Mayor Stimpson Continues Court Fight Against City Council

The battle between the Mayor and the City Council continues. Today, the Stimpson Administration went back to Circuit Court in an effort to stop the City Council from moving forward with the ordinance they passed last week expanding their authority over city contracts.

Here is a press release from the Mayor's Office:

" Mayor Sandy Stimpson today filed an amended complaint in Mobile County Circuit Court seeking to block members of the Mobile City Council from their continued attempts to expand their authority beyond legal limits.

 “This action is necessary to stop an unprecedented overreach by the Council into the administration of city government,” Stimpson said. “Make no mistake: This is all about control. We must stand firm to protect the separation of powers as defined by state law.”

 The Council, in what is believed to be a violation of state law, has taken a series of steps in recent weeks to upset the balance of power and shift control away from the Administration. Those steps include the hiring of Council employees, approval of an ordinance seizing control of city contracts and new attempts to gain authority over employees of the Administration.

 “These actions are being fashioned by the Council as efforts to improve transparency, when the naked truth is that they are a power grab,” said Stimpson. “Taking control away from the Administration and giving it to the Council will not make government more effective, efficient or transparent. It will only cause it to be more confusing, more political and more frustrating for the people we are here to serve.”

To review a copy of the amended complaint, click here: http://www.cityofmobile.org/announcement_files/20190107__amended_complaint__efiled.pdf.

To keep up with the story, you can check for updates on the Mobile City Council Facebook Page

and on Mayor Stimpson's Twitter Account