In Public Comments, Eric Knowles asked why the city was so determined to become debt-free. He wondered if city hall were worried about possible actions by the Securities Exchange Commission because of the longstanding bonded indebtedness. He speculated finance Director Lonnie Clark might want to be rid of SEC oversight and audits. He insisted the sewer debts were not a problem because cities have debt. Funds being used to pay down the debts early could instead be used to upgrade the infrastructure.
Alderman David Mitchell responded it was not the mayor or finance director who voted to pay down the debt early but council, and they were not trying to avoid the oversight of the SEC. He agreed with a stronger approach to repairing the city’s water and sewer systems, but insisted “being debt-free is a big deal.”
Terry McClung also disagreed with Knowles. He said being debt-free would allow the city to go back into debt, which it cannot do now. He said it would be naïve to say the city would not have debt, and improving the city’s borrowing power would allow it to do much more than just repair leaky pipes.