“You never know what you are going to get in a live meeting.”
That was the summation of Marysville City Council President Mark Reams, as the body met in person for the first time in more than a year and for the first time in chambers since March of 2020.
“It is great to be back to in-person meetings. You have unplanned events happen, a little bit different than what’s on the agenda,” Reams said.
The council president was referring to the unceremonious removal of John Henry Boer from the meeting.
Boer arrived as the meeting was starting, depositing several bottles, cans and other items on the ground as he sat in the first row of spectators. Boer laughed and mocked council participants, interacting with them on occasion. At one point, Boer asked if he could say something. Reams informed him the time for hearing from citizens had passed.
“I’ll shut up. I don’t want to get into trouble,” said Boer, who then proceeded to tell council about the theft of a yard ornament, a house of prostitution in the city, speeders and other concerns he had.
Eventually, Marysville Police Chief Floyd Golden walked over to the man.
“John, come with me,” Golden said quietly to the man.
“What did I do wrong?” Boer asked.
“You are disrupting a public meeting,” Golden said.
Boer apologized and began to walk out. He became annoyed when the police chief picked up his belongings to help him out.
“That’s mine,” Boer yelled. “You want it? Get a warrant.”
Boer did comply and left the meeting with the police chief. After the meeting, Golden said the man had an open beer can with him that had “the odor of a fruity beverage.”
Boer told law enforcement officials it was a jackfruit drink and some orange juice.
“He was checked by a medic and released,” Golden said, noting the man was not charged with any crimes.
Even with the disruption, council members and city administration said they were happy to be meeting in person again.
Council member Donald Boerger called the in-person meeting, “a blessing for all of us on council.”
“We must continue to be a light for our democracy and come back together,” Boerger said.
He said the city has been “overwhelmed by the consequences of COVID-19” explaining that in addition to costing 600,000 American lives, the uncertainty of the pandemic has slowed the economy and stressed the workforce.
“But we are bouncing back. We are stronger than ever. America is traveling again,” Boerger said. “The school year will be normal as it seems we are now seeing brighter days ahead.”
City Manager Terry Emery also said it is “great to back” to in-person meetings. He credited city staff with keeping the government moving efficiently during the difficult pandemic.
Reams said he has been coming to council chambers to do Zoom meetings since the beginning of the year.
“It’s kind of lonely,” Reams said.
He added, “I am happy that the city is getting back to doing things more normally.”
As part of the return to normal, members of the city’s Charter Review Board (CRB) were at the meeting to present recommendations for the city charter. The charter mandates that every four years a board review it and recommend any changes it feels necessary. City residents then vote on the proposed changes.
“The approach our board took was to review in detail the suggestions that came to us from city employees, as well as to review the entire charter to ensure it accurately and efficiently reflects our city government structure,” Schmenk, CRB chairperson, told council.
She said the group had four recommended changes.
The first proposed would replace the title “mayor” with “President of Council,” except as it relates to the mayoral role in performing ceremonial duties.
The second proposed amendment would replace the title “Director of Administration” with “City Manager” to more accurately conform to the city’s form of government.
The third amendment would change the responsibility to create departments and divisions from city council to the city manager but would also more clearly define that the responsibility to set the number of permanent employees and the salaries rests solely with council.
A fourth amendment would include all employee classifications and salaries in the city directory.
“In our mind, most of these changes are clean-up to reflect the change in government that occurred several years ago,” Schmenk said.
The CRB also addressed another matter. Schmenk said that in reading other city charters, many of them have a provision for the removal of council members.
“We considered bringing to you a charter amendment on this topic, since it is not addressed in our city charter, however, we felt that the topic could more appropriately be addressed in council rules,” Schmenk said.
The group provided some suggestions for the removal procedure.
“We wanted to note that our discussions on this topic were not focused on any particular individuals or incidents but were simply in the spirit of trying to help the city run efficiently and effectively,” she said.
Schmenk said a variety of other topics were discussed, though ultimately it was decided not to make recommendations based on those discussions.
Schmenk and other board CRB members and attendees complimented city staff on their preparedness and professionalism through the process.
Resident Scott Hunter said he was not on the board, but attended the meetings remotely. He said he appreciates the transparency of the process. He said he feels residents had “more than ample opportunity for them to be involved and have their voices heard.”
Council members expressed their appreciation to the board members for their hard work. Several stressed that the hope the members will continue to be involved in city government.