Budget Discussion Ends In Quick Adjournment As Half The Council Fails To Appear

The city’s ongoing budget discussion will continue after tonight’s meeting at city hall, where half the City Council did not show for the proceedings.

The half-empty Council dais featured only four of the city’s 8 Councilmembers along with the Mayor. This resulted in a failure to reach a quorum as Council meetings require a total of either 6 present Councilmembers or 5 Councilmembers plus the Mayor to be present in order to achieve a quorum, which then allows the Council’s meetings to commence.

Mayor Keisha Chapman and Councilmembers Tremayne Mitchell (Ward C); T. Starr Cummings (Ward C At-Large); Andrea Caldwell (Ward D-At Large) and LaTonya Martin-Rogers (Ward D ) were present as the meeting began at 6:30 P.M.. But when it became clear that a quorum would not be reached, the Mayor adjourned the meeting.

Not present were: Councilmembers Eric Friedly (Ward A); Japera Hemming (Ward A At-Large); Carrie Ziegler (Ward B) and Shean Atkins (Ward B At-Large). It is unclear why the four did not show.

Tonight’s meeting was expected to feature discussion related to the city’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget, which was due to be finalized by June 30. But issues over certain budget elements being left out of the budget, including funds for senior programs, caused Councilmembers Caldwell, Cummings, Martin-Rogers and Mitchell to seek enhanced input from the community. That input included a series of budget town halls held by the four.

Tonight’s meeting was not expected to feature a final vote on the budget; the meeting was however expected to feature a discussion focused on the budget’s implementation.

Tonight’s no-show by the four Councilmembers in question likely further draws out a budget that is now a month overdue.