Inconsistency in use of committees raises ire of Springfield council member

Is Springfield City Council’s use of its committees inconsistent?

At least one member thinks so. Councilmember Craig Hosmer has gone on the record numerous times to lament his council bills being tied up in committee. The latest critique of the process came this month during a preview of the Aug. 25 council agenda that included reexamination of a bill sponsored by Hosmer and passed a couple months prior.

In June, Hosmer resurrected a business tax bill and brought it back before council, and he promised he would do so repeatedly until it got a vote. A vote was held, and the measure passed 6-1, with Councilmember Derek Lee objecting, Monica Horton and Brandon Jenson abstaining, in part because it was not vetted by a committee, and all other members – including Mayor Jeff Schrag – voting in favor.

Immediately, Schrag told Springfield Business Journal this month, he had second thoughts. And so, at an Aug. 19 City Council lunch meeting, the mayor introduced a measure that would return the matter to committee. It would also suspend enforcement of the law, which requires that personal property taxes of a business – that is, taxes assessed of equipment and other tangible assets of a business – be certified as paid before the city grants it an occupational license.

Hosmer cried foul, and a fraught exchange followed, but the lingering question was larger than the tax measure alone. Rather, the issue that rose to the fore is the committee process itself.

Is council’s committee process broken?

Hosmer thinks so, and has been saying so for years. Case in point: Back in March 2023, Hosmer spoke at a town hall meeting of University Heights residents with concerns about a proposed development on a contested neighborhood corner and noted that his request for a 210-day administrative delay – proposed two months previously – was moldering in the Plans & Policies Committee.

“They put it in a committee that hasn’t had a meeting in months,” Hosmer said at the time. “And so, the purpose of that referral to committee was … kill the bill.”

He had a similar complaint in March of this year with the bill that is proposed for review.

When his bills get sent to committee, Hosmer said at the time, they die.

Committee referral
For the Aug. 25 City Council meeting, Schrag has introduced a measure that would effectively reverse the business tax law passed by council in June by suspending its enforcement and would send the issue to the Plans & Policies Committee for review. That’s the same committee that sat on the original ordinance for three months without consideration before Hosmer reintroduced it to council for a vote. Hosmer is a member, but not the chair, of the committee.

The law approved by council in June requires that personal property taxes of a business be certified as paid before the city grants it an occupational license, in the same way that vehicle sales taxes are required to be paid before vehicles can be registered.

Prior to passage of the bill, there was no mechanism to ensure that a business’ personal property taxes be paid. As a result, Greene County Assessor Brent Johnson reported to council at the time, only around 4,000 of the city’s 11,000 licensed businesses had submitted payments at the start of the year as required.

Schrag’s new bill quotes a section of city code that says, “It is the policy of the City Council to encourage the referral of council bills involving policy issues and substantive changes to the appropriate City Council committee.”

Hosmer pointed out that Schrag’s new bill seeks to overturn part of city code. That’s a big deal, according to Hosmer, and because of that, the new bill, too, should be reviewed in committee, in keeping with the council policy cited. He said Schrag’s move to put the bill up for a vote without committee review was illogical.

“If you’re going to be consistent with your policy, this bill should go to committee,” Hosmer said.

Schrag said he understood Hosmer’s point.

“It is my opinion that council understands what I’m trying to do, and it’ll be voted up or down,” Schrag said.

In an Aug. 20 interview with SBJ, Schrag – sworn into office on April 21, two months before the original tax measure vote – said he made a rookie error with his original vote on the issue. In short, he lost track of which item he was voting on.

“I made a mistake, and I want to own it,” he said. “My intention was to refer it back to committee – to not let Councilmember Hosmer subvert the committee process.”

During the Aug. 19 lunch meeting, Hosmer accused Schrag of letting the business community off the hook when it came to paying their fair share.

“It just seems like we do everything we can to protect people for not paying personal property taxes to support our schools – that support people with developmental disabilities,” Hosmer said to Schrag. “Who are you trying to protect?”

Schrag conceded that he and Hosmer were on different sides of the issue, but Hosmer insisted that wasn’t the problem.

“It’s not an opposite side; it’s that your argument isn’t consistent,” Hosmer said. “You’re saying that all bills should go to committee, but your bill doesn’t have to go to committee.”

