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Residents urge council to resolve Greenwood Circle sinkhole, demand action on employee pay plan
Summary
During public comment residents raised two issues: calls for retroactive pay for city workers after a delayed pay study, and a persistent stormwater/sinkhole problem on Greenwood Circle that speakers said has not been addressed and that the city's appeals process is incomplete.
During the public-comment portion of the April 7 East Point council meeting, several residents urged the council to act on outstanding personnel-pay and stormwater problems.
Greg Fan told the council that city workers deserved retroactive pay, criticizing the pace of a consultant-led pay study: "You just gave him $203,000 You gave it to him. He hasn't proven himself $203,000 but you gave it to him," Fan said, urging the council to "do what's right for the employees" and to provide retroactive pay for staff who have been waiting.
Ernestine D. Pittman, speaking on behalf of resident Willie Jackson, raised a separate complaint about a sinkhole and a stormwater repair on Greenwood Circle. Pittman said the property owner was being asked for payment the council member characterized in her remarks as disproportionate: "We came up here, 6 weeks ago talking about his property on Greenwood Circle with the sinkhole. No one has been out there to his house and said a word to him about it," she said, calling the problem a stormwater issue.
Pittman told council members the stormwater ordinance approved in December 2013 set a process for appeals and remediation but said the required appeals board "does not exist," leaving residents without an administrative remedy before going to court. She warned that failure to follow ordinance procedures would expose the city to additional litigation and cost.
No council action was taken during the public-comment period on either topic; staff and council members did not announce immediate remedies during the meeting. The concerns were raised as part of the public-comment agenda slot subject to the council's public-speaking rules (Chapter 2, section 2-2002bb rule 28), which limits speakers to three minutes (or up to six minutes when time is donated).
