By Martin Couch
One of the jobs as mayor is to appoint the members of the Personnel and Finance Committee which meets to discuss[more] the agenda items that will be addressed at the City Council meetings.
Earlier this week, Bryant Mayor Jill Dabbs chose newly elected aldermen Rob Roedel and Mike Chandler, as well as aldermen Steve Gladden and Chris Tipton.
The first Personnel and Finance committee meeting in the Dabbs' administration is set for Jan. 10 at 5 p.m.
"I pushed to get the meeting room changed to the court room," she said.
Joe
Wow, she picked all her loyalists.
What she means is, "I pushed to keep anyone that disagrees with me from being on the committee…."
L.J.
Your insight is so correct! And I bet she will not appoint anyone who disagrees with her on the council to any other assignments of importance. But, if she’s smart she will not go that far. Her actions are speaking loudly and people are "getting it".
Bryant Resident
Oh my gosh…come on people..shutup. Quit complaining about this stuff, its not helping at all. All your doing is whining and complaining. Go do something. Change it. talk to the lady, see what she has to say to you..ask her whatever you want about what shes doing…..and if you dont want to take the time to do that, then you dont have the right to sit here and complain about everything she does.
L.J.
Bryant resident…haven’t you considered that maybe she has been talked with? In turn, what you are doing is not "helping at all" (as you put it) as you don’t even want to consider that possibly others know something you do not. So you are the one who needs to stop whining and allow people to exchange information freely. If you don’t like the process of freely exchanging ideas and information, then tune out. But don’t try to berate others who do want to be informed.
Joe
What would i ask her? Why are you hiring friends without using the application process? Why are you firing long term employees without giving them the chance to fight for their job? Why did you sue the city and have rates go up 9%? Why should i trust you with city money, when you use the wrong checkbook in a campaign, then just blow it off as politics?
Oh wait, all these questions have been asked, some multiple times. She wont answer them straight, so why waist my time letting her try to spin some half answer?
Besides, she has to ask what her answer will be, or release a canned answer. KTHV showed up at her hoise to ask these questions. She was conveniently unable to respond. She has had chances to answer directly, but wont.
Maybe citizens will evaluate their vote next time and not depend on facebook and twitter to get information from a candidate.
N. B.
Bryant Resident,
OMGosh! U don’t understand do u, most of us have talked to her! We are talking from experience! We have been listening and watching her actions too. Some of us have personally known her and her shady friends and advisors for years. That is how we are able to predict her next moves. At first they seem like very nice, wonderful people. Just do as they say and don’t turn your back on them! They are the kind of people that aren’t your friends, but, you don’t want one of them for an enemy either! But, now they have power, and it is going to be a frightening 4 years! You can bet your top dollar that she will have a lot of people running against her next election! The only thing that can be done now is sit back and hope the Council will be able to keep her in check……
Joe
My hope is she will be caught in a fraudulent act and be forced to resign. She has been dangerously close, and today is her 7th day. I once hoped she would do well, but i now see she isnt concerned with quality. We need to call a mulligan on that last election. It is like getting married after a first date, usually not a good idea. I think Bryant wants an annullment.
L.J.
Wow, and now she is censoring blogs with threats of a lawsuit? Let’s see if this makes it to the blog. I have not stated anything false, and I have used no profane language, so it should make it to the discussion. Folks, go back and look at the blog comments (all threads) and see "what’s missing now"….perhaps family related employment? If this does not make it to the blog, then it verifies that she has again used intimidation to control. I’m not out to do damage to blog owners as I think it it a great thing that we have them and I’m sure the blog owners set them up for an exchange of free speech. I feel it is unfair to the blog owners that they could be forced to go against their idea of free speech.
L.J.
I have a question to ask some of you folks who know the "Dabbs and Friends" group. Is is true that the new alerman, Rob Roedel is an old friend of hers from Malvern? If it is true, I can see why she appointed him to the Personnel and Finance Committee. By looking at the list (posted above in her ‘news release’) it appears she has lined up her ducks. There is one person in that group who appears to be an independent thinker, but the committee seems to be stacked. Is it no surprise?
Joe
He seems to have some sort of history or loyalty to her. He seemed far from independent in yesterdays meeting.
Bobby
LJ man, you need to get over yourself. Quit complaining on every single post man. Grow up, go do something…i saw where someone said to go talk to her…and you came back with a rude response to them?! Whats that about…Go talk to her if you dont like it…if I won the election in four years and beat Jill Dabbs out of office I would want my people in there too. Why do you people expect her to work with the people who dont like her from Larry Mitchells staff? Those people are just like Larry…rude and close minded. They dont like Jill and neither does he, so why would she want to keep them? I would do the same thing if I had a problem with her people. Just get a grip man.
L.J.
There has NEVER been a problem with transition from one mayor to the next in Bryant! If she’s having a problem, it’s because she’s causing it. And how do you know that I haven’t talked to her?
Joe
Shane King was hired in 1998. Larry Mitchell came along 8 years later. People have talked to her, if.you dont have the same opinion as her, she just blows you off.
N. B.
That’s where you’re wrong Bobby. Larry Mitchell kept everyone that Paul Halley had for at least 6 months. Some of those people are still there. She chose her people before she even started her campaign. Larry didn’t transition with her, because all she did was try to find something else bad to say or sue for something else. Larry cared about the citizens of Bryant and didn’t want her causing the City more money. So are you saying that the person who is trying to drag your name through the mud and suing u and causing havoc at Ur work, u would greet with open arms? That would be like her wanting to greet us with open arms. I suggest the ones that really haven’t been on her bad side yet, hold your comments cause you’re just talking to the wind. Let’s hope you never get on their bad side cause they will burn you with a smile on their face.
