CENTRE — Competing visions for the future of Centre spilled into the open at last week’s City Council meeting.

Newly-elected councilmen Marc Johnson and Derrick Wheeler expressed a strong desire to provide additional financial support to the three schools inside the city limits using funds from the city’s alcohol taxes. Mayor Tony Wilkie and other Council members urged caution because the Fiscal Year 2013 budget has already been set.

At what appeared to be the close of an otherwise peaceful bi-monthly meeting, Councilman Glen Chandler asked for clarification of a vote from the previous meeting—a 4-4 deadlock of his Nov. 27 motion to provide $2,700 for 25-second clocks for the football field at Cherokee County High School.

“I’m going to make a motion that we re-vote it by roll call,” Chandler said. The motion was immediately seconded by Wheeler, who said he initially thought the motion passed on Nov. 27 because other Council members nodded or pointed instead of voicing their votes.

“I think we need to be real clear, whether it’s yea or nay,” Wheeler said. “Be proud of your vote, be proud of what you’re recommending, and get up and say yes or no.”

“It was in the paper, it was on the radio,” Councilwoman Bess Yarbrough responded. “I don’t see why there was confusion. That’s over. Are we going to re-vote every time we defeat something?”

A raucus 20-minute discussion ensued, during which an attempt was made to retrieve missing Council member Frankie Kelly, who was absent preparing for the Christmas party. Council members also discussed the city’s budget process and the possibility of bringing up the issue at a later meeting, since Chandler’s motion was not on the agenda.

Mayor Wilkie said he was hesitant to hold a re-vote because the city’s budget for FY2013 has already passed.

“The thing about it is, we have a budget that was adopted and it is balanced,” Wilkie said. “It’s all a question over this $100,000 in tax revenue of alcohol sales. That money is put into every department that the city has.”

Wilkie reminded Chandler that during the city’s most recent budget process, fuel costs were a concern.

“We were over in every department where fuel was concerned,” Wilkie said. “If we had started cutting and not had the $100,000 set to the side, we would have had to cut in every department.”

At one point, Yarbrough, the mayor pro tem, turned her attention to a group of around 25 parents and educators gathered in the gallery.

“I see teachers here, and you all know we have all kinds of needs,” Yarbrough said. “I'm not for just giving money to sports. If we’re going to give to the school, it’s going to be for academics or something else.”

Wilkie said he understood the desire to assist local schools, but stressed his No. 1 priority is to manage the city.

“It is the Board of Education that is supposed to supply these teachers with the education items needed to teach our children, not us,” Wilkie said.

Wilkie pointed out that he had worked with Superintendent-elect Mitchell Guice prior to the meeting to provide funding for science equipment for students in Centre.

But Johnson made it clear he wants the city to do more.

“I don’t want to be average, I want Centre to be better,” Johnson said. “This place is never going to grow, is never going to progress, if you don’t start putting money back into education and start trying to get industry in here. I know it is the Board of Education’s responsibility, but we can help.”

“As chairman of the Finance Committee, that’s not the way that we work in the city,” Yarbrough said. “We will consider this when we work the budget, but we make a budget and we follow it. That's why we have a budget.”

“I’m all for helping schools, but right now we are at the beginning of our fiscal year,” Wilkie said. “If we were in the eleventh month and we had a $25,000 surplus, then that’s a different situation. I’m all for giving that money to the schools in the city. But we have to budget what we project, based on the previous year.”

As the conversation wound down towards a vote, Yarbrough made one last appeal.

“We’re here to take care of the people of the city of Centre,” she said. “We don’t just spend money. I don’t want to do business this way, because I am responsible to see that the city’s money is spent wisely.”

Ultimately, the Council voted 4-3, with Kelly still absent, to approve Chandler’s motion for the $2,700. Johnson, Wheeler and Phillip Roberts joined Chandler in voting for the motion. Yarbrough, Wilkie and Harry Moon voted no.

Kelly had been the fourth no vote on Nov. 27.

Wheeler then made a motion to begin spending all alcohol tax collections above $100,000 on the police department, fire department and schools in the city. City attorney Al Shumaker interrupted the resulting shouting to offer a calm warning.

“The budget process has got to be followed by the city if you are going to stay within the confines of the law,” Shumaker said. “And you've got a budget for this year. You need to make this a part of the budget process.”

After more heated discussion, Wheeler’s motion passed 4-3.

“I think it is a good idea for us to sit down, at some point in time, and see what percentage of the alcohol money we can set aside for the schools in the city,” Roberts said.