Web site brings city manager under fire

A new Internet Web site popped up last week laying out a litany of questions and charges disapproving of actions and expenses incurred by various members of the Nevada city government and staff.

The owners of www.nevadarevealed.org, who operate the site through an Arizona company so they can remain anonymous, provide selected information obtained from the city to show why they think a state compliance audit should be performed, the city charter amended and perhaps have the city manager fired.

The owners of the Web site say they are providing the information for the public to examine and to make up their own mind.

Among other issues the Web site raises concerns about the amount of money the city has spent on travel expenses to send council members, specifically Marie Wessley, and city staff to Missouri Municipal League and National League of Cities meetings in the last three years, the amount of money the city has spent in legal fees with Armstrong Teasdale, a Kansas City based law firm, in the last two years and the powers of the city manager as set out by the city charter.

Most of these concerns and much of the information provided on the site have already been presented at city council meetings earlier this year by Joe Kraft and former Mayor Dick Meyers; which were reported in this newspaper.

Some of these issues relating to council member's travel expenses were brought up by then Mayor Dick Meyers and Joe Kraft during city council meetings in March, April, and again in May. The council later enacted a new ordinance clarifying the city's travel expense policies. A Daily Mail report of a March city council meeting said, "Citing Section 3.3 of the city charter Meyers contended that all travel expenses for the city manager, city clerk, city finance director/treasurer and city council members should have prior approval from the city council.

'Are expenditures for travel to come in front of the council for the city manager, city clerk, finance officer and council members,' Meyers asked Franklin Norman, who was part of the commission that created the city charter.

'I don't know. That's what you have a lawyer for,' Norman replied.

The council is a policy making body and the city manager is to have charge of conducting that policy, Norman told Meyers.

If the council meddles in the manager's duties there will be trouble. If the manager meddles in the council's business there will be trouble, Norman said.

'I don't see the problem. Someone show me,' Norman said."

During that March 18 meeting, Meyers also brought up concerns about $75,000 in legal fees paid to the Kansas City law firm, and city attorney Bill McCaffree explained the charges, saying that that most of the expenses were for specialized services that he did not have the expertise to handle and two of the issues -- such as those relating to Wi-Fi cable television -- were ones that he could not work on because he was personally involved in the case.

The Web site also raises a concern about the number of credit cards the city has and recommends that the city publicly destroy all credit cards at a future council meeting.

The Web site proposes that a state compliance audit, which would cost the city between $12,000 and $24,000, would be the best way to find out what if anything was done wrong and asks for people to sign an audit petition when it is available.

In addition, the Web site raises concerns about expenditures relating to electrical work at the site of the Ozark Building, which along with other charges are now the subject of a suit brought against city manager Craig Hubler by Joe Kraft and other allegations of wrong-doing aimed at Hubler.

Hubler said he has not viewed the Web site and cannot comment on its contents.

Some of these issues have recently been addressed by the city council with new ordinances that the Web site claims were unnecessary because they are covered by the City Charter.