Another policy, in what has become a string of new guidelines, is undergoing the knife this week in Mandeville.

Work on the first city fleet policy to deal strictly with city-issued vehicles began late last year after an audit performed by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office alleged countless instances of city employees and officials using their vehicles for matters not related to city business.

In a cooperative effort, Mayor Pro Tem Trilby Lenfant said, the City Council and mayor’s administration began efforts to work up a new policy limiting city-vehicle usage using the fleet policies of other entities and large corporations. Their efforts seemed to be moving in the right direction, Lenfant said, when sometime in December an idea to use stipends and get rid of city vehicles altogether was suggested.

“We left that meeting thinking the administration was going to come back to us with information on that subject,” Lenfant said. Instead, Mayor Eddie Price recently sent out a completed version of the fleet policy as an executive order that he planned to submit as the city’s new policy on vehicle use.

“I’m disappointed because it looks nothing like the policy we were working on together,” she said.

Price said it was the same policy they had been working on for several months, but instead of using his executive power and making it city policy without the approval of the council, he’s decided to meet with council members and go over any adjustments they think should be made.

They met for the first time early yesterday.

Price said good progress was made during the session, and five pages of the policy were completed.

Councilwoman Carla Buchholz said when the mayor first introduced his policy earlier this year, she was happy with its contents.

“Now that I am aware of the contents of the policy, I feel it just needs to be polished up and it needs to have more exact language,” Buchholz said after the meeting.

“I’m just happy things are going in the right direction. It’s going to be a good fit for Mandeville.”

Price was reluctant to disclose the policy’s contents until the final version is drafted, which will likely take place in the coming weeks after he meets with the council again.

Heading into the meeting, Lenfant had her own issues with the policy.

“It really has no specific provisions for accountability as it relates to use or misuse,” Lenfant said, adding she thinks stipends, a monthly allowance for travel expenses, would best suit the city.

“You get in a wreck or do anything wrong it’s in your own vehicle, which makes the city a lot less liable,” she said.

The council saw fit to adopt several new policies that enforce stricter rules on city employees and officials after the audit alleged thousands of taxpayer dollars were spent on non-city functions.

Liability concerns were also raised when Price was publicly lambasted for two different occasions where he was apparently driving while intoxicated.

Since the incidents, Price relinquished the keys to his city-issued SUV and completed a special program addressing his issue with alcohol.

Price has yet to acquire his city vehicle back.