$50,000 Question: Should Montgomery’s Mayor Need Council Approval for Big Contracts?

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Whether the mayor should be allowed to enter into city contracts over $50,000 without the City Council’s approval sparked heated debate at Tuesday night’s Montgomery City Council meeting.

Council President C.C. Calhoun argued that requiring council approval for larger contracts slows down city business and hampers efficiency.

“The mayor shouldn’t have to wait for the City Council to approve contracts at all because it slows down the city’s ability to do business in a timely manner,” Calhoun said.

District 7 Councilman Andrew Szymanski disagreed, saying that oversight and transparency are essential for maintaining public trust. He proposed an amendment to require council approval for any contracts exceeding $50,000, while allowing the mayor to independently execute smaller agreements.

“I want us to be able to move forward so the city can be efficient and do the work of the people,” Szymanski said. “But accountability and oversight should be the standard for the City of Montgomery going forward.”

The debate grew tense as Calhoun suggested the motion was less about accountability and more about Mayor Steven Reed personally.

“This is not a motion about accountability and transparency. This is a motion about Stephen Reed,” Calhoun said.

Szymanski pushed back, insisting that his proposal was not a criticism of the mayor.

“This isn’t an indictment on the current mayor,” he said. “It’s an indictment on the council previously never doing this before. Other cities like Birmingham and Mobile have contract restrictions—it’s simply about doing what’s right as a council.”

Calhoun, who noted his two decades of service on the council, said no such cap had ever existed before.

“I’ve been on this council 20 years and we have never had a cap on the mayor to do anything when it came to contracts,” he said. “From 2019 to 2023, we didn’t have a cap. So now we want to cap?”

Szymanski said the council had reviewed many contracts over the past year and found only one that had been blocked, arguing that the proposed $50,000 threshold was a reasonable limit.

The council ultimately decided to table the discussion for two weeks.