Mark McCarty has yet to meet with city officials to determine what, if any, action needs to be taken after the District 1 Sanford City Commissioner spent $1,500 on a questionable mailing.
Two weeks ago Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett asked City Manager Norton Bonaparte and City Attorney William Colbert to meet with McCarty after discovering McCarty used taxpayer money to mail about 4,000 post cards to newly registered voters in District 1. Triplett also asked McCarty to repay the $1,500 in postage because the expense was not budgeted (“McCarty asked to repay city funds”).
McCarty had asked city staff to research six questions before meeting with Bonaparte and Colbert. He received that information late last week, and as of Friday had not met with either official.
“I haven’t reviewed all of the information yet,” McCarty said.
This is not the first time McCarty has unilaterally tried to spend city funds. In 2013, McCarty promised the owner of Buster’s Bistro, Paulii Buster, the city would give him $1,000 for an event the Belgium beer pub was planning with Orlando City Soccer Club.
When Buster tried to collect the money, city staff was unaware of McCarty’s promise and no funds had been budgeted for such an expenditure. Buster was informed that there was money available through the Downtown Waterfront Community Redevelopment District, but he would have to follow standard procedures in applying for the funding.
The city commission is expected to discuss McCarty’s mailing and possible policy clarifications regarding mailings for commissioners during its work session meeting at 4 p.m. today.
In other business on the agenda for today’s meetings, the city commission, at its 7 p.m. meeting, will consider changing the city code to alter the length of time a contract for solid waste collection services may be in effect. Currently, city codes restrict the agreements to a maximum of 7 years. The change would allow the agreements to be in place “for such number of years as deemed appropriate by the City Commission.” The change would also allow the city commission to extend the agreements from time to time using the aforementioned “as deemed appropriate” rationale.
The city currently has a franchise agreement with Waste Pro to pick up garbage, yard waste and recycling. If approved, it’s expected Waste Pro will ask the city commission for an extension of the agreement.
Other items on the agenda include:
- A second reading to change the future land use and rezone 214.54 acres on East Lake Mary Boulevard to allow up to 377 residential lots.
- A resolution to implement a 5-year rate increase plan for stormwater utility fees. Stormwater fees were last reviewed in 2008, and the city has about $46 million in future stormwater improvements that will be funded by the fee increases.
- A request to transfer $82,737 from General Fund Reserves to clean up an underground gasoline storage site at the old Sanford police station on U.S. 17/92. The funds will be combine with $175,000 from the Seminole County 17/92 Community Redevelopment Agency.
The Sanford City Commission work session begins at 4 p.m. today in 2nd floor City Manager’s conference room. The regular meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the 1st floor City Commission Chambers. For a complete agenda and background information, click here.
— By Dan Ping
Sanford, Fla. 