Politics & Government

Fire Station No. 5 Contract Spurs Lnenicka's "No" Vote

The council member cited past disagreements over the way money was spent as a large factor in his vote.

Two Smyrna City Council members voted against a budget amendment that adjusted the fiscal year 2013 budget to reflect the actual amount of money received and spent by the city.

Councilman Wade Lnenicka and Councilwoman Susan Wilkinson cast nay votes during the Smyrna City Council's meeting on Monday, Oct. 7.

Lnenicka told Patch that he voted against the amendment because he didn't understand everything included in the budget, and did not want to vote in support of a fiscal decision he had voted against previously.

On March 5, 2012, Lnenicka cast the sole dissenting vote in a measure that awarded a $54,000 contract to Croy Engineering for project management for Smyrna Fire Station No. 5, which was still under construction at that time.

"That project was on track to come in under budget," Lnenicka said, "but then the mayor insisted hiring Croy Engineering to supervise construction and that put us over budget."

Lnenicka referenced the construction of Fire Station 3, which was accomplished by city staff ahead of schedule and under budget.

"I saw no need to pay someone else to oversee a process we had already done with internal staff at no cost," Lnenicka told Patch.

Additionally, Lnenicka said that he was unclear on some of the particulars of the budget, and did not feel comfortable voting to support something he did not fully understand.

"My instincts say, 'If you don't understand it, don't vote for it,' so I voted against it," he said.

Please stay with Smyrna-Vinings Patch as we talk with Councilwoman Susan Wilkinson later on today to discover why she voted against the fiscal year 2013 budget.


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