Former Leader of City Council Says Group Lacks Input

By Bruce Ritche, Advertiser Staff Writer

Montgomery residents must view city politics from the sidelines because their City Council is not doing its duty to solicit public input and question city operations, says former City Council President Willie Peak.

Peak said the council does not hold enough public hearing and its member rarely question city policies because some of them are wary of angering Mayor Emory Folmar.

While council members say a lack of debate at council meetings helps the board deal with city business, Peak said the board is not serving as a public forum and a check against the executive branch of the city government, as it should.

Peak said the lack of public input on the issues can be seen in the gasoline tax increase and the changing of the name of Cleveland Avenue, two recent actions that caught some city residents by surprise.

Peak said he or other members of the past councils would have made sure that a public hearing was held on such issues.

“This is what government is all about, to give the people the opportunity to speak abd be heard,” said Peak, a Democrat.

Peak was elected to the council in 197 and served as council president frmo 1977 until 1983. He was defeated by Herchel Christina, who had the backing of Folmar.

The current council, with four members who were elected in 1983, has settled many issues without debate, including the tax increase and changing the name of Cleveland Avenue to Rosa Parks Avenue.

Council members routinely pass ordinances on their first reading by suspending their own rules, which require an ordinance be read at two meetings before it can be adopted.

Council Presidnet Alice Reynolds has said the practice of settling issues before the meetings helps the council conduct its business “without making a public spectacle of itself,” as it has in the past.

Mrs. Reynolds noted that hte council held a public hearing in February on an ordinance to limit hte number of dogs a resident can own, and she said hte council will hold a hearing when a council member requests one.

Peak acknowledged there was a hearing on the dog ordinance and said, “I cannot help but believe as complex as the city of Montgomery is, there are not more issues to be brought to the people’s attention.”

Folmar attributes the recent harmony on the council to the absence of Peak and former Councilman Donald Watkins, who did not run for re-election in 1983.

The mayor said Watkins was the “most disruptive force ever associated with the council” and blamed Peak for allowing Watkins “to do and say anything he wanted to.”

The mayor said Mrs. Reynolds conducts council meetings “fairly, openly and honestly.”

In response to the mayor’s comments, Peak said he allowed council members to talk when they wanted to, in according with the council rules.

“Free-thinking doesn’t always mean there has to be disruption and confusion,” Peak said.

Peak also attributed harmony on the council to changes in city policies on the use of deadly force by police and allowing controversial groups to march down Dexter Avenue.

Peak said some white council members apparently do not question city policies because they work Folmar will work against them in their reelection campaigns.

Peak said Folmar “likes to tie me to Mr. Watkins because he knows Mr. Watkins is not liked by the white population at all.”

Watkins, a Montgomery attorney, could not be reached for comment.

Folmar said he was not aware he holds as much influence over city politics as Peak says.

However the mayor added he will oppose any effort by Peak to gain a seat on the council in the future because of the way he conducted the meetings in the past.

Peak said he is not planning to seek a council seat but will leave his political options open in the future.

Mrs. Reynolds denied she is intimidated by the mayor and said she prefers to question city policies in Fomlar’s office, where she and the mayor “can talk out whatever differences there might be.”

City Councilman Joe Reed, how has opposed Folmar in the past, said he is not intimidated by Folmar but said he believes some other council members “are not sure of what their role is.”

Although Reed previously praised the council harmony and said it allows the city to plan for the future, he now says he also has concerns that the board has allowed its power to erode by not vigorously checking the city’s executive branch.