The City of Lawrence Common Council voted unanimously Aug. 16 in favor of a settlement agreement to end a monthslong court case between the council and Mayor Steve Collier’s administration.
Through the settlement, the council agrees that its investigation of Collier regarding the 2022 budget reversion is complete, and the council will take no further action. In return, Collier agrees to recommend and approve appropriations to pay for the council’s outstanding expenses related to the investigation and the court case.
The appropriations needed to pay the council’s outstanding bills total about $335,000. The funds will go to law firms that provided services to the council during its investigation of the mayor’s administration, and during the litigation process.
At-Large Councilmember Shawn Denney, a Democrat, asked the council’s attorney, Kristina Wheeler, to clarify whether the investigation into the 2022 budget had resulted in any more findings. Wheeler said the investigation is complete, and a presentation during the June 14 council meeting was the final report.
A video of that presentation is available for public viewing on the City of Lawrence’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/channel/UC5m_spz27XNayIy_Tzhg6ag.
District 4 Council Member Marie Rusomaraff said it was the right time to settle the court case. However, she said, the council’s investigation “revealed a concerning pattern of behavior by the administration to operate as the unilateral decision makers in the city.”
Rusomaraff, a Democrat, said Collier and his administration ignored the council’s wishes, and worked to spend more in the 2022 budget than the council approved. She said the court case was an attempt to impede the council’s investigation into those actions.
“Knowing these facts and looking ahead at what could be years of costly litigation on this matter, as good stewards of taxpayer dollars it is now in my opinion the right time to put this fight behind us and make sure that we are attending to the work of the city,” she said.
In a statement emailed Aug. 17, Collier said it was unfortunate that Lawrence has the reputation for “political gamesmanship.” He said his position from the start of the investigation was that it was frivolous and unnecessary.
“The truth is that any questions or concerns that any member of the community put forth, including members of the Common Council, could have been answered if simply asked,” he stated. “Gateway DLGF (Department of Local Government Finance), 2022 budget books and the council’s own budget advisor, Baker-Tilly, would have provided that information as well. As to why those resources were not consulted prior to the decision to conduct an ‘investigation’ costing the citizens of Lawrence nearly $500,000, you would need to ask members of the Council Finance Committee.”
Collier said he and his administration cooperated with the investigation, sitting through 18 hours of depositions and providing numerous emails and other documents. He added that he hopes the city’s elected officials can move beyond party membership and work together for the city. Collier, a Republican, has been mayor for 12 years and is not seeking reelection. Most of the council members are Democrats.
At-Large Council Member Deb Whitfield, a Democrat, emailed a statement Aug. 17. She noted that “it was no longer in the best interest of our taxpayers to bear the cost of further discovery and litigation.”
Background
Collier’s administration filed a petition March 23 in Marion County Superior Court over the council’s decision to appropriate $250,000 to investigate who was at fault when the city’s 2022 budget was not submitted to the state by deadline in late fall of 2021 and reverted to the previous year’s budget.
The council started the investigation in late 2022-early 2023 after learning that the city had been operating for all of 2022 under the 2021 spending plan.
Collier’s petition asked the court to declare the appropriation null and void, based on state statutes that say an appropriation cannot be made without the mayor’s recommendation. Collier’s petition also asked the court to rule that the council was at fault for the 2022 budget issue, because it allegedly failed to provide details needed for that budget to be submitted on time.
For more stories on this topic, search for “Lawrence Court Case” at youarecurrent.com.
