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Harrisville council meeting pauses as clerk leaves amid heated finance-software debate
Summary
A heated discussion over incompatible financial software briefly halted the Harrisville City Council on Jan. 12 after Clerk Kyla Harmon left the room; councilors agreed to move to a new BS&A platform to improve clerk-treasurer reporting, and scheduled a finance committee meeting for Feb. 24.
A Harrisville City Council meeting was interrupted on Jan. 12 when Clerk Kyla Harmon left the chamber during a heated exchange about the city’s financial-reporting system.
Council members spent substantial time discussing problems caused by the clerk’s and treasurer’s accounting software not communicating, which has left the clerk and treasurer unable to share documentation and produce the council’s preferred financial-distribution reports. Councilors said the city is preparing to go live with the BS&A software package to allow synchronized reporting between the clerk and treasurer.
The dispute intensified during the finance agenda item; the record states that "Clerk Harmon exited the room after heated deliberations and interruptions" and the meeting paused. The council recessed and later reopened the meeting at 7:31 p.m.; Alderman Tom Mason was recorded as excused when the meeting resumed.
Council set a general finance committee budget meeting for Feb. 24 at 5:30 p.m. and discussed reviewing per diem payments for elected officials and commissioners with the city attorney.
The meeting did not record a formal vote related to the software transition in the minutes, but councilors characterized going live with BS&A as the planned remedy to the reporting gap.
