order to cover our legal expanses.”
There was no ‘old business,’ so Saunders made her motion to pursue legal action against Chris Seemayer in ‘new business.’
After it was seconded, Kelly said it was a legal action that needed to be discussed later in executive session, and couldn’t be voted on in the public meeting.
City attorney Frank Albrecht said it couldn’t be discussed in the executive session because the agenda had already been set.
Alderman Andy Leahy suggested altering the motion, making it 'considering' pursuing legal action, which meant that if passed, the discussion could be put on the agenda for the next meeting.
It passed with a “yes” from every alderman, followed by applause from the residents.
Also in Patch:
- Redirecting the firefighter overtime pay to reserves - Redirecting the TDD administrative fees to reserves - Redirecting expenses related to the golf tournament to reserves - Redirecting aldermanic benefits and pension to reserves And this is just what we know about. I am sure there is more. Also, do a "zero based budget" which means every Department starts with "0" and has to justify every penny. That means looking at every cost (e.g. travel, cost of living plus merit plus longevity plus attendance increase) and redirecting savings to reserves. There is no excuse for our reserves not be amongst the strongest in the region given the amount of retail that we have. We just haven't been focused on it..but now is the time.
Of course, I am unhappy with the theft by Seemayer, and sometimes wonder what sort of chicanery went on with the developers that were given a lot of latitude (and TIFs) with our limited space in Brentwood. Nevertheless, how long are we going to live in the past on these topics? What went on with the firefighter's pay was wrong. However, I am happy with our fire and ambulance protection overall and view it as a community asset. Police. Library - that is the same way. Parks. Schools -all good overall....most every aspect of Brentwood has improved over the last dozen years, my opinion, of course. You know, it is possible to have better accountability while having cooperation. Point is, no entity can function properly with the Inquisition paranoia and constant living in the past. Thus, I am glad this board has been stymied in deciding on the direction for the assets of City Hall and Community Center property - because I am pretty sure that the decision would be a poor one, considering the unproductive atmosphere on that Board. Happy Brentwood Days everybody (Maddenfest?)....
Karen - I don't disagree with your sentiment about understanding the past. However, it seems the board is too mired in it, and afraid to move on lest someone else start pointing fingers at them. As mentioned -we see a byproduct already with how the board can't function properly on the rec center/city hall situation - they couldn't even decide on a process for gathering information. I wouldn't doubt that Brentwood will have a hard time finding good candidates to volunteer for various civic boards - considering the atmosphere.
Continued>>>>>>>
None of us could imagine any other public or private entity handling Seemayer & Firefighters overtime the way Brentwood handled it. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube so these issues will linger on for a long time. If you're waiting for voters to move on, forgive or forget its not gonna happen. Once trust is broken in any relationship, its over.
And one thing, maybe its just me, but Embarrassed referring Ms Saunders as Citizen...well she IS a citizen, just like me, and you. She votes, right? I don't refer to public servants as public officials, or law enforcement as Authorities, who also by the way, are citizens. We place trust in these individuals and tether them power, which can be a dangerous thing for some people. The closer Saunders remains to the rest of us the better, in my opinion. As for looking under rocks, leave no stone unturned. This road to rebuilding trust and confidence in our representatives should be thorough, I would guard against any a hasty "nothing more to see here, move along" attitude. Cleaning up is a dirty business, and takes time.
I think the key word is "elected' official. Still unclear on non-elected. Not an attorney here either. Legal costs should be a consideration with this civil action. Forfeiture of Service ?104.1084.8 Any elected state official convicted of a felony committed in connection with his/her duties as an elected state official will forfeit any credit for service rendered on or after August 28, 1999.
On the other hand, you seem to be comfortable with Mr. Completely’s comments and have even complimented him on his contributions. (My apologies to Mr. Completely if that is your real name.) Perhaps we should follow Doug’s lead regarding Mr. Completely’s comments: Evaluate and praise or criticize anyone’s comments for the worthiness of their content, rather than immediately prejudging based on the moniker that the Patch lets them choose.
I have just noticed a trend over the past couple of months (by following both publications), that the Patch tends to be biased by something. It concerns me that information is being thrown around in a way that is many times taken out of context or is not presented in a more unbiased fashion. I think all Brentwoodians deserve to have as much information and as many flyers sent to them as possible. I would just like to see the information not sensationalized.....it is difficult to tackle real problems when facts are skewed and emotions take over. There are great things happening in Brentwood and the potential for even greater things in the future. It just saddens me that it appears that in the name of "transparency", there seems to be a group that only want to look at certain practices or promote some type of vendetta. I can be more understanding of this on an individual basis (since all individuals have the right to believe and act as they choose), but feel like the press should be held to a higher standard.
Not sure how to frame those minutes in context of the contradicting allegations in this thread, the Library tax article thread and the Board of Alderman and Ways and Means minutes. Anyone care to take a stab at it? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?