Garland mayor faces accusations of wrong doings

Cari Doutre

Leader Staff Writer

Tuesday night’s Garland City Council’s work session turned into a war of words as residents accused the Garland City Council and mayor of wrong doings.

Accusations that Garland City Mayor Arlon Bennett has been going against the city council decisions flew at the meeting, something residents have been concerned about in the past.

One main concern both the council and residents voiced was Bennett’s decision to move forward with a $25,000 road project the council denied.

The project included curb, gutter and pipe improvements along six homes on North Main Street in Garland. Some of the council expressed concern about the project but Bennett went ahead with it. According those council members, Bennett has the authority to spend up to $20,000 on city projects without the council’s approval. The North Main project cost at least $25,000, already paid for by the city. Bennett stated during the meeting that the rest of the money to cover the project came from an anonymous donor.

“I was told it cost $25,000. I bet it cost a lot more than that,” said Garland City resident Ila Mae VanValkenburg.

When VanValkenburg asked the mayor if he paid for the over expenses, Bennett replied, “Not necessarily.”

For more on this story pick up a copy of this week’s Leader.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 21st, 2012 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Local. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.