Louderman resurrects set of ordinances pertaining to oversight of Hannibal Board of Public Works

HANNIBAL, Mo. — “If I were to ask you, ‘Did you quit beating your wife?’ the question itself infers that you’re doing that.”

The metaphor, made by Hannibal Board of Public Works’ (HBPW) general manager Darrin Gordon Tuesday night at the Hannibal City Council meeting, was used to communicate his sentiments towards a list of ordinances that would give the council more oversight of the HBPW.

“I think this is kind of a disservice to us… We’re already doing almost all of these things for the city,” Gordon continued. “We have open meetings. We are absolutely transparent. People see what we’re doing.”

If approved by the council, voters will have the opportunity to indicate their support or opposition to further council oversight of the HBPW in the Nov. 4 election later this year. The proposed ordinances are:

• to require that the HBPW give a 60-day notice to the council of salary increases to its employees;
• to require that the HBPW give a 60-day notice to the council of its proposed budget;
• to require that the HBPW give a 60-day notice to the council of utility rate increases;
• to change the number of votes needed from the council to remove a member of the HBPW from five to four;
• and to require that the HBPW meets with the council at their request on various matters that affect the citizens of Hannibal.

The ordinances were previously proposed by Hannibal Mayor Barry Louderman but failed to get council approval in January. Some didn’t even have enough support to allow City Clerk Melissa Cogdal to bring them to a vote.

But in the final weeks of his tenure, Louderman has brought the ordinances back. He clarified that his intention was not to declare “a witch hunt (on) the Board of Public Works,” and he acknowledged the “outstanding” work done by “excellent people” on the HBPW.

The amount of questions he said he receives from citizens about oversight of the HBPW, however, led him to conclude that the matter should be one that citizens can vote on.

“I’m bringing this forward again in the hopes that we can look at putting this on the November ballot to allow the citizens of Hannibal to vote on this,” he said. “Once again, it’s the job of this council to allow citizens to have their voice. I believe in that wholeheartedly.”

The city’s charter requires all changes regarding the HBPW be voted on by the people. Louderman’s proposals would give voters the chance to transform the issue from one that necessitates changes to the charter to one that requires changes be made via ordinance amendment by the council — a quicker and simpler process.

Gordon said rate and salary increases already are included in the HBPW’s existing budget process.

“The city has access to that very proposed budget. We gave that to you in the middle of last month,” Gordon said. “So those 60 days (proposed in the ordinances) — we’re already accomplishing that.”

The HBPW budget for fiscal year 2025 is available on its website, along with the board’s five-year plan of capital improvements and annual reports and budget audits going back as far as 2009. 

A bright yellow notice appears at the top of the website inviting the public to attend a budget workshop on Apr. 7 at the HBPW Conference Center, during which board members will be discussing the operating budget for fiscal year 2026.

Council Member Michael Fleetwood of the 5th Ward asked if there was any way to better inform the public of the board’s activity. Gordon said the board conducts meetings on the third Monday of each month at 4 p.m. that are open to the public.

“We have held (HBPW meetings) in the evenings, we’ve held them in the mornings, we’ve held them at different times, and unless you use the words ‘rate increase,’ people don’t show. People don’t come,” Gordon said.

He offered to hold HBPW meetings right before City Council meetings if the council believed that would get more people to come.

There was a general consensus among council members and Gordon that a fifth member should be added to the board, which currently operates with four members. 

Gordon said the board is planning to meet with the city’s new council following next week’s municipal election to discuss future projects and to establish the need for transparent communication.

“If we’re able to communicate and we have that at the very open, we can have disagreements and we can still move forward. It’s a great thing,” Gordon said. “So I anticipate already that we’re going to have some improved relationships.”

Council Member Robert Koehn of the 3rd Ward suggested a committee be formed to discuss the matter further.

“I would like to propose we come up with a committee to talk about — composed of both council members and Board of Public Works members — and come up with a proposal that’s going to be equitable and fair to both that we can both live with,” he said.

Koehn made a motion for the ordinances to be tabled until such a committee can be formed and reports back to the council. The council approved.