BUCYRUS—Frustration boiled over in the Bucyrus City Council Meeting Tuesday Night.
Prior to the start of public participation in the meeting, Council voted on new rules and procedures that included a three-minute time limit on public participation.
Bucyrus resident Vicki Dishon who has filed a lawsuit against the city council for various allegations that include inaccurate recordings and reporting of council minutes as well as composition of legislation, approached the podium to discuss errors she found in proposed legislation and to inquire as to why she was not emailed the agenda after she was told she would receive a copy of the rules and procedures to review and in order to prepare her response. She explained that her prepared speech was five minutes in length and would go beyond the three minutes established. She asked Council President Vermillion for permission to exceed the limit.
Dishon went on to ask councilman Kevin Myers why when he promised her an email with the proposed rules and procedures that she did not get it. Myers said he passed the email on to the clerk.
Council Clerk Megan Conley was quick to apologize for the error. Conley told Dishon she is still learning the job and was sorry for the error.
“Transparency is not happening here. There’s too much of this. I’m sorry, and I forgot. You’ve done a lot of forgetting when it comes to seeing I receive things. You say I’m going to receive it, or you say you’re going to put it on Documents On Demand, and
I don’t get it. That’s just how I see it.” Dishon said.
Vermillion then called time up on Dishon and told her if she had further comments, she could email them to Council.
Dishon protested because she had more to read. Vermillion told her that she had three minutes, but she (Vermillion) allowed her the five minutes she requested, so she was not extending her time further.
Dishon turned to walk to her seat but came back at Vermillion; “ You are not on the committee. You attend the meetings, but you are not on this committee.”
“No, ma’am, I am not, but I’m running this meeting,” Vermillion replied.
With that, Dishon sat down and had another citizen, Jim Richardson, attempt to finish her statement. Since it was not his statement, he was not permitted to read the text of Dishon’s statement.
Earlier in the meeting, Richardson, who said he supports the splash park and plans to donate to it, expressed his disappointment in the dispute over putting sidewalks on East Mansfield St. toward the Urgent Care Center and Walmart. He noted that he sees many people walking in that direction on a daily basis. He expressed concern for people, especially young mothers who are trying to get sick children to urgent care. He urged the city to redirect their priorities and do what was best for the citizens of Bucyrus. “Please do something about E. Mansfield St. before somebody gets killed,” Richardson said.
Council recessed two times for the clerk to correct errors in the proposed legislation.
In other news, Council voted to advertise for bids on the Splash Park, the Aumiller Path, and the Unger Farm Path.
Council approved the closing of a portion of Inez St. They approved the posting of bids on salt as well as paving materials.
Mayor Reser announced that applications are being sought for Lifeguard positions at the pool. He reminded citizens to prepare for the expected snow, and that city offices close when a level three emergency is declared.
If a storm emergency of level two or three is declared on Thursday, the scheduled committee meetings will be moved to Monday. Council is up against a February 4th deadline to approve the annexation of Interim Law Director Brian Gernert’s residence into the city limits. Gernert advised Council that if a formal vote is not taken, consent to the annexation is implied. Council was pleased to receive the police department report noting that while five felony drug arrests were made in January, there were zero deaths due to a drug overdose. That is encouraging news since Crawford County was recently ranked number three in the state per capita for drug overdose rates.