The Pensacola City Council was told by the city attorney last night at their council meeting that they don’t have the power to hire employees. The mayor authorized a job description and a salary range, but he has not yet created the position. The council still needs his authorization to hire, modify the position or change the salary range.
Apparently a few of the council members said they would hire their council executive anyway and dare the mayor to sue them. Well, the city council doesn’t have a checking account. It has no funds. They aren’t signers on any city checking accounts either.
Wackadoo!
Oh and by the way, some of the council members want to make a big deal of their power to investigate and audit city departments. That is not a power given to individual council members or their president. It is a corporate power. The council must vote to investigate a city department as a body—similar to the Watergate committee. It can subpoena witnesses and demand documents, etc.
The power is important and should only be exercised in the most serious circumstances, because it could bring a department to a standstill while its staff is testifying before the city council.
Yes, the council hires the auditor for the city financials, but they is not the same thing.
Also the council president said at the workshop that she was meeting privately with Saltmarsh, the city auditors, and giving them instructions. She does not have that power either, unless the city council voted for her to do so and gave her specific instructions on what to tell the auditors.
The council president does not speak for the council —unless the council has told him what to say. He presides over the council meetings and makes committee assignments. He has no more power or say than any individual council member. His vote is not weighed any heavier.