Richmond Heights Mayor Kim Thomas is seeking to increase the amount that she is authorized to enter into a contract on behalf of the city from its current $5,000 to $15,000. During a recent city council meeting, a motion was made on behalf of Thomas, who was not in attendance, to increase her contra cting authority for goods and services that do not reach the city charter requirement of $25,000 for competitive bidding. The increase would mean that after city council approves the budget, they would no longer be required to individually approve contracts below $15,000. The ordinance states that, because the previous amount was set in 2018, rising costs have increased the number of ordinances that council has to review. Law Director R. Todd Hunt cited the escalated number of ordinances coming to council as one reason for requesting an increase, adding that purchases would still need to have money appropriated by council, who could review a report of purchases made each month. “All expenditures there has to be funds that were appropriated by council,” Hunt addressed council. “There is a review of all those contracts by me, as to legal form and correctness, and the finance director has to sign off on a certification that the funds are available… to cover those contracts and then you get a report at the end of the month what those are. “One more thing,” he continued before taking questions from council. “You have a lot of things on your agenda every two weeks of contracts between $5,000 and $25,000 so this will eliminate some of your work. Although you will still have review of those things.” Some council members said they agreed there should be an increase but suggested it be a lower amount. “I agree that the mayor’s allowance should be, with inflation costs and things going on right now, I do believe she needs an increase but one of $10,000, is not appropriate right now,” Councilman Asa Mook Robinson said. “The other cities that are comparable to Richmond Heights in population, they were roughly around that $10,000 range. “So, I think that would actually be significant and suffice…” The decision is yet to be made. Council president Bobby Jordan decided to hold the amendment at first reading to allow the mayor to comment on it during their next meeting. ...read more read less