Concerns were brought to the West Liberty City Council meeting Tuesday, June 21, regarding having a special committee to represent the city in continued negotiations regarding the issue with the fire department.
The item was listed as mayoral appointment for special committee on the agenda with city council members Dana Dominguez and Jose Zacarias as appointees to the negotiations committee.
When Mayor Katie McCullough asked for a motion to approve city Councilmember Cara McFerran motioned to approve the item.
“Motion not to approve,” Zacarias said.
Zacarias said his reason for not approving himself and Dominguez to the committee was because West Liberty Fire Department Assistant Chief Tom Christensen was on the committee as well and is to be a spokesperson for the fire department.
“Can you tell me about where this is coming from because you have not communicated any of this,” Dominguez said.
Zacarias fired back at Dominguez by saying neither she nor McCullough had asked him to talk about the committee.
He said the person he spoke about before, Christensen, was ”not a good communicator” as far as he was concerned.
“So we have a motion and a second, all those in favor?” McCullough asked the other council members. “Or do we need to discuss more? I’m sorry, I’m just caught off guard at that.”
McFerren asked city clerk Lee Geertz what the process was now that Zacarias conveyed he didn’t want to be on the committee. Geertz said the council would vote down first motion, have a motion made to appoint someone else and then have a first and second followed by a vote.
“Does anybody want to be on it?” McCullough asked the other city council members.
“Does it have to be a council member?” Omar Martinez asked Geertz.
Geertz confirmed it did have to be a council member.
McFerren volunteered to be on the committee with Dominguez.
McCullough proceeded to ask for a vote for the first motion. Everyone voted the first motion down.
McCullough asked for a motion for approval of McFerren and Dominguez to the committee. Martinez made the motion.
When McCullough asked for a second, no one spoke up.
“So then is there no vote and we move on?” McCullough asked Geertz.
“You at least have to have a second,” Geertz said. “You’re either going to vote it down or vote for it. Just because you second it doesn’t mean you’re for or against it.”
The second just meant the council would be able to discuss the item up for action, she added.
McFerren made the second, leaving it open for discussion.
Dominguez said she would have been thrilled to work with McFerren earlier but the letter McFerren signed off on citing Dominguez and McCullough had conflicts of interest gave her concerns regarding McFerren being on the committee.
“That I can’t even trust fellow committee members so that’s why I don’t know even what to do,” Dominguez said.
Zacarias told Dominguez to say no and that is all he was going to say about that.
Dominguez said she would speak more about the letter later on and didn’t answer Zacarias’ request of her.
McCullough suggested tabling the committee appointments if no one else on the council wanted to be on the committee with McFerren.
“The problem is if you’re tabling it, then you’re holding up negotiations that you all were working toward,” Geertz said.
Zacarias said the motion didn’t have a second. Both Geertz and city manager Dave Haugland said it did.
McCullough said the city council should vote then.
“I think there may be some mistrust among people,” Haugland said. “I think you got to disregard that and try to work for what’s best for this community.”
For the citizens in the city and the rural residents the fire department serves, he added.
“People have to start trusting people somewhere and I thought we took that first step at the last meeting by agreeing to having those community meetings,” Haugland added.
The residents in the city and surrounding area deserve better from all of the city council members, he said.
“I think we need to at least try to make an effort to reach some sort of solution,” Haugland added.
There are other things such as expansion happening in West Liberty that the city needs to address but haven’t been able to because they’ve been dealing with this issue for far too long, he added.
Haugland recommended people put their personal feelings aside, vote to move forward with the mayor’s appointment to the committee and start having conversations so the issue could be resolved.
McCullough asked the council members for their vote. The vote was approved. Zacarias was the only dissenting vote.