Reluctant to do so in the past, one alderman said he is happy to accept the claims docket for the city of Yazoo City this month.
The reason? Alderman Sir Johnathan Rucker said the Fuelman bill didn’t raise his eyebrows this time.
“With Fuelman, over and over again, I have brought up that it was extremely high,” Rucker said, during the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting Monday. “At one time, the bill was $6,000 for a three-week period. There must have been a lot less driving because in this three-week period, it is almost down by a $1,000.”
Rucker said he simply wanted to make note of the bill decrease during the open meeting.
“I have been fighting about the Fuelman and (city) vehicles staying within the city of Yazoo City unless authorized. My point is proven here because numbers do not lie. And I will vote ‘yes’ for the claims docket because at three weeks, it is not $6,000.”
Mayor Diane Delaware said her office runs an internal report for Fuelman, taking into a variety of factors from the amount of fuel used to the mileage driven to fuel costs.
“We are very diligent here,” she said. “No one has stolen any gas or fuel in the last couple of years, to our knowledge. We do look at it discretely. We look randomly in vehicles to see if a vehicle has driven more miles than normal. We love analytics.”
Delaware admits there was a time when something did not add up with the city’s Fuelman bill.
“That person no longer works for Yazoo City,” Delaware said. “We check these things, and if we felt there was something wrong with the Fuelman bill, we would let you know and not put it in the docket.”
“There are vehicles being taken out of the city daily,” continued Alderwoman Elizabeth Thomas. “Who pays for their gas?”
“The city of Yazoo,” Delaware replied.
Thomas then referred to a rule set by the previous city administration that stated after six months of employment, a city employee must reside in Yazoo City during their term of employment.
Delaware said the discussion would need to be placed on the agenda to be discussed in a timelier manner.
