New council has first testy exchange of 2013

• Mayor Sara Carlson

Mayor Sara Carlson
• Councilman Virgil Batesole

Councilman Virgil Batesole

Talk about it

It didn’t take long for the Alexandria City Council to have its first testy exchange of 2013.

It happened about five minutes into Monday’s meeting when council member Virgil Batesole, who frequently clashed with former Mayor Dan Ness, raised objections to the city’s long-time practice of having staff sign checks for bills before they are formally approved by the council.

Batesole brought up the issue, which he has raised several times in the past, during the discussion of the bills.

New Mayor Sara Carlson repeatedly reminded Batesole that the proper time to discuss the issue was during a related resolution that authorized staff to handle the city’s financial transactions.

Batesole said that he was trying to talk about the financials and told Carlson to stop interfering with him.

“I can interrupt you at any time,” said Carlson, who as mayor, presides over the meetings.

“No, you can’t,” Batesole said, claiming that he had the floor.

After Batesole continued to talk about how the council is violating city charter with its financial practices, Carlson said, “Mr. Batesole, again, I want to ask you, again, if you have questions about the [bills] that are before us.”

After a few more exchanges between the two, Batesole finally agreed to concede the issue, saying he didn’t want to argue in front of the public. “But we will have future discussions about you interrupting,” he added.

The bills were approved 4-0.

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