City Council President Mark Stewart opened the discussion on OMI Tuesday night by asking the council to take up a different issue altogether – whether to outsource public works operations at all.

The proposed motion, though – “that the city of Live Oak continue to outsource its public works department” – would be moot, noted city attorney Erny Sellers. The council had already voted at a previous meeting to negotiate with OMI and then decide whether to seek competitive bids on the $2.4 million pact. Taking back public works wasn’t on the table.

That wasn’t what Stewart was about, though. It was “finality” he was after, he said. In other words, let’s decide the question of outsourcing once and for all. And let’s do it tonight.

There’s only one problem with that. Legally, it’s a meaningless gesture. As Sellers explained, an elected body cannot vote to bind its future members to any given course of action.

And thank goodness that’s the case. The idea that an elected official should be able to control the actions of those who might hold his seat in the future, is anti-democratic in the extreme. That a motion making such a thing possible was actually made (by Ed Rewis) and seconded (by David Burch) is even more troubling.

We’re not sure why the issue of perpetual outsourcing was suddenly so important Tuesday night. But we do hope Mr. Stewart brings that same sense of urgency to the table Feb. 18, when the council once again takes up the issue of OMI. Stewart says he’s “on the fence” about whether to put the contract out for bids. We recommend he make up his mind soon. City voters want his answer before the May 4 elections.