Reports Request as a Council Member Timeline:

I’m writing to formally request follow-up information on several matters that were raised during our most recent council meeting. As these topics directly impact fiscal transparency, public safety, and planning accountability. The Council is entitled to a timely and complete response. To that end, I respectfully request the following:

1. Road Repairs

• Please provide a detailed breakdown identifying which account(s) the funding for recent citywide road repairs came from and what the balances are in the City Accounts.
• Include the total expenditures, a list of streets paved or patched, and copies of all relevant invoices or project scopes.

2. Dillard Park Pavilion Project

• Clarify whether the Council formally voted to authorize Keith to prepare the bid for this project, as there appears to be no record of such action.
• Please confirm if demolition was included in the bid specifications.
• Provide a cost estimate or final cost projection for the entire pavilion project.
• Additionally, please provide any existing data or usage reports that show how frequently the current field and pavilion are utilized.

3. Water Tower Project

• At the meeting, concern was expressed regarding delays and utilizing the existing bond funds.
• Please confirm if the auditors have issued a formal warning or expressed concern about these delays.
• Provide an updated project timeline and current project status, particularly on the estimated 12–16 months to begin construction.

4. Sterling Place Traffic Enforcement

• As discussed, I am requesting a formal report from the Police Department documenting radar enforcement efforts on Sterling Place, and the rest of the city including:
  • Number of patrols conducted
  • Number of citations issued, by week and if possible, also by street.
  • Also, please send the standard police department report for the months that we have not gotten it for.
• Additionally, I request a statement from the Municipal Court summarizing the cases for this year.

Please confirm receipt of this request and advise when the information will be emailed to the council. As you know, most of this information should be readily accessible under Alabama’s Open Records Act and will help ensure clarity and accountability to the public.

Thank you for your attention to these important matters.

Sincerely,
Matt Tortorice
Council Member, City of Margaret

Mr. Tortorici;

    As a sitting councilman I can only assume you have copies from the minutes of all previous meetings during your tenure. As has been explained on numerous occasions the mayor is the chief executive officer of the city and as such handles the day to day operations of the city. Various actions are taken by the council which the mayor implements such as road repairs, police department, fire department, etc.. I have no idea to whom your request is being directed since any and all road resurfacing projects have gone through the council meetings where bids would have been presented and voted upon with contracts awarded. If there are any specific accounts for which you need a copy of a monthly statement please direct the request through the mayor and copy to the city clerk who handles payments of debts for the city. If there is a specific road repair project to which you are requesting, please be more specific.  State the road project and or the contractor who performed the work and I am sure copies of contracts and payments  can be copied and provided to you. The city clerk and the other city employees have duties to fulfill on a daily basis and when you make a request for records the more specific the better as they can then look for a specific project. When you make a general request of “total expenditures” and “relevant projects” that appears to be more of a fishing expedition rather than a review of a particular project or road repair. General pot hole repair is done without benefit of a specific project but would certainly be relevant to all road repair request which essentially makes your request without limit in time, location or payment. Citywide road repair is not a singular project but multiple projects over time. Be more specific and the mayor can have someone attempt to respond with the appropriate copies of records. I suggest the request be for specific repairs or maintenance to specific roads during specific time periods. To my knowledge all paving projects would have been presented via normal council meetings of which you already know  the amounts of what were approved. Payment of those projects can then be copied and supplied to you as a councilman.

As relates to the Dillard park project again to whom is your request being made? The engineer, the contractors who bid, the mayor or the city employees in general? Bid specifications for a construction project of this nature would probably have been prepared by the city engineer. Again the mayor would be the city official who could give a status of the project. The council in numerous meetings have discussed the pavilion project and various aspects of the same so your request concerning specifications would be better addressed to the city engineer if the project parameters have been decided. In my personal memory the issues of resurfacing, lighting, water shed flood control, retaining walls and parking have all been discussed in open council meetings of which you participated. You ask for information on the entire project which again is without limit and therefore almost impossible to respond. I have never been informed of any surveys approved by the council to determine usage of a park within Maragaret. If you know of a specific survey conducted concerning usage, please specify and I am sure it will be provided. Some of the council members just visit the parks on occasion  and see the use, as well as speak to the people who use the same or wish to use the park area. I am unaware of any surveys to which you refer but the mayor may know of more than I.

