Council, mayor, local activist may huddle

By By Fredie Carmichael/staff writer
Feb. 6, 2002
For the third time in three months, longtime Meridian activist Bill McBride complained to the city council about run-down conditions at fire and police stations and what he described as improper use of city funds.
McBride again told councilmen of the dire need for repairs to fire stations Nos. 2 and 6 and the city's police station. He also raised questions about Fire Chief Bunky Partridge's $8,000 pay raise and city work and money being spent for Triple I Corp. a non-profit corporation set up to manage a new multi-state transportation safety center.
But unlike McBride's first two attempts at voicing concerns to the council, this time McBride got a response from two councilmen and Mayor John Robert Smith.
Smith suggested that the city council and city administrators meet with McBride in a work session to discuss his concerns and "dispense of this once and for all."
City Council President Dr. George Thomas, who represents Ward 1, said he will ask for a work session to be scheduled between city officials and McBride. A date has not yet been set. Thomas, though, offered answers to a few of McBride's questions during the meeting.
Thomas also said money was in the budget to fund positions that are currently vacant in city departments.