Lakeview Village Council and administrators faced a slew of public questions and criticisms Monday, May 6, during an hours-long meeting inside the village’s utility building next to the fire department at 540 N. Main St.
Mayor Elaine Fagan-Moore answered questions from the public and defended her actions on issues ranging from transparency of local government to whether she was intoxicated while handing out Easter baskets during a community event last month, and even her alleged verbal accosting of a 14-year-old teenage boy who reportedly was just looking to earn some money doing yard work.
In all, the council meeting went about four hours, and at one point included approximately 50 members of the public. Some of those individuals left during an hour or so executive session that was called in the middle of the meeting to discuss fire department personnel.
Still, many of them stayed. Among them, Crystal Hornblower, who criticized the mayor and council for a “lack of transparency” around a series of resignations from the village fire department, as well as how the village intended to rebuild and move forward in the aftermath of the March 14 tornado.
“We were looking to you to lead us,” she said.
On the issue of the fire department, council voted to appoint Josh Oakley as the interim fire chief. Oakley reported to council the fire department has recently received three applications to join the department, including two from individuals who already have the required certifications and another who is in the process. Jerry Davis, a firefighter with over 20 years experience, including as a fire chief, attended Monday’s meeting.
About half of the Lakeview Fire Department’s roster has resigned since April 15 — six firefighters in total. Former Fire Chief Norm Spring who served the fire department in Lakeview for over 40 years, has also resigned in the last month.
“We lost some good firefighters,” interim chief Oakley acknowledged Monday. “But we’re in the process of building back our fire service.”
Prior to the resignations, the fire department’s roster listed 15 first responders. As it continues to build back its roster, the Lakeview Fire Department has reached an understanding with the Indian Joint Fire District in Russells Point for assistance answering calls.
“Russells Point fire can reach about anywhere in the village about as fast as we can,” Oakley said.
Council and administrators declined to say why the firefighters resigned.
“People make individual choices everyday,” the mayor said. “Those were personal choices.”
Those that resigned have made plain their reasons for resigning: The mayor and ongoing tensions between the fire department and council.
It was that tumultuous relationship between former chief Spring and the mayor that set off the wave of public criticism that came ashore during Monday’s meeting.
Another inflection point occurred Sunday, April 21, during what the mayor and council called an “employee-employer” meeting between village administration and members of the fire department.
Mayor Fagan-Moore declined to make the meeting open to the public and was not required to in the absence of a quorum of council members.
However, dozens of people gathered outside and waited for the duration of the meeting.
“We stood out there waiting and hoping you would say something to us after the meeting, to offer some hope, and you just walked right past everyone and that was hurtful,” Hornblower said.
That sentiment was echoed by other community members who spoke Monday.
The mayor defended her decision not to speak publicly after that meeting.
She said people were swearing at her and calling her bad names.
“I was getting called blankety-blank-blank,” she said, adding that no one else in that situation would have wanted to address the public either.
It’s her job to stand up in public and face the tough questions, some community members said.
Another point of contention was a press release issued by the village administration in recent weeks that in part claimed the previous mayor had conducted a “30-month” investigation into the former fire chief. In fact, that investigation lasted two months, village administrators acknowledged Monday.
They called it an “honest mistake,” and attempted to clarify that 30 months worth of history and background were checked in to by the previous administration.
The mayor struck a conciliatory tone as she answered all the questions from those that addressed the council, apologizing if anyone felt like they weren’t heard or listened to and she expressed a desire to work together to rebuild the community post-tornado.
“If you see me out in the community, come talk to me,” she said. “I won’t bite you, I’m more likely to hug you because that’s what we do,” she said.
Debbie McDonnell was introduced by the council and administration as a project manager referred by the Logan County United Way to help lead the disaster relief efforts. McDonnell has over 30 years of experience in strategic planning in disaster relief and is willing to help the village continue its rebuilding efforts at no cost.
These efforts are intended to move the village forward, the mayor said.
But the town cannot heal as long as false stories and baseless accusations continue to be thrown around social media, Mayor Fagan-Moore said.
She described the hurt and pain she was caused by social media assertions that she has appeared publicly intoxicated or that she was rude to a teenage boy looking for yard work.
Those issues came up Monday as well. A door cam video shows the mayor speaking in a way that some have described as rude to a teenage boy that twice came on to her property looking to do yard work to earn money.
Some online commentators had sympathized with the boy for trying to earn money and some people that spoke Monday said that they had spoken to him as well and that the boy was polite and sincere.
The mayor painted a different picture, and said that last year she encountered the boy throwing rocks at animals and that when she asked him to stop he cursed at her. It was with that context and previous interaction that she was less inclined to give the boy any benefit of the doubt, Mayor Fagan-Moore said.
As far as handing out Easter baskets to neighborhood kids while drunk, “that’s hurtful and untrue,” the mayor said.
Comments to that effect had gained enough traction on Facebook in recent weeks that the mayor addressed the topic during the council meeting.
She strongly denied the accusation and wondered aloud where the assertion came from.
“The people that are spreading that stuff should be ashamed of themselves,” she said, adding that her son is currently deployed overseas and it’s also causing him grief.
Topics covered during Monday’s meeting fell essentially into one of three categories: Fire department and firefighter resignations; tornado response and continued recovery; and the mayor’s publicly-facing behavior since both the tornado and the resignations.
Mayor Fagan-Moore attempted to explain and address each of those areas during the meeting, and members of council expressed support for her efforts.
Some action was taken during the meeting as well, including several updates from administrator Dave Scott.
Council authorized Scott to accept the lowest bid of $22,280 for the removal of damaged portions of the foundation at the municipal building.
Scott also told council a replacement tornado siren at a cost of $35,000 was ordered and would be covered by insurance, but there would be some delay in receiving it.
The next regular council meeting is 6 p.m. Monday, May 20.