All seven council members voted to override Mayor Lutz's veto of the borough's 2015 budget at a special Columbia Borough Council meeting Wednesday night. Surprisingly, the mayor supported an override of the veto before a vote was taken.
"I would suggest you override my veto, so that we can get on with the budget. The purpose of my veto is to have the discussion that we're having here now," Lutz said, citing the need for transparency in the budget process. He suggested that council have separate budget meetings in which residents can comment, because the borough "owes it to the taxpayers." Lutz also pointed out changes made to the budget without his input as another example of why increased transparency is needed.
[A clarification: A previous post on this site stated that the mayor arrived at the December meeting of the whole, wearing a jacket with a police logo. After tonight's meeting, the mayor informed us that he purchased the jacket and did not receive it free of charge.]
[More meeting details to follow.]
