May 4, 2023 |
Photo – Rawlins City Hall – Bigfoot99 file photo
During Tuesday’s citizen comment period, a Rawlins citizen connected to one of the trash hauler companies in the city accused council members of improper behavior.
Upon opening the public comment period Tuesday night, Mayor Terry Weickum reminded the public that city statutes limit the time a person can speak to five minutes.
Dirty Boyz Sanitation General Manager of Operations Patrick Gonzales chose to speak. Gonzales said he had a few grievances. He started by saying he didn’t think the City Council was using the most up-to-date version of Robert’s Rules of Order.
Robert’s Rules of Order are a set of guidelines for conducting meetings and making decisions in a fair and efficient manner. Gonzales said the latest edition of the guidebook provides 10 minutes for public comment.
Gonzales said the city owes Councilwoman Tonya Lewman an official apology. He said, in his opinion, Councilwoman Lewman was denied her rightful seat on the council.
Councilwoman Lewman was elected to represent Ward 2 in the 2022 general election. After her victory, it was discovered that Lewman had accepted an illegal campaign contribution from a business that was involved in a lawsuit with the city. Councilwoman Lewman did not take the oath of office during the first council meeting of January 2023. Councilwoman Lewman claimed she was unaware of the impropriety of the donation and said she promptly returned the money when she learned it was unlawful.
She was sworn in at the following council meeting on January 17th. Mayor Weickum was absent from that meeting. Neither the Mayor nor the City Attorney have addressed the confusion surrounding how the Lewman situation was handled at subsequent council meetings.
Vice Mayor Steve Sanger, acting as Mayor Pro-tem for an absent Weickum, allowed Lewman to be sworn into office at the following meeting. No reasons were given at the council meeting for the change of direction.
Gonzales said Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray and the Rawlins City Attorney both determined that no wrongdoing had occurred. He blamed Mayor Weickum for denying Councilwoman Lewman her place on the board.
The company from which Lewman had accepted the unlawful campaign donation was Dirty Boyz Sanitation. Gonzales has a personal connection to the trash hauling company that contracts with the city. At the time of her election, Dirty Boyz was involved in a legal dispute with the City over the issue of flow control. Rawlins city code requires that all licensed trash haulers must take collected refuse to the city’s transfer station and pay a tipping fee. Dirty Boyz was taking their garbage out of state after first taking collected trash to its own transfer station just outside city limits.
Gonzales said the City Council owed his employer, Rose Cain, the owner of Dirty Boyz Sanitation, an apology. He said the council lied about Cain owing over $100,000 in unpaid tipping fees.
Gonzales said he was told that Dirty Boyz would only have their license reinstated if they paid the city $160,000 in missed tipping fees. He said city ordinances have a clear maximum fine.
Gonzales said council discussed the city’s recycling ordinance at its March 7th meeting. He said City Attorney Gwendolyn Wade admitted the ordinance was unclear.
Gonzales said he had a third, more serious issue. He passed out a document to the council members. Sources say the document was a nine-page Sheriff’s report about a threat Gonzales received. After giving the council members copies of the report, Gonzales addressed Councilman Chris Weisenburg.
Gonzales accused Councilman Weisenburg of unspecified social media comments directed at him. After making the statement, Gonzales’s five-minute public comment time limit ended. Councilman Darril Garner, who is the son of Rose Cain, motioned to give Gonzales a five-minute extension. Councilwoman Lewman, who had received the illegal campaign donation from Dirty Boyz that was later returned, seconded the motion.
Mayor Weickum asked for a vote to allow Gonzales. The motion passed with five yeas and one nay. Mayor Weickum was the sole dissenter.
Gonzales thanked the council before continuing to accuse Councilman Weisenburg of making online threats. Weisenburg attempted to interrupt Gonzales, but Councilman Garner reminded him that the council was not allowed to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Councilman Weisenburg said Gonzales was personally attacking him. Mayor Weickum agreed and attempted to stop Gonzales from continuing his accusations.
Mayor Weickum allowed Gonzales to continue. Referring to the alleged online threats made by Councilman Weisenburg, Gonzales said he didn’t think the council member was upholding his duty to the residents of the city.
Gonzales said he harbored no personal animosity against the council members. He said he simply didn’t approve of how the council appeared to apply city ordinances unevenly.
Gonzales reiterated his demand for the City Council to officially apologize to Councilwoman Lewman and Rose Cain, the owner of Dirty Boyz Sanitation.
Gonzales finished and took his seat. Mayor Weickum thanked him and asked if anyone else wished to make a public comment. No one chose to speak. Mayor Weickum resumed the city council meeting with the next topic of the agenda.