Joe
Half the transition period was under the shadow of a lawsuit. I dont think you can talk to the person suing you. If you heard the things she said to and about Larry, and the garbage she told the press at every turn, i would doubt you would hold these opinions. It would be like trusting a snake to not bite you.
She is a liar and has a massive ego. You can see her twisted smirk while she sits in that big chair.
Concerned Citizen
I heard that even before she actually won the election Mr. EX MAYOR let it be known that he would not allow a smooth transition!
I also read somewhere that the lawsuit was filed because the city had an ordinace in place that required a study to be done before the water rate increase but SOMEONE in authority decided that they didn’t have to abide by the ordinance.
In reality there is probably some truth in what each of us thinks and what each of us thinks we know but rest assured that not each of us knows EVERYTHING that’s taken place, been said, or done behind the scenes or out in the open. We can all put our puzzle peices together but we will all be looking at a different picture.
L.J.
There was an ordinance…for an outside study to be done in three years and other years an inside review. The year for the outside study was 2011 and her lawsuit was filed in 2010. The year 2010 was an "inside review" year and they were waiting for the census information and the total cost of the loan for water and sewer improvements, which would provide helpful information, when they were hit with her lawsuit. When there is a pending lawsuit they are unable to discuss matters so she had the upper hand…file suit while they could not discuss. I hope she remembers in the future if there is a pending lawsuit, they cannot discuss matters and "run to the press" which is her SOP. She accused Mitchell of not being transparent, when in actuality they were not allowed to discuss info relating to pending litigation.
Lack of help with transition? She lacks compassion for others, so it’s hard to have compassion for the woman. And, what’s wrong with the idea of having a two-month transition period now?
W.W.
I would like for someone to tell me how Mayor Dabbs justifies calling Ms. King in to work while she was on vacation just days before Mayor Dabbs took office to start the process of appointing an Interim Police Chief and then terminates her first thing Monday morning. Looks to me like Ms. King, who went to work on her vacation and did what she was asked to do, was making an effort to work with Mayor Dabbs.
Joe
Makes you wonder if shane king found something she questioned, or else called out something to disqualify kizer. Really smells fishy.
Peter
I heard that Shane stood up and told her that she was breaking the rules for the hiring procedures in Bryant… Dabbs told her she didnt care and to do it anyways. Dabbs used her position of authority to hire the police chief at a higher rate of pay than any Chief before and without the proper procedures. This can open the city up to lawsuits due to unfair hiring pratices… not to mention we never had a chance to get a qualified Chief to apply for the job.. This is not how our tax dollars should be used. That office is not her personal business and she should make sure all hirings are done in a fair and honest process….but thats been thrown out the window now.
Resident
Does the City Council have the final vote?
L.J.
A lot of people are watching this situation who are not participating in the discussions. They are smart, savvy people who are not into the blogging thing….but they are watching and reading. These are people from different political parties, so don’t say it has anything to do with politics…it has to do with honesty!
Joe
I hope shane has a lawyer. she could take the city to the cleaners if she was fired trying to follow the rules.
She is by the book all the way, so i can imagine she stood up for what is right.
Joe
The city council already failed to overturn anything she did. They didnt have enough votes.
L.J.
There’s some interesting "stuff" in the newest blog release about the Budget and Finance Meeting tonight. I suggest you take a look….quite a few pages. This is just the committee meeting tonight and it will be discussed by the full council at their next meeting Thursday night. But the public is welcome to attend both meetings.
Resident
Who appoints the city council members?
Rob
They’re elected by Ward.
Resident
So the Mayor is elected and the city council is elected.
The Mayor makes decisions and the City Council votes to support her decisions or to overturn them?
‘
Joe
Now is a good time to get involved. Dont trust them to act in your best interest.
Joe
Its like president and congress. Mayor has some power, but council can overturn with 2/3 vote. Mayor can veto. Mayor is responsible for day to day of city. ordinances are passed by council, but mayor can vote if needed to break tie.
Resident
Joe ~ don’t trust who?
joe
Dont trust that elected officials are going to do what is best. get informed about issues, and state your case, and make them be accountable. It is our government, and they answer to us.
L.J.
Joe, ditto.
A Resident of B Town
Sounds to me like some of you have apparently lost "your" connections to City Govenment. And I’m guessing this is the only place your voices are heard! So you and your "groupies" whine on in the name of FREE SPEECH. But act like grownups and let others disagree with you if they so choose.
Joe
State your case, and why. I never had connections, i just pay attention.
I also dont want our new mayor acting without checks and public scrutiny.
L.J.
Joe, I think trying to talk with some of these folks (like Resident of B town) is like the old saying about getting into a wrestling match with a pig….the only thing it does is get you dirty! Seriously, these folks don’t care anything about real information. When it does all come out, they still won’t change their minds. I for one will have the same sympathy for Mrs. Dabbs that she has shown Shayne King and Tony Coffman. But I bet at that time her followers will all be upset and blame it all on others. I’m also a person who has followed our municipal government for a long time and have no political ax to grind. All I ask is for honest officials and that is why I am following this to the end.