The Manhattan Beach City Council unanimously decided Tuesday to make good on the city staff’s centennial-related expenditures, dismissing the need for the Centennial Committee to make reimbursements.
The decision, which was reached after more than an hour of heated discussion, primarily hinged on the fact that city manager Dave Carmany had authorized these expenditures on behalf of the city.
“He never asked to be reimbursed; it was simply something that the city was going to incur because the Centennial Committee was not going to do it,” said Councilmember Nicholas Tell, who sits on the committee.
The grand total of $38,671.20 included electrical upgrades for events, street cleaning, street banners as well as centennial bags that were distributed.
“We can go back and forth about whether [Carmany] should’ve approved them or not, but that’s beside the point,” said Councilmember Amy Howorth, who also sits on the committee after replacing Councilmember Richard Montgomery in May. “We’ve got to deal with the expenses that the city has already paid for.”
The council also discussed what the committee should do with the remaining $7,664.19 in cash assets held by the Centennial Foundation. While the committee expressed interest in donating the amount to the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation, Mayor Pro Tem David Lesser asked the foundation to “seriously think about where the remaining balance should go.”
All in all, each councilmember seemed eager to put this issue to rest.
“For the good of the community, let’s try to wrap this up, move forward and remember the good events we’ve had,” Howorth said, adding, “And perhaps [we can] come up with a lessons-learned sheet for the next centennial.”
