Explaining My Actions

A very small part of tonight's meeting that I did not mention in my council write up was an item in the mayor's report called "Possible committee change." Mayor Wally Heitman announced he was removing Silvia Quezada from oversight of the zoning and sanitation committee for the remainder of the current term.  I voted in favor of this change and the measure passed 3-2. Earlier this year council confirmed the mayor's recommendation to remove her oversight of the Board of Adjustment and building and housing staff due to conflicts regarding duties and follow through on tasks.

There was much discussion of actions of councilor Quezada during other portions of the meeting, most notably a complaint she filed with the Iowa Public Information Board. I want to make completely clear that my decision regarding removal has absolutely nothing to do with the public information complaint.

I was extremely dismayed to have to vote on her removal from oversight, and am sickened by the way the operations of the council have devolved over the past 10 months. I am also not happy that I need to talk about this publicly here.

My reasons for pulling oversight are due to the need for the city to conduct it's business in a way that continues to provide services to its citizens. Here are three examples 

• We didn't have a leaf vacuuming schedule until Oct. 6 this year, a routine task that should have been handled much sooner. In fact Silvia was told about this Sept. 26 and it took 11 more days to follow up.
• Details of the 2016 Farmer's Market were not communicated to other council members 
•  A grant from DNR was awarded to U-Heights for recycling at Grandview. Despite numerous requests for a copy of the grant, over a year-long period, it was never shared

So that's why I voted as I did, given a pattern of not following through with tasks, and not communicating with others this was a step that needed to happen.