From the Anderson Herald-Bulletin:
A disagreement between the Anderson Township trustee and her board turned contentious Wednesday night when two board members stormed out of a meeting.
Eventually, Richard Symmes and Elvis Jones returned to the meeting and apologized, but the board members made it clear they don’t approve of how Trustee Brenda Jones is running the township.
The argument stemmed from financial problems with the trustee’s budget. Property taxes are the largest single source of revenue for the office. Payments arrive in January and June. As Anderson continues to lose taxpaying residents, the office has found it harder and harder to balance the budget.
For the past several years, the trustee’s annual budget has been stable, just over $500,000. The board sets the trustee’s budget and approves all expenditures, but the trustee oversees the day-to-day administration of the office.
Elvis Jones, Symmes and board president Aaron Higgins told Jones they disagreed with her decision to appoint deputy trustee Joanna Arias, who makes $30,000 a year, according to meeting minutes. Jones said she’s allowed to appoint her own deputies, but the board countered that they should be setting the wages for the deputies. All four are Democrats.
By the end of the meeting, the four agreed on extending a line of credit with a bank to take care of operating expenses, but Symmes, who replaced deceased board member Larry Burns three months ago, said he doesn’t want to make a habit of “borrowing and paying back.”
“That’s not a good way to get ahead of this problem,” Symmes said.
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http://heraldbulletin.com/local/x1374704585/Anderson-Township-trustee-meeting-turns-contentious