You as a councilman have no authority to request a specific job performance of any particular city employee.  Council members are not to make job performance request of how a city employee performs their job. Any job performance request must and should be made via the mayor who again is the chief executive officer of the city. Council members cannot require a city employee to create a report for your pleasure which is what it appears you doing with your police chief request. City court records are public and if you want to know the number of cases I suggest you request the court docket for particular months or the number of traffic tickets issued for a certain period like since January 1 or for the year 2024 2023 or 2024. You mention a standard report but I am unaware of any standard report required by the state, the county or any law enforcement agency. The FBI and the state of Alabama gather ticket and warrant information on a yearly basis which I believe is accessible by the public. It is my understanding that traffic enforcement within Margaret has been very efficient over the last 5-10 years. Communities wanting to slow traffic have repeated requested the city to install speed bumps but there is nothing preventing private HOA’s from installing the same on their own private roads. Lack of proper HOA management has been an issue within the city. I believe there is a dispute about whether certain roads have in fact been accepted by the city or if they remain private HOA responsibility for maintenance. Any road accepted and maintained by the city would require city approval before installation of such a speed restriction method.

  Last your comments concerning the water project are confusing and somewhat self directed. The bond to which you refer was approved by you and most of the current council. With that said the council and mayor all agreed to the bond conditions . If you have a question concerning the bond it may be best directed to the bond representatives or the mayor. My understanding is all the proceeds have not been expended and need to be used or they will be required to be refunded. The how and why of that I have no answer other than to say the water department and the sewer department are both in urgent need of substantive upgrades which would easily consume these funds. The engineer is aware and is supposed to make a recommendation of an order of priority for upgrades and new facilities for both water and sewer departments. Once the projects are approved and begin moving forward I believe the bond issues will be resolved. Therefore the expenditure of those funds is a council issue of which you are a member, Again I would encourage you to communicate with the mayor , the engineer and the bond representatives when a question arises about a specific bond.

    This response has been sent as a reply to all recipients  and allows each person to determine how to proceed. As long as you maintain the lawsuit against the city I can not speak with you directly without other city persons being present. I felt this request needed a quick response and therefore prepared the above. You may certainly follow up with various department heads or the mayor for additional information.

Erskine R Funderburg

My Response: 06/09/2025

Dear Mr. Funderburg,

Thank you for your reply. However, your response fails to satisfy my formal request for documentation and clarity, and further mischaracterizes both the role of a sitting councilmember and the City’s obligation to fiscal and operational transparency.

Let me respond point-by-point:

1. Road Repairs – Refusal to Identify Fund Source

Your suggestion that I “reference past minutes” is disingenuous. I was present when the vote was taken to approve road repairs—but the motion did not include which fund would be used. That is precisely the reason I asked. The Council never voted on a funding source, and you have not identified one in your reply.

Your characterization of my inquiry as a “fishing expedition” is dismissive. The work was recent, invoices exist, and the accounting trail is current. A request for documentation about road repairs performed under a recent council motion is not vague—it is the basic minimum standard of fiscal oversight.

2. Dillard Park Pavilion – Lack of Council Authorization

There is no record that the Council voted to authorize the city engineer to begin design or bidding on this project. If you or the Mayor believe such authorization exists, then please cite the vote or minutes.

Discussions are not the same as formal approval, and conflating them risks violating procurement procedures. Asking for a project cost estimate or data on park usage—especially for a publicly funded capital improvement—is standard oversight, not an excessive demand.

3. Water Tower – Shifting Explanations and Bond Risk

You note that the Council and Mayor approved a bond issue. That is true—but it was described to the public as a sewer system upgrade bond, not a water tower construction fund. The first time the Council was informed of a shift in use and an audit-related time pressure was in the last meeting.

This is why I requested documentation. If bond proceeds are at risk, the Council should have received formal notice and a vote—not retroactive justification. Your suggestion to “speak to the engineer or bond representatives” only reinforces the lack of formal process and transparency.

4. Police Department Reports – Not Job Performance

I asked for data—number of patrols and citations—based on public statements made in our meeting. This is not a job performance review. You assert that the information is public, but also claim I cannot ask for it. That contradiction reveals the City’s real position: to withhold as much information as possible.

Whether accessed through a department head or the Mayor, this data exists and should be shared with the Council without obstruction.

5. Your Role, My Rights, and the Mayor’s Silence

You suggest I direct these requests to the Mayor. I did. I raised each of these issues to the Mayor directly in Council and followed up via email. He has not responded.

Why is the City Attorney speaking for the Mayor in response to routine operational questions? Why is legal counsel being deployed to intercept and deflect basic oversight from a sitting Councilmember?

The Mayor’s ongoing refusal to respond is unacceptable. It violates the principles of shared governance and undermines the transparency the public deserves.

Conclusion: This Is Not a Lawsuit Matter—This Is Governance

Your reference to the lawsuit is not relevant. This is not about that. This is about a duly elected councilmember exercising oversight, asking for information already discussed publicly, and being stonewalled by vague responses and procedural runarounds.

I am documenting this pattern not out of retaliation, but because it matters. The people of Margaret deserve a city that operates in the light. I will continue to press for that standard.

Sincerely,
Matt Tortorice
Councilmember, City of Margaret