Rolla Daily News
Sunday, March 2, 2008 10:46 PM CST
Alan Lewis Gerstenecker, Editor
The citizens group RMU4YOU! received confirmation Friday from the Phelps County Clerk’s office that it has attained a sufficient number of signatures of registered voters to bring about an audit of Rolla city finances and Rolla Municipal Utilities.
Last month, representatives of the citizens utility group hand-carried their petition to Jefferson City and presented it to representatives in the office of Susan Montee, Missouri State Auditor.
“We heard Friday they verified 746 signatures of the signatures,” said RMU4YOU! co-founder Tracey Watson. “We were told we only needed a little more than 650 signatures. So, it’s great. I’m ecstatic.”
The number of verified registered voters’ signatures is a percentage of those who voted in the last municipal election. The group submitted 1,015 signatures last month with its petition to seek the audit.
Coincidentally, the confirmation of verification comes almost a year after the group began its crusade for the audit.
“It’s been a year. A long year, but we’re not nearly done,” Watson said. “Maybe now we can get some answers,” she said.
Watson, RMU4YOU! co-founder Donna Hawley and members of the group, have been critical of the utility and its contract with the Missouri Public Energy Pool (MoPEP) for most of the last year.
Late last summer, Mayor William S. Jenks, III, trying to stem the sometime heated dialogue during City Council meetings, asked both sides to refrain from name-calling and personal attacks.
City Council meetings have been exchanges between Watson and Hawley and RMU officials, including Board of Public Works President Dr. James Stoffer.
The audit, which is expected to be scheduled within the next 30 days, will begin with city finances and involve RMU as it seeks information about its business and rate-setting practices and compliance with the Missouri Sunshine Law.
The Board of Public Works usually meets at 4 p.m. on the fourth Monday of the month at the RMU Training Room at 811 Highway O, the RMU Service Building.
Cost of the audit, which is estimated between $16,000 to $24,000, will be paid by the city.
