Committee defers office-move decisions to mayor after remodeling work begins

The Public Works committee voted Wednesday to return decisions about who occupies remodeled spaces in the county Administration Building to the mayor, after members learned interior demolition and doorway work had already started.

The vote matters because committee members clarified that assigning offices and finishing remodel work in the Administration Building are mayoral duties rather than committee responsibilities.

During committee discussion, members described recent changes to internal walls and doors in the building — including the removal of a wall between the former water department kitchen and Cindy Carmen’s office and a doorway cut from Rita’s old office into Rosalie’s office — and asked who has final authority to decide who moves where. Committee member Lonnie Taylor moved to “move forward and put this back in the hands of the mayor.”

A committee member noted the work already under way and described available budget authority: “I talked with Miss Thomas again looking at the budget. They are currently… $35,000 in already line item budgeted for building maintenance, upkeep, and remodeling,” the member said. That staff estimate prompted the motion to let the mayor and his department finalize how to complete the spaces.

The motion to return decisions on office assignments and finishing work to the mayor passed; the motion was made by Lonnie Taylor and seconded by Jeff Gregory.

Staff and committee members said the mayor and public works staff will coordinate completion and final assignment of offices and will use existing maintenance funds as directed by the mayor.

No formal changes to staffing or permanent reassignments were made by the committee; the vote only delegates the decision-making and finishing work to the mayor’s office.