Sumner County's Purchasing and Financial Management Committee voted to approve payment for the county's elevator maintenance contract after reviewing a series of purchase-order exceptions and a corrective-action letter from the mayor's office.

The committee's review focused on a packet showing 24 PO exceptions listed for the year, including multiple entries tied to routine elevator maintenance. Law Director said the committee must decide whether the mayor's office met the county's exemption criteria; he noted the county policy requires a corrective-action explanation when a PO is not obtained. “Unless explicitly exempted in this document, the county must issue a purchase order before any commitment to purchases are made,” the Law Director said when reading the policy language into the record.

Committee members and staff examined supporting documents the finance office said showed prior POs dating back to 2022 and a set of monthly exception reports that the county sends to departments. Mayor's staff acknowledged a process gap in the mayor's office, saying the current executive assistant had not known the mayor's office historically relied on a different staff person to secure POs.

After extended discussion the committee approved paying the elevator vendor so the county would not risk interrupting routine maintenance. The committee asked the mayor's office to submit an amended, more detailed corrective-action letter for the record at the next meeting and directed staff to add corrective-action details to future exception reports so members can assess whether failures are isolated training issues or evidence of a habitual problem.

The committee chair framed the vote as a pragmatic step given the maintenance nature of the expense and the risk to county operations if service were interrupted. Members also discussed whether the committee should define “habitual” noncompliance and whether any procedural remedies should follow repeated exceptions. The law director reminded the group that, under the county's private-act authorities, deviations from required purchasing processes can carry legal consequences, a point the committee said it will not pursue absent clear willful noncompliance.

The committee did not record individual roll-call votes in the meeting minutes; the clerk recorded the motion and the committee's approval at the meeting.