Local News in Brief : Expense Check Withheld

Carson Councilman Tom Mills, who has missed all council meetings beginning with the Jan. 25 session because of illness, will not receive a city check for $600 to cover business expenses for March and April.

At the Tuesday meeting, Councilman Michael Mitoma asked the expense checks for Mills be held.

Council members normally receive $300 a month for expenses, but City Atty. Glenn Watson said in a legal opinion this week that if the council knows a council member is “not incurring ‘actual and necessary expenses’ in the ‘performance of officials duties,’ the City Council should not approve the expenditure.”

Mills, who has been hospitalized for several weeks, asked officials not to send him the packet of information for Tuesday’s council meeting, according to council members.

In early February, Mills told The Times that he was recovering from complications of gall bladder surgery he had in June and expected to be back by the end of the month. In early March, Mills told council members he expected to attend a meeting March 15 but did not show up.

At the time, Mitoma asked for a report on Mills’ illness, saying the public has a right to know why Mills is unable to serve. No report on Mills condition has been made public.