By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com

A night that should have been an easy good-bye to the Bucyrus City Council turned into a quagmire of public record requests and accusations.

Tuesday was the last night that John Walker and Richard Rockwell would occupy seats as Bucyrus City Council members and both men received plaques for their years of service on council. Walker served from 2007 – 2015 while Rockwell served terms from 1997 – 1998, 2001 – 2008, and 2012 – 2015.

Walker stuck around after giving up his spot to former council member Dan Wirebaugh. When it came time to grant permission for visitors to speak, Walker took to the podium.

“I received a letter on Dec. the 24th at dinner time with a house full of family and friends,” Walker began. “I’d like to read this letter.”

Walker outlined the letter he received from Council President Sis Love, in which Love stated she received a public records request for a meeting that took place in City Auditor Joyce Schifer’s office on Dec. 15 just before the City Council meeting.

“It was reported to me by two separate sources that John Walker, Bruce Truka, Steve Pifer, Wanda Sharrock were all in attendance,” Walker read from the letter. “I need the minutes of that meeting and the notice given to the press/public 24 hours prior to the meeting. The four of you constitute a quorum for a council meeting, and this is a violation of the Sunshine meeting laws.”

Love stated in the letter that if the Sunshine laws were not followed, it placed the council in jeopardy of lawsuits and penalties.

“You have all attended seminars on the Sunshine Law and have been cautioned in the past about too many council members getting together as a group,” Love admonished in the letter. “I am required to provide the information to the requesters within a reasonable period of time so your response is needed very soon.”

That letter was also sent to Truka, Pifer, and Sharrock.

Walker also received a letter from Sharrock, who responded to Love’s original letter and sent copies to her fellow council members, during which she denied being at a meeting in the Auditor’s Office with those members on that day.

“You have requested minutes in public notice of a meeting between me and three other city council members that you believe took place in the Auditor’s office on Tuesday, December the 15th, 2015 prior to the 7 p.m. city council meeting,” Sharrock wrote in her letter. “I did not participate in any such meeting, nor am I aware of any such meeting.”

Sharrock noted that Love mentioned two sources but failed to identify them.

“Perhaps, if you shared that information, it might have resolve some of this misunderstanding. I do not understand why you didn’t ask me about a rumored meeting before concluding that it happened and that I was present – all based on hearsay information on two apparently anonymous sources. It seems reckless at best for you to rely on such information to state as a matter of fact that such a meeting took place and that I participated in it when I did not.”

Sharrock stated in her letter that Love’s actions were more likely to place the council in jeopardy of lawsuits alleging Sunshine Law violations.

Walker went on the offensive as soon as he finished reading the letters.

“First of all, I wasn’t at that meeting,” Walker said. “I wasn’t even here until late for the council meeting.”

Walker also made a public records request from Council Clerk Kelli Tuttle and the Bucyrus Police Department for recordings of the meeting and security camera footage of City Hall. He was unable to obtain a video copy of the footage from Dec. 15 as it had been recycled a day later.

Walker did, however, have a flash drive full of security footage from the William and Hannah Crawford school building in North Robinson, where his vehicle was parked for most of the day. He also provided stills of himself entering and exiting the building, which were dated and time stamped.

“What bothers me the most is the fact that nobody asked,” Walker said. “The thing of it is – you knew I wasn’t here because when I walked in, the first thing you said was: ‘Don’t worry, Mr. Walker, we’ll amend the minutes to show that you were here.’”

Walker reiterated the fact that he received the letter the day before Christmas with a house full of his family and friends.

“How do you think that made me feel?” Walker questioned Love, two long-time council members who have often clashed. “This was the second time – the second time in my career as a council person I get accused of something I did not do. So how do you think that made me feel? How do you think that made my family feel? I’m very upset that you didn’t take at least a minute to walk over here and talk to me and ask me a question. That’s not the way to manage people.”

Walker’s public records request for video and audio recordings of that day are still standing.

At the advice of her attorney, Sharrock pointedly asked Love who made the accusations. Truka believed the names should be made public as well.

“I don’t understand how this came about,” Truka said, who also made a records request to the police department, the service director, and the council clerk.

Love stated she sent out an email early this week that no further inquiries were being made into the matter but the council members being accused of violating Sunshine Laws did not back down from the matter. Truka and Pifer made a motion to have the Bucyrus Police Department investigate the actions of the council members on Dec. 15.

“You cannot drop a bomb like this on Christmas Eve and it doesn’t work out or whatever – I’m sorry, no,” Pifer argued. “There are ramifications for making a move like this and I think this needs to be pursued just a little bit further than stop at the end of Council Chambers.”

In other council news, Tuttle was appointed as Council Clerk for the 2016-2017 term. Truka was also selected once again to serve as Council President Pro Tem.

Sharrock made a request to have the $50,000 donation to Crawford County Partnership for Education and Economic Development returned to the Finance Committee for further discussion. Wirebaugh, before returning as a council member, spoke out against the pledge at the Dec. 15 council meeting, which he believed could be put to better use for the city’s swimming pool or other community-related projects.