Metro Council Reacts To Critics
by SCOTT DYER - Advocate (excerpt)

Council Administrator Brian Mayers said the decision to do away with the committees was made at a private meeting that occurred before the new council was sworn into office. “These discussions were not a violation of the open meetings law as the members had not been sworn in,” Mayers said.

In his e-mail, Mayers said he doesn’t think that eliminating the committee meetings means less work for council members, whose monthly pay was bumped from $300 to $1,000 beginning this month. “Not having committee meetings does not mean council members are getting paid more for doing less,” Mayers said. “In fact, it gives them more time to deal with constituent matters and get feedback from the people they represent. It is definitely not a part-time job,” Mayers added.

(Mayor Pro Tem Mike) Walker said one of his top priorities as mayor pro tem is to make sure the council abides by the open meeting law. “We’re going to run things strictly by the book,” Walker said.

RELATED: Mike Walkers's comments regarding this issue, "Setting The Record Straight" can be found at: http://mikewalker.net/archives/90