Editorial: City needs a fresh start

Death and taxes remain the two certainties in life. But in the City of Clarendon’s case, while taxes remain a certainty, when you will get your tax bill is anything but certain.

You could get your city tax bill in October, but it is more likely that it will show up sometime in November. Regardless of when it shows up, you’ll still owe taxes.

The reason for all this uncertainty has to do with the animosity that has gripped City Hall for several months and more specifically due to the paralysis of the Board of Aldermen after three of its members resigned in June.

Much work has been left undone because of the city’s inability to get a quorum. No new budget could be adopted, for example. The budget from fiscal year 2013 will carry forward and become the budget for 2014 and will have to be amended as necessary after a new Board of Aldermen is seated following a special election.

Most of the city’s day-to-day functions have been undisturbed though, and for the citizens’ part, we have probably welcomed the quietness that resulted from not having one or more city meetings every month.

There are still hard feelings from the arguments that arose in the months leading up to the mass resignations. Time may heal those, but a pesky issue has arisen with regards to the city’s tax rate.

The law prescribes that if a city doesn’t set a tax rate, the cheaper of the current or the effective rate will become the new rate. In Clarendon’s case, that rate is 65 cents per $100 valuation, which has been the rate since 2008. But the law was written for cities where councils were deadlocked or refused to act. Here we don’t have a council to act, and the rub is that even though the rate is set, it still has to be ratified by a supermajority (four of five members) of the board.

And that’s when City Hall blew the dust off the state constitution and found a “holdover provision” which basically stipulates that these aldermen who resigned are actually still in office until their successors are appointed or elected. Therefore if two “former” members would agree to meet with the two remaining aldermen, the city could ratify its tax rate and move on about its business, and the Donley Appraisal District could send its combined tax notices out on time next month.

But, as Alderman Will Thompson said this week, there is too much bad blood for this to happen easily. To her credit, “former” alderman Debbie Roberts showed up at City Hall Monday night to try to help resolve this issue. But two other “former” aldermen were no shows. One is out of state attending college and can’t just drop everything to come to Clarendon. The other, unfortunately, has had very unpleasant conversations with the mayor and will only come to a meeting if the mayor resigns.

This city needs a fresh start, and it will hopefully have one following the November 5 election

Forgiveness is a hard thing to give. It is especially hard if the person you want to forgive is recalcitrant and will not admit to having wronged you. It’s difficult to say “I forgive you,” when the other person doesn’t first say, “I’m sorry.”

It would be nice if for the good of our community, all hatchets could be buried – even if temporarily – so that the necessary people could meet for five minutes and take a quick vote.

Will the world end if this doesn’t get done? No. It will be an inconvenience for the city, for the appraisal district, and for the citizens. There will be confusion of tax bills and a delay in revenue for the city, but all the bills will still get paid. It certainly isn’t worth burning bridges, destroying relationships, or making empty threats.

The situation was and is completely avoidable. The parties involved should appeal to their better angels to put the people’s good above all else. And if they don’t… well, it will be okay. But we still all have to live together and we need to find a way to keep small town politics from tearing us completely apart.