Special City Council meeting July 17th 2006

When I arrived at the meeting I would estimate that the seats were about 3/4 full or so. I spend some time discussing all sorts of things with residents (the need to get their early to make sure you get a seat is becoming a social event of sorts). Also, Channel 5 and Channel 4 were in attendance.

It appeared that 110 - 120 people were in attendance (as there were a few empty seats). The meeting was called to order by the Mayor approximately on time. Council Members: May, O'Connell, Corcoran and Schneider were absent.

During the roll call, City Attorney, Herman stated that he had a letter from Councilman May that Councilman May wished to have read in his absence (it is my understanding that this is a long standing practice, though I have not seen anything about it in writing yet). Councilman O'Connell and Schneider also had letters they wished read (I do not believe there was one for Councilman Corcoran).

I am hoping to get a copy of these letters to post here. Until then, they basically said that the above Council members would not be attending any more meetings at the Council Chambers as they felt holding the meetings there was a violation of the Sunshine Law and they wanted to ensure that the city operated within the law.

There was also mention that the Mayor had refused to accept several majority votes of the council to hold the meetings at the community center (again, I am paraphrasing as I have not seen the letters).

At that point it was obvious to all that no city business would be done that evening as there was no quorum.

One interesting note was while City Attorney Herman was reading one Letter, Councilman Knode interrupted to ask Mr. Herman if he was representing the absent council members. When Mr Herman stated that he was representing Overland Mr. Knode stated:

" You are not the City Attorney Mr. Herman."

I also believe I heard the Mayor say something along the lines that they did not recognize Mr. Herman as the City Attorney but it was somewhat under the breath so I could have misunderstood).

Well that begs the question, Why do you allow him to sit up there, with a name plate in from of him that says he is the City Attorney?!?!?

This is ridiculous. If they do not feel he is the City Attorney, then have him removed and let the court handle it. The man is not going to resign, and you do not have the votes to remove him, so either stick to the argument that he is not the city attorney and have him removed, or stop the silliness and let the man do his job. This political gamesmanship is simply too much.

Another interesting statement was made, this time by Councilman Owensby, who told the City Clerk:

"Sunshine is coming up for you!"

Which prompted her to ask: "Is that a threat?"

OK, now seriously Councilman, would you consider that the professional conduct we should expect from a city councilman? Personally, I expect more maturity from my 5 year old.

However, to be fair I have no idea what prompted Councilman Owensby's outburst, so if you would like to explain it to me sir I would be happy to add your comments to this posting.

Several people called out here and there. This prompted Councilman Knode to ask the Mayor to ensure that the Chief of Police have people "physically removed" from the chambers if they are disruptive to the meeting. There were a few who were disruptive to a point (calling out comments here and there) but the majority of the crowd was quiet and attentive.

Shortly there after a member of the audience stood up after the Mayor told him he would be the first to be removed and said "don't bother" then he asked the crowd in attendance to leave. Contrary to the rumor mill there was no organization to the crowd's "walk out". The "disruptive" gentleman said we should all walk out to show the Mayor that we do not like what she's been doing and few went with him right away, while most stood around a bit, not sure what to do. Then some more left, eventually leading to what I would estimate to have been about 60% of the crowd in attendance walking out.

Some, likely thought (as I did), that since there was no Quorum, what would be the point of staying and listening to Owensby's raving, Purzner's rambling, Seller's Snoring, or Knode's arrogance? If the city was not going to conduct business then there were other things I needed to be working on.

Though not attending a meeting to prevent a Quorum is an accepted political tactic (The Mayor and her supporters on the council have a long history of doing the same) I think it is misguided at best.

The preferred approach, in my humble opinion would have been to attend, and if any member of the public was turned away due to room capacity restrictions, THEN seek a council vote to move the meeting to the community center. If the Mayor would either not allow a vote or not recognize the results then stand and leave stating your concerns about the Sunshine Law.

Right now we know one thing that was accomplished by this political maneuver. The business of Overland was delayed again. The blame for this rests partially on the Mayor, for failing to take into account an "anticipated attendance" in line with all of the meetings since she took office, as well as the Four Councilman who did not attend. In the end, there were some empty seats and the meeting could have happened without another Sunshine Law violation.

Who is to blame for the delay in accomplishing city business and the laughing stock our town is becoming to our neighbors? Look in the mirror Overland.