Councilors press for uniform contract language as budget authority is debated

Councilors at a Birmingham City Council meeting pressed for a single, consistent approach to contracts and questioned whether the council has the same practical ability as the administration to spend for council-led programs.

"If it works for the administration, it ought to work for the council," a council member said, urging that the council obtain the administration's contract with Summit Media as a model and refer the matter to the committee of the whole for standard language.

Councilor Scales asked the law department whether it would be unlawful for the council to vote to spend money outside an originally appropriated budget and whether the council could effectively amend spending midyear. The law department representative replied that the applicable law is clear in principle but that the answer depends on the underlying facts and documents in each case: "I would have to review the the facts, miss Scales," the attorney said.

Scales and other councilors described repeated instances of what they said felt like inconsistent guidance from the law department and the administration when councilors seek to use city funds for district initiatives. Scales argued the council faces ‘‘1000 rules’’ for district activity while the administration appears to obtain different advice in similar situations.

The law department offered to explain the applicable legal framework and noted that budget amendments do occur, but emphasized a need to examine specific allocations and contract language to determine whether a particular expenditure would run afoul of constitutional or municipal prohibitions on adding compensation or overspending appropriations.

The exchange ended with councilors asking staff to provide the relevant contracts and for the law department to review the facts so the council can resolve whether uniform contract language or procedural changes are needed to reduce apparent inconsistencies.

Next steps: councilors requested a copy of the Summit Media agreement to use as a template and suggested considering the issue in committee of the whole for recommended changes to how the council and administration document and approve consultant and media contracts.