Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Rosston City Council Appoints Secretary

Fireworks were set off early in Rosston when the Rosston City Council met Thursday, July 3.

The panel exploded over allegations one of the board members had secretly taped a recent meeting and played the tape in public.

According to the minutes, at a special called meeting on June 13, Sherry Bailey, the city's secretary-treasurer, resigned.

Another called meeting was held on June 17 to discuss the appointment of a new secretary-treasurer.

At the June 17 meeting, Randy Goudeau presented a letter of intent from Cindy Taylor. Tracy Green also showed interest in the position.

However, the decision was tabled until the regular council meeting of July 3.

But, council member Edna Kelly allegedly recorded the meeting without first informing the rest of the council of her intentions.

Kelly, during the regular session, said the recorder had been in plain view and if the other members of the council didn't notice, they weren't very observant.

Rosston Mayor Lewis Jackson told Kelly if she was planning on recording the meeting, she should have told the rest of the council. "In my opinion," he said, "it's sorry to be on the council and go out and play a tape like this for the community."

Taylor, who was present at the meeting, said she had asked Kelly to tape the meeting because she (Taylor) couldn't be there. Taylor said it was all right to tape meetings as long as the recorder isn't concealed.

However, the rest of the council said the recorder was concealed and they knew nothing of the meeting being taped.

Jackson, working to take control of the meeting, said nothing constructive would get done for Rosston as long as the council is "fussing, fighting and backstabbing." "We need to work together," he said, "and get along. If we can't do that, there's no use in having a council."

Jackson told Kelly her problem was doing background checks on people who she said wasn't eligible to sit on the council even though they voted in the city.

This discussion concerned Bailey, who had an address inside the city limits, but may not have actually lived inside the city. Kelly pointed this out to the rest of the council.

Jackson, though, said Bailey had been doing a good job, had a city address and voted in the city limits. "I want this backstabbing stopped," he said.

Councilman Rob Robison told Kelly he had tried to get charges filed against her for illegally recording the meeting. "I don't like your underhanded methods and will continue investigating them," he said.

Again, Jackson worked to get control of the meeting, saying nothing was getting done for the city's residents.

He said Green had withdrawn her application for the secretary-treasurer position, leaving Taylor as the only applicant.

Robison said Taylor's qualifications couldn't be disputed as she knows computers and has a background in banking.

Taylor was then appointed to the council and sworn in.

From there it was business as usual -- city business that is.

Jackson pointed out bids had been solicited to put a new roof on the community center, with only two bids coming in. One of those bids had to be disqualified, he said, because the bidder knew the bid of their opposition.

This left a bid of $1,350 from Johnson Construction to completely reroof the center.

Robison said Johnson does an excellent job on roofing as well as cleaning up afterwards.

The council debated reroofing the center, selling it or tearing it down, but decided to go with Johnson's bid and put a new roof on the structure.

The bid included all labor and materials.

The council also agreed to purchase a service contract for the city's copier machine for $150 per year.

Jackson said Excel would furnish everything but paper for the copier under the agreement. The city can make up to 8,000 copies per year according to the contract.

A new Ford tractor with a front end loader and backhoe attachment was purchased by the council.

The council examined three bids, with the one from Ford being the lowest at $21,050. A Kubota tractor would have cost the city $22,000, while a John Deere was priced at $29,800.

These prices, Jackson said, do not reflect the discount the city will get.

Robison said the Ford was the best deal because it is a better piece of equipment and the city will be able to have it repaired when necessary. He added the way this tractor is designed makes it safer to operate because of greater visibility.

The council agreed to pay for the tractor out of the street fund, as it will be used for street and water repair.

Rosston will be accepting bids on the city's used backhoe and an air conditioning unit at city hall. Both are being sold as-is to any interested buyers.