The Bethel City Council postponed a budget meeting Tuesday due to lack of quorum. That’s the third time in a row that not enough council members have showed up.
The delay in budget meetings started on April 30, when Leif Albertson was the only council member in attendance.
Albertson missed the next meeting, but so did every other council member besides Fritz Charles.
Tuesday was the closest council came to a quorum. Council members Albertson and Charles were present, along with Mitchell Forbes. Mayor Fred Watson, Vice-Mayor Raymond "Thor" Williams, and council members Carole Jung-Jordan and Perry Barr all missed their third straight budget meeting.
Bethel City Code says that a council member’s seat can be vacated if they have three unexcused absences for a regular city council meeting, but that doesn’t include budget meetings, which are categorized as special meetings.
The scheduled agenda for the meeting that has been delayed three times includes the budget for the pool and the police department.
Bethel City Code states that the budget must be approved by June 15. If the council has not approved it by that date, the budget will be finalized in whatever state it’s in at that point.
