Brentwood Alderman Kramer: Mayor Said Residents Can be Taxed if Needed

Kramer hasn't been happy with Brentwood's low reserve, and doesn't like mayor Kelly's idea of taxing residents as a possible fix.

Brentwood alderman Tom Kramer says the city's budget reserve is insufficient. Kramer is on the Brentwood Ways and Means Committee, and the reserve was a topic of discussion at Tuesday's meeting. Maureen Saunders, also on the committee, said there is less than a month's expenses in reserve. Kramer said he's brought it up over the years, and has been told not to worry, because residents are not taxed on things they could be taxed on, which would bring in revenue if needed. Kramer further explained his statement in an email to Patch. "For years, the city has not assessed, nor collected residential real estate taxes or residential utility taxes. We could, but we don’t. "Our residential property tax rate is zero. Our residential utility taxes …

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City of Brentwood's Budget Reserve Less than Half of Brentwood Forest's

Ways and Means committee members are not happy with the city's small reserve.

The departments of the city of Brentwood will soon be working out budgets for the upcoming year. Alderwoman Maureen Saunders and others on the Ways and Means Committee at a meeting Tuesday night, discussed an aspect of the budget they're not happy with: the city has less than one month's expenses in reserve. Saunders said the residents have been given the wrong impression over the years. "My concern is that, the residents felt that we were swimming in money," she said. "Time after time people came to this podium and talked about money being spent  by the city. (They were told), 'No big deal. It’s insignificant,' and yet we only have a half a month's reserve." Saunders told her constituents in an email that the general fund balance at the …

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Pool, Fitness Center, Selling City Hall on the Table at Brentwood Aldermanic Meeting Discussion

Public Works chairman Keith Robertson suggested combining all the city functions at what is now the rec center in a discussion on the future of the Brentwood Recreation Complex.

The Aug. 20 Brentwood Board of Aldermen meeting started an hour early to devote time to hopefully come closer to a decision on the Brentwood Recreation Center. The recreation center is decades old and in need of repair. The city is attempting to decide what to do with the building. The process has taken years. The Brentwood Public Works Committee: chairman Keith Robertson, Andy Leahy, Cindy Manestar and Maureen Saunders talked through the subject with Mayor Pat Kelly and other aldermen, and in the end, the entire board passed a motion similar to the agreement made at the Public Works Committee meeting on Aug. 8. Public Works Committee chairman Keith Robertson began by saying the committee discussed the possibility of combining the …

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RDBet

9:35 am on Monday, August 27, 2012

What to do with these two city properties is a tough call, made tougher by the dynamics at city hall. A residents survey will only show what the others have shown - varied opinions , not all practical and realistic, No consensus. This may be a case where it makes sense to defer these decisions until later - and focus on other matters for now.   more ›

False Alarm on Comment Cards for Brentwood Aldermanic Meetings

A proposal to use comment cards in Board of Aldermen meetings were in five of the weekly city administrator’s reports.

It seems the concern about residents needing to fill out comment cards before speaking in a Brentwood Board of Aldermen meeting was unfounded. It was reported on Aug. 10 in Maplewood-Brentwood Patch that City Administrator Bola Akande had made the suggestion. In the Aug. 20 Board of Alderman meeting, mayor Pat Kelly said they won’t be used in Board of Aldermen meetings. “I don’t like them,” he said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate.” He said the Public Safety Committee had started using comment cards, and City Administrator Bola Akande took the initiative to propose using them for Board of Aldermen meetings. Alderwoman Cindy Manestar, by email on Wednesday, said the suggestion was included in the weekly (every Friday) city administrator’s …

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Brentwood Aldermen Vote to End Health Care Insurance Again

The city attorney convinced them their July 16 vote wasn't good enough.

The Brentwood Board of Aldermen came to the Aug. 20 meeting with a revised agenda. An item to end health care benefits for elected officials by ordinance was on the table. The board voted in the July 16 meeting to end the health care benefit, but it was not an ordinance. Alderwoman Maureen Saunders immediately moved to remove the item and send it back to the ways and means committee. Alderwoman Cindy Manestar seconded it. Saunders said Alderman Tom Kramer, at the Aug. 7 ways and means committee meeting, brought forward the idea of ending the benefit by ordinance, instead of letting it end as a result of the July 16 vote. Kramer said he had been contacted by more than one attorney after the July 16 vote to end the benefit, and he contacted …

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Bill McKenzie

12:30 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Both sides have a point. The aldermen deserve a chance to clarify a gray area by ordinance. But how can we end something by ordinance that was never authorized by ordinance? The solution is in the language of the proposed ordinance. Instead of "ending" by ordinance something that was never authorized by ordinance why not simply vote up or down on whether or not the City of Brentwood shall provide…   more ›

Brentwood Resident Update from Alderwoman Maureen Saunders, Posted by a Resident

Brentwood alderwoman Maureen Saunders sent a flyer to recipients of her newsletter. Resident Julie Pozzo posted the flyer on Patch.

Brentwood Public Works Considers Moving City Hall to Rec Center; Watch for New Survey

Some new ideas came up, including moving city hall functions and the library to the rec center, and moving the police department back to the old City Hall.

If you’re a Brentwood resident, hopefully sooner rather than later, expect a concise survey on your opinions for a new recreation center. That was the result of the Brentwood public works committee’s discussion on Aug. 8. Committee chair Keith Robertson laid out the known facts, then added the possibility of including city hall functions into the new rec center, including the library. “Accounting sense, it doesn’t make sense to have city hall any longer, where it is and the way it functions now,” he said. Maureen Saunders said she’d like to go back to the residents with a survey. She said the gym and the pool would be cost-prohibitive. She said she’d like to see a rec center for teens. “Alderman Kramer has been championing a gym. What sort…

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July's Top 11 Stories in Maplewood-Brentwood Patch: Insurance, QuikTrip

Brentwood's health insurance for elected officials and Maplewood's QuikTrip both dominated the headlines in July.

You could say July was the month of health insurance for Brentwood elected officials. Fox 2 News interviewed residents and mayor Pat Kelly on the practice before it was finally voted away by city council in a drama-filled meeting. Five articles in the top 11 covered the topic, including the top two. The QuikTrip in Maplewood wants to relocate to a busier corner–the same corner as Maplewood Richmond Heights High School and Middle School. The Maplewood planning and zoning commission approved the move. City council will have the final say in August, so stay tuned. Three of the top 11 were about QuikTrip. The number three article about free Starbucks coffee on July 4 was just a perfect storm of favorite things. Maplewood-Brentwood top 11 July …

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Brentwood's Elected Official Insurance Ends

Kelly defended the city-paid benefit and himself in an acrimonious meeting where he was told more than once to resign.

The Brentwood Board of Aldermen voted Monday night to end city-paid health care for elected officials, a benefit that has been maligned by many residents and one vocal alderwoman. The decision follows exposure from Fox 2 News, including an interview with Mayor Pat Kelly at City Hall. The motion by Alderwoman Maureen Saunders passed in a 4-3 vote minus Alderman Andy Leahy, who recused himself and stormed out of the room saying his vote would be “tainted.” There was some back-and-forth between Leahy and Saunders, but it wasn’t clear what Leahy meant by the word. (Keep up with all the Brentwood news, get Maplewood-Brentwood Patch free in your inbox every day.) “It’s just a shame they didn’t end (the health insurance benefit) at the beginning…

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