The Truesdale Board of Aldermen voted to increase the mayor’s emergency procurement powers at their Jan. 22 meeting. 

By city ordinance, the mayor has the ability to approve purchases without board approval although there is a cap on how much they can spend. In most cases this is to allow purchases to move forward when something needs to be approved before the next board meeting, although there is a separate provision for emergency purchases as well. 

Recently that cap was tested as there were change orders that needed to be approved for the Smith Street construction project that exceeded the original $7,500 cap. 

That change order was for the purchase of $10,000 worth of gravel, at the recommendation of City Engineer John Choinka. 

The gravel was needed because there were issues with the ground being too soft around the project, according to City Clerk Elsa Smith-Fernandez. That invoice was approved at the Jan. 8 board meeting. 

A resolution was passed at the Jan. 22 meeting to increase that cap to $10,000, along with $25,000 for emergency purchases. 

According to Smith-Fernandez, there is not language in the ordinance that specifies what kinds of purchases the mayor can make and it is largely at their discretion. 

The ordinance says the mayor is allowed to approve expenses for goods and services up to $10,000, and that invoices must be filed with the city treasurer. 

Smith-Fernandez continued, saying the mayor’s limit for procurement had sat at $7,500 for some time and had not kept pace with inflation. 

Following the issues with the change orders, she said “something had to be done.”

Moving forward the $10,000 limit will give Truesdale Mayor Jerry Cannon more flexibility to handle incoming expenses when time constraints mean waiting for the next meeting when the board can approve invoices is not an option.