Promising Money - Something Stinks in the Promise

Interesting. After a recent post recapping a meeting - Ms. Desmet promised to one person she would spend money in a certain way.

"I promise I will find money for a shade!!! I promise!"

That's a quote copied directly from her.

Let's hit the truth button on this.

The ONLY way the Council has any authority is with the vote by the Council when the Council meets as a whole and even then it takes a majority vote.

And even with that - the Council has to stick to the approved budget. If you change the budget it must be done by budget resolution.

Her promises are worth nada.

But there is more to this - Pledging resources outside of standard legal means has a lot of other issues. It's against the law. The Governmental Conduct Act - the thing you learn about in the training the state provides - says you are NOT allowed to use your office to benefit private people.

This also opens you up for quid pro quo. (more on this in another post). But if you promise to spend money then it has the appearance of impropriety - bribery, quid pro quo, are all things that happen when an active councilor starts offering to spend money on specific projects.

How does Councilor Desmet not know this? Didn't she go to training??