By Martin Couch
Last week in the Finance and Personnel meeting at City Hall, newly-elected mayor Jill Dabbs spoke up to say she would drop her lawsuit against the City of Bryant if a review[more] of the water rates are done properly.
"I filed a lawsuit, because the ordinance wasn't followed," she said. "I contacted the city and my attorney contacted the city. A review could be done at no cost to the city. Crist Engineering has most of the information ready for a review to be done. It needs to be done and when it is, the lawsuit goes away and we can proceed."
Dabbs said that when she called City Hall, she found that no review had been done.
"I am looking forward to working with the city and I want things to move forward," she said. "I don't understand why the review is not being done as it says in the ordinance signed into law by this administration."
After a moment to absorb Dabbs' message, alderman Steve Gladden spoke.
"I don't want to open a can of worms, but I'd like to say something," he said. "Things get confused sometimes and I'd like to ask for harmony and peace. Is it as simple as that? Can the other party hold off until say the other party takes office and, if that's the problem, rectify that problem at that time, but not tie up and create hostilities between our city government."
Gladden asked his fellow Council members present if it was as simple as doing a review and could that take place.
"We need to be careful about what we say since there has been a lawsuit filed," Mayor Larry Mitchell said. "We have to be really, really careful and that's why. For me, I have tried to let Nga (Mahfouz, the city attorney) handle this, but she's out of state. As long as the lawsuit is filed, I think Nga should answer those questions, because what we say today could put it in more jeopardy."
Dabbs repeated the most important fact of her statement.
"It's that simple, if a review was done, the lawsuit would go completely away," she said. "Done."
"If that's true we should hear from our attorney," Gladden said in an answer to the statement. "It would be in our best interest to have that solved, but that's not what we are here for now. We are hearing about it and we'd like to hear about it."
"However it goes, we are not going to have an answer until Nga is going to be back in town," Mitchell said. "I think the attorneys are going to be the ones to be discussed with at this point."
