CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – City Mayor Kim McMillan joined the Downtown Kiwanis Club at First Baptist Church Tuesday for their monthly luncheon.
 
(TO SEE IMAGES FROM THE LUNCH CLICK HERE.)
 
The mayor had originally been scheduled to speak about the recent State of the City address she gave at the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center Friday. McMillan explained to the crowd she instead wanted to focus on the proposed charter revision that relates to appointment of person’s who may have business conflicts.
 
“We don’t have enough people that work in the mayor’s office to staff all these boards and commissions,” explained McMillan.
 
The problem at the heart of the issue, the mayor explained, was language in the charter which prevents employees, elected officials, and person’s appointed to commissions and boards from entering into business with the city. The ethics provision voted into effect in 2007 for the city of Clarksville provides for persons to serve on boards or commissions to still hold those seats but have limitations for voting and requirements of the release of information. The idea, according to the mayor, was this would prevent a conflict of interest.
 
“We need these people,” McMillan explained about some members of boards and commissions who resigned due to the provision in the charter.
 
McMillan told the Kiwanis that she made a decision to amend the charter to deal with the one provision that is in conflict with the ethics code. The vote on this amendment passed but without the two thirds majority that would be required to pass the amendment after it returns to the city council for a second vote.
 
The city mayor said, “When I brought it up for passage it passed, but it did not receive the required 2/3 that would be necessary once the legislature passed it and sent it back.”
 
McMillan told the corwd that from the conversations she had with members of the legislature she was assured this measure of the charter revision would quickly move through the state government.
 
“I said I’m not stopping, I’m not giving up. This is too important an issue to let it wait.”
 
McMillan reintroduced the single issue charter revision. According to the city mayor, this is an opposite stance she originally had with the city charter revision. Initially McMillan told the Kiwanis that she did not believe in parsing up the charter revisions, but dealing with it as a whole.
 
Following the mayor’s explanation of the single revision, McMillan gave a direct plea to the members to use their influence to help convince city council members to vote to pass the new revision at Thursday’s council session. The mayor said she needs the group’s help to get the two-thirds majority needed.
 
McMillan then said she was unconcerned with problems in the past that prevented earlier passages of charter revision.
 
“Let’s don’t cast blame why the thing didn’t happen in the past,” McMillan said, “I don’t think it’s a positive thing to start addressing that.”
 
When the mayor was asked why opposing council members were not in favor of the revision, she explained she could not address every reason the six members had.  Instead she could only give some of the reasons she has heard given for opposition. One was they felt there should not be single issue revisions sent to the legislature.
 
“I don’t think this ought to be about who’s getting whatever they want, I think this ought to be about what’s in the best interest of Clarksville.”
 
Mayor McMillan promised the Kiwanis club she would return to ask for their help when the full charter revisions came up for a vote.



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