January 18, 2023 |
In a stunning sequence of events, the agenda of last night’s Rawlins City Council meeting was amended within the opening minutes to accommodate a request from Tonya Lewman, the winning candidate from Ward 2 in last year’s General Election, to take the oath of office.
Lewman did not to take the oath at the January 3rd meeting after reading a statement where she suggested that she might face a charge of perjury over accepting an illegal campaign contribution. The Ward 2 candidate was sworn in shortly after 10 p.m. last night after a notary public was enlisted to conduct the oath.
Mayor Terry Weickum did not preside over last night’s meeting. Newly appointed Vice Mayor Steve Sanger was in the mayor’s seat in Weickum’s absence.
Councilman Darril Garner opened the discussion mere minutes into the meeting.
Pictured above: File photo of Rawlins City Hall. Photo by Cali O’Hare/Bigfoot 99.
Lewman has maintained in social media posts that the Ward 2 seat she won is not vacant. Her failure to take the oath at the first meeting of the year was based on a miscommunication, she has said.
No judge was available last night and the city clerk, who is eligible to give the oath, declined to so, as is the right of any official. Vice Mayor Sanger cited a state statute that states that an official cannot be forced to give the oath.
The council agreed to amend the agenda and list the matter as unfinished business to be considered later. In the interim, Lewman arranged for a notary public to conduct the oath, which is also allowable under state law.
The notary recruited to deliver the oath was Scott Bach, who is the husband of Amy Bach who is the attorney who has represented Dirty Boyz at City Council meetings over the last several months. Dirty Boyz is the company that made the apparently illegal campaign contribution to Lewman’s campaign. Leman has said she thought she was accepting a personal check rather than a corporate one.
After taking the oath, Lewman took a seat with the other council members as the meeting moved to new business.
The dramatic turnaround comes after city council met in emergency session last week to formally approve a different procedure for filling the seat. Vice Mayor Sanger said early in the meeting that the governing body wanted to fill the seat as quickly as possible so that Ward 2 is fully represented.
