MARIETTA - The ongoing feud between Mayor Bill Dunaway and Marietta resident Larry Wills, who writes columns that question city actions, continued at the City Council's Wednesday meeting.

During a scheduled appearance, Wills responded to what he called "Dunaway's personal attack upon my character as part of his attempt to discredit and deter me and other citizens from commenting upon the affairs of Marietta city government."

He asked that his statements and attachments, which he handed the council, be posted on the "taxpayer-funded Web site" beside Dunaway's "personal attack."

Wills was speaking about an Aug. 27 "Mayor's Statement," posted on the city's Web site, where Dunaway sounded off on Wills for a column he wrote in the MDJ.

In addition to responding to the statements, Wills calls it a misuse of taxpayer dollars to maintain a Web site that is used by an elected official to "attack" a resident.

In Dunaway's online statement, the mayor calls Wills a person that "fabricates and distorts to mislead people." He says Wills had a contract with the city to run a "compost dump on city property," and when the city decided to cancel that contract, "Wills became very upset" and "vowed to sue the city." He also wrote, "He now has started on a quiet campaign to get City Manager Bill Bruton fired. He wants to be hired as either City Manager or Assistant City Manager."

Wills told the council Wednesday that he "never held any discussions with the city or any lawyer concerning legal action toward the city, and I am enjoying my retirement and have no desire to be Marietta's city manager, but do believe Marietta has a serious leadership problem that can only be solved by replacing its current management team."

Dunaway responded Wednesday by saying, "What we have here is a columnist, Mr. Wills, who thinks he can write anything without any recourse." He went on to say it is his responsibility to back up his staff and the city when they are attacked.

The "Mayor's Statement" sparked a decision to post disclaimers underneath elected officials' messages on the city's Web site. The council approved posting the disclaimers at its Committee of the Whole meeting earlier this week, and voted 6-1 Wednesday to make it official policy.

From now on, an elected official's message on the city's Web site "is of the individual and does not represent the position of the city of Marietta."

Councilman Van Pearlberg was opposed to creating the disclaimer.

"The mayor just spoke down here," Pearlberg told the Journal after the meeting, speaking about Dunaway's response to Wills. "Are we suppose to put a disclaimer down here? I think its childish."

As for Wills' thoughts on putting a disclaimer on the city's Web site: "What they are doing is approving the taxpayer-funded Web site for propaganda purposes. They need to place important documents and data on the Web site instead of rosier-than-thou spin, so the taxpayer can understand the ramifications and costs of what the city is doing."