For Schrag, the issue was a rhetorical one, since the bill would end up being discussed in committee should the measure pass.

“I get the technicality and I understand and appreciate it, and you’re probably going to win this debate of logic, but this is how I’m proceeding,” Schrag said.

Hosmer objected to Schrag’s bypass of the committee process.

“So, the rules don’t apply to the mayor,” Hosmer said.

Schrag responded, “I don’t agree with that at all.”

Hosmer said, “If somebody else had put this bill up, it would have gone to committee. I put a bill up, it goes to committee. You put bills up, they don’t go to committee.”

In an interview with SBJ after the council lunch meeting, Hosmer said he agrees that issues should be studied in depth by committees; however, the policy is applied inconsistently.

“Bills that people want to get out don’t go to the committee process,” he said. “Bills that people want to stop go to the committee process and stay there for months and years.”

In a separate interview, Schrag had a different take.

“Certainly, there are some on council who say committee is where things go to die,” he said. “I prefer to say that’s where things go to be studied, and going away may be the result of that study if it isn’t the will of council.”

Committee composition
Hosmer also raised a concern about committee composition – reworked by Schrag when he took office.

It’s Hosmer’s contention that Schrag reconfigured committees in a way that would minimize certain voices. Four council members who Hosmer characterized as often voicing support for neighborhood issues – and who notably voted against appointing David Cameron, seen by many as favoring development, as city manager – were put together on the Finance and Administration Committee. That committee oversees fees and financial policies, reviews capital improvement projects and reviews state and federal assistance programs, but the online description of its responsibilities suggests it has a more limited role in council matters than other committees.

That committee is headed by Jenson and its other members are Hosmer, Bruce Adib-Yazdi and Horton.

There are three other council committees:

• Community Involvement Committee, overseeing neighborhood issues, economic development and legislative priorities: Callie Carroll, chair, and Heather Hardinger, Horton and Lee
• Plans and Policies Committee, overseeing city code revisions, council goals and procedures and master planning of all areas: Abe McGull, chair, and Carroll, Hardinger and Hosmer
• Public Involvement Committee, recommending appointments to boards and commissions: Lee, chair, and McGull, Jenson and Adib-Yazdi

Hosmer said the sponsor of the bill recommends the appropriate committee, and council makes the determination of whether or not to send it there.

Hosmer said Schrag’s predecessor, Ken McClure, respected the committee process and applied it consistently.

“If you’re not consistent with your interpretation, rules don’t mean anything to anybody,” he said. “It’s like, why should I follow them if it puts me at a disadvantage?”

Schrag told SBJ he received good advice from McClure about committees.

“In our variety of discussions, he said just be very intentional about committee assignments,” he said. “That’s an important role the mayor and council have.”

And Schrag said he has been intentional, mainly because the committee process is so important to the flow of council business.

“How do you make order – how do you move the city forward when anybody can bring anything up at any time?” he said. “That’s why we have the committee structure.”

He noted that committees did not meet regularly during the process of hiring a city manager while also passing a budget. During that time, council lunches were mostly dedicated to the hiring task, Schrag said.

“We’re unpaid people. Most of us have day jobs and other things to do,” Schrag said.

In an interview with SBJ after the council lunch, Councilmember McGull agreed that having a volunteer, unpaid council is becoming untenable.

“The city is becoming much more complex – much more prosperous,” he said. “At some point the city is going to have to move to part-time elected officials with actual duty hours. The city is really advanced from what it used to be and what the charter originally contemplated, and that’s a good thing.”

McGull said he is a firm believer in the committee process.

“It’s important – it gets good debate out there,” he said. “It gives citizens another opportunity to see what council is contemplating before it is implemented.”

He added that there is a growing period with a leadership change, like the shift from McClure to Schrag.

“It takes a while for everyone to get on the same page where they really understand each other’s perspective,” he said. “The mayor is trying to encourage council members to go through the committee process.”

SBJ reached out to a handful of other council members by email and phone but was not able to schedule interviews before press time. Reached by phone, Carroll said she did not wish to comment on the matter.

Despite their differences, Schrag said he appreciates Hosmer and his service.

“I respect Craig Hosmer,” he said. “I respect his contributions to the community. We simply have a difference of opinion.”