A decision made by an abridged Fayette City Council last week has one Alderwoman crying foul. At their regular meeting on Tuesday, April 20, the council agreed to eliminate the funding for a yet-to-be-filled police officer position in order to increase the salary of an open position of building inspector.

East Ward Alderwoman Stephanie Ford has taken umbrage to the decision, which was made when two council members along with the City Marshal were absent. Mrs. Ford and her husband, David, the Chief of Police, were absent due to a family emergency. Southwest Ward Alderman Grafton Cook was also unable to attend. The decision was given unanimous approval by the four board members present.

Mr. Ford was appointed police chief as of January 1 when former chief Jeff Oswald took over as Howard County Sheriff. Chief Ford’s appointment, and subsequent election as City Marshal left an open position on the police force, which has yet to be filled.

The decision came about as the council was discussing the ongoing issues of abandoned properties throughout town. The city has been unable to hire a qualified building inspector. Danny Dougherty, the city’s Director of Public Works, technically fills the role of building inspector but does not have the time necessary to dedicate to the position. Fayette has for some time been in need of a full-time building inspector who can enforce city codes.

One question perplexing the council pertains to just who is supposed to enforce the city’s building codes. What led to the eventual decision was the thought that code enforcement fell to Fayette police officers. The idea, presumably, behind the decision to use funding previously in place for a seventh police officer to increase the pay for a building inspector, is that the job of code enforcement would fall to the building inspector.

“I think we’re talking about two different animals here. The building inspector is not going to be the guy who is taking care of abandoned vehicles,” said Mayor Kevin Oeth. “And the guy who’s taking care of the abandoned vehicles is not going to be the guy that’s taking care of the building (inspections). Police officers take care of the laws and the ordinances and the statutes. The other guy takes care of the codes.” 

Aldermen have also entertained the idea of outsourcing a building inspector job to George Butler and Associates, a firm based in the Kansas City area. Under the proposal, the company would perform the duties of a building inspector and enforce codes at the city’s behest over a five-year period, or until a threshold of $30,000 has been spent. It has been argued that the city would far exceed $30,000 in the first year alone.

Fayette has been trying to hire a full-time building inspector at an hourly pay rate of between $20 and $25, or $41,600 and $52,000 annually.

Newly sworn-in Northwest Ward Alderman Jeremy Dawson made a motion to add the salary for a seventh police officer to that already budgeted for a building inspector, all the while shifting the responsibility of handing abandoned vehicles and other property issues from the police to the inspector. “Why don’t we put all of that money together to hire a building inspector/code enforcer instead of hiring of police officer, building inspector and spending $30,000 on this company?” he asked.

Dawson made the motion to do just that and the council voted 4-0 in favor.

“Pretty much the biggest complaint that citizens are bringing are that codes are not being enforced around town,” Dawson said. 

Alderwoman Ford made her objections known in a social media post on Facebook. “I find it quite alarming that the 4 members that were there would make such a large decision with only 4/6 council people there,” she wrote. “This wasn’t on the agenda, nor was the police chief available for comment or to get his viewpoint on. I feel it was not only disrespectful but it was a very casual and callous way to treat the community by failing to make an informed decision.”

Mayor Oeth said on Monday that he expects to discuss the matter further at the next meeting of the city council on May 11. He said the matter will be added to the agenda and the city will follow proper procedure in the event the decision is reversed or revised.

Beginning in May, the council will meet the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month at 6 p.m. Previously, the council met the first and third Tuesdays. The change was made to accommodate the schedule of city attorney Nathan Nicholaus, who represents several cities in Mid-Missouri.