"Attorney Says Vote to Buy Priuses Actually Failed"

The South Bend Tribune reports.  Excerpt:

Oops.

It appears the St. Joseph County Council did not, in fact, pass an ordinance last week approving the purchase of two Toyota Priuses.

Council attorney Mike Trippel, who was on vacation last week, informed council members of that fact after returning to work Monday.

"I wasn't at the meeting, and that was part of the problem," Trippel said. "As soon as I got back into the office yesterday (Monday) I reviewed the minutes and found out what happened."

In voting 4-3 last week in favor of the ordinance, council members assumed it had passed, unaware state law requires five votes and not a simple majority.

As it is, the ordinance failed, Trippel said, meaning it cannot be reintroduced for another six months without the approval of at least six of the council's nine members.