County mayor opts to not sign contracts moratorium
A moratorium on Shelby County government contracts will take effect without Mayor Mark Luttrell’s signature, according to letter released by the administration late Monday.
Luttrell opted against vetoing the “unneeded” moratorium, which will require County Commission approval for all county contracts over $50,000 and all budget amendments until Aug. 31; pending a commission-led revision of the rules governing minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) participation.
Commissioner Van Turner proposed the moratorium April 2 to ensure that new MWBE rules would apply to a pending, five-year, $100 million contract for county corrections center inmate medical services — one of the county’s largest contracts in the past decade. After adding an exception for the Cotton Creek flood-mitigation project, the commission backed Turner in a 10-3 vote — more than enough votes to overturn a veto.
In a letter to commissioners last week explaining his decision, Luttrell chastised commissioners for approving the measure and for the “particularly troublesome” timing. The moratorium will extend past the end of the county’s fiscal year and two months into the next — prime time for annual contract renewals and signings.
“At a minimum, the moratorium will cause unnecessary workload executing extensions or renewals of contracts and unnecessary inconvenience to our vendor population,” he wrote in the letter, which was released late Monday.
Including budget amendments in the moratorium was “downright puzzling” considering that amendments always require commission approval, Luttrell said. However, he added, restricting amendments could “very likely” result in missed grant opportunities.
“The moratorium only serves to impede progress,” he said.
Luttrell released another letter late Monday announcing his veto of a resolution reappointing former commissioner and attorney Julian Bolton as the commission’s legislative policy advisor, an appointment that has long been a bone of contention between some commissioners and between the commission and the administration.
But Luttrell said he vetoed the resolution for technical reasons, one of which was that the resolution didn’t set a funding source. The resolution also did not reflect an amendment maintaining Bolton’s pay at a maximum $65,000 a year, Luttrell added. The original resolution would have maxed Bolton’s pay at $90,000 a year.