BELLE — Neither the Belle mayor nor the board of aldermen announced a June 6 special meeting at the Lonnie Feeler Memorial Building to discuss hiring personnel.

Alderman Jeanette Struemph said on June 8 that she was unaware the meeting hadn’t been posted at least 24 hours prior to the gathering, as is required by Missouri Sunshine Law 610.022 (2), until after it was already held.

As of Monday afternoon, a record of the meeting, motions, and new employees was still unavailable from the city’s designated recorder of records because the person who volunteered to take minutes had yet to submit them. According to Missouri Sunshine Law 610.023. (3), records should have been available by the third business day.

“We had two interviews,” Struemph said. “Then I heard that it hadn’t been posted or anything.”

Struemph said the City Clerk Frankie Horstman was out of town May 25 - June 6. Horstman usually posts the notices on behalf of the board and takes minutes.

“The mayor was supposed to have wrote stuff down at this meeting,” Struemph said. “So I didn’t concern with taking notes.”

When asked for a copy of the agenda on Thursday, Struemph said she wasn’t aware of one. Interviews with two candidates were scheduled at 4:30 and 5 p.m., respectively.

“We had decided to hire Clay (Ridenhour) and Jason (Lewis), but Jason wouldn’t accept the money because it wasn’t enough,” Struemph said.

Struemph was told that Lewis came to the interview because he was promised $30 an hour. However, salaries are approved by the aldermen and they wouldn’t go higher than $24 an hour.

The Maries County Advocate also contacted Alderman James (Pudd) Mitchell on Monday to request information. Mitchell was at Belle City Hall taking a training course to take/test water samples from the public works system and asked to return the call. However, Mitchell did not reach out at the time of The Advocate’s deadline.

Calls and messages were also left for Aldermen Barb Howarth and Adam Padgett, but were not returned by The Advocate’s 6 p.m. deadline on Tuesday.

Lewis confirmed that he was contacted by Mayor Daryl White, Jr., on May 31 to schedule the June 6 interview.

A previous special meeting held on May 31 at the Lonnie Feeler Memorial Building resulted in promoting Jim Goben from seasonal help to a full-time employee. Goben was hired during a special meeting on May 19 as temporary/seasonal at $18 an hour to help maintain Belle City Park on a two-week contract. The board made Goben’s position permanent as park maintenance director, effective on June 5, and to serve as a backup to future public works employees.

Also during the May 31 meeting, the board voted in closed session to offer Darin Guinn a public works position at $20 an hour, a $1 raise after he becomes certified. The minutes do not reflect if Guinn accepted the position.