Some Hamilton County commissioners say Joe Graham can do whatever he likes with $100,000 in so-called discretionary funds. But others say they haven't decided whether they will let him put that money back into the county's savings account.
Graham on Wednesday said he wanted to put his share of a combined $900,000 in special projects money back into county coffers because he didn't think it should have been earmarked in the first place.
But Graham, who's been in the minority for discretionary votes lately, said Thursday he's concerned some commissioners are plotting to amend his resolution and redirect the money toward some other project. When asked Tuesday, other commissioners said they were not aware of a plan to change the resolution and had no plans themselves. But some were receptive to the idea.
Commissioners in June voted to pull the money out of the county's "rainy day" fund so they could retain discretionary spending, which has been a staple in the budget for years. Mayor Jim Coppinger had left the funding out, because he said there was no revenue to sustain the program.
Graham, Greg Beck and Marty Haynes were the only commissioners to vote against reinstating the funds with reserve money. And Haynes and Jim Fields were the only commissioners Thursday who said they would support Graham's decision outright.
"I didn't agree with taking it out of the reserve fund, and if he wants to send it back, then I'm going to support him," Haynes said.
Haynes isn't going to follow suit, but he will spend his 2016 discretionary funds only on emergencies, he said.
Fields, who did vote to pull the money from the fund balance, said Graham has the right to do as he sees fit.
"My thoughts are it's basically Joe's personal conviction. If that's what Joe wants to do with it, that's what should happen. I don't have an issue with it," Fields said.
Beck didn't say how he would vote next week, but he did say changing the resolution against Graham's wishes would be "bad precedent."
"They can do it. They can also move the courthouse with five votes. That'd be a bad precedent though. What's to stop them from doing that on any resolution that's brought forth?" Beck said.
Randy Fairbanks said he questions Graham's decision.
"It surprises me, because normally, in the past, if a commissioner didn't want to spend the discretionary money, they just didn't spend it. It seems to me that this is just paperwork," Fairbanks said.
Fairbanks said he hadn't heard anything about other plans for Graham's effort - and didn't plan to oppose the resolution - but he would listen to discussion.
"If something comes up and we discuss it, we'll see what the merits are. But I don't foresee that happening," he said.
That's what Chairman Chester Bankston, Sabrena Smedley and Tim Boyd said, too.
"It's discretionary money, if he doesn't want it for his district, that's his decision," Bankston said. "I guess whatever comes out of the discussion is when I'll make my decision."
Smedley said she hopes Graham isn't making a mistake.
"I can't say at this point how I'm going to vote on it," she said. "I certainly hope that his district doesn't pay the price. Because here's the thing, you never know what's going to come up in your district," Smedley said.
Boyd said he would be more than willing to discuss other options.
"I think certainly if somebody brings it up for discussion at next Wednesday's meeting, it's certainly worth talking about," Boyd said.
Contact staff writer Louie Brogdon at lbrogdon@timesfreepress.com, @glbrogdoniv on Twitter or at 423-757-6481.