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Parlier council debate centers on stipends, check warrants and overdue budget
Summary
Public comment and council members clashed over whether council members who walked out of a June meeting should forfeit stipends; speakers also pressed staff about missing FY budget, overtime and unclear credit‑card charges that residents said risk grant funding.
Public comment at the Parlier City Council’s July 18 meeting focused on council pay, check warrants and the city’s overdue fiscal-year budget.
Sandra Alvarez told the council she believes special meetings scheduled at 4:30 p.m. exclude working residents and raised concerns about check-warrant line items. "I feel like you're doing it on purpose so people don't attend," Alvarez said, adding that she would return to address check-warrant items she had missed.
The session turned into an extended debate about stipends after multiple council members and commenters argued that colleagues who walked out of a June 20 meeting should not have received pay. Several speakers urged staff to follow the municipal ordinance and deduct pay where absences were unexcused; others recommended waiting for legal counsel to provide uniform guidance. Mayor (name not specified) and other council members noted the city must apply the ordinance consistently and that the city attorney should advise on any docking or reimbursement.
The conversation broadened into a discussion of the missing FY budget and recent check-warrant details, with residents and council members citing credit-card charges for pizza, retail and gas while the city had not posted an adopted budget by the June 30 deadline. Speakers warned that noncompliance with budget and audit deadlines could jeopardize state grants. Finance Director (name not specified) said the new finance director has prioritized reviewing past allocations and departments, and staff expect a proposed budget or workshop in the coming weeks.
Council took one formal consent vote during the meeting unrelated to the stipend dispute: a motion to approve consent items carried with four yes votes and one absence.
The council did not take immediate punitive action on stipends at the meeting and directed staff to consult legal counsel and report back with a consistent ordinance interpretation.
