By Carolyn Reid
An arena that should be a place of discussion and coming to what is best for the whole was instead a place of intimidation, bullying, and harassment as Falmouth City Council was presented with what turned out to be the final budget.
The budget discussion began with comments from the audience with a warning from the mayor to be respectful without targeting, threats, or any other intimidating behavior.
That lasted as long as it took for the first speaker to come to the table. Katelyn Darnell, one of three homeowners to speak out of the 10 citizens (three others stated they are business owners) targeted Councilpersons Amy Hurst and Joyce Carson as “selfish and power-hungry,” and she went on to say they were gas-lighting the people. She used scripture to back up her claims, and she said Mayor Sebastian Ernst was aiming toward greatness for the city. She asked where anything positive has happened before, and she told council to “sit down and be silent for the greater good.”
Rachelle Lazarus-Morris said she was a business owner, and she accused council of mismanagement of funds. She said decision-makers were standing in the way, shutting the mayor down at every turn.
Tammy Johnson of the city reminded the city of the increase in utilities a few years ago, and she stated council needed to do due diligence managing funds.
And the overall claim was “we need something for kids to do.”
Sandy Florence was the one person who rose to speak out with another perspective. “We have too many other issues right now. The streets on Cardinal Ridge are bad, and they flood. We need to be taking care of what we already have. We need industry and businesses before a splash pad and a rec center. Who is caring for the parks we already have? Why are we adding more to our plates?” she asked as she spoke of the conditions of Veteran’s Park and the skate park. “We need to clean those up.”
She continued to point out places for kids to be involved: churches, the library, the extension office, and athletic programs. Splash pads and a rec center will cost a lot to maintain, she asserted.
Ernst replied money was set aside for those things she said were needed.
Magistrate Rick Mineer, also a Falmouth citizen, raised his hand to speak as comments were winding down, and he was told the time for comments was past; however, others who had spoken in favor of the mayor’s budget were allowed to speak after that.
At one point, the crowd got out of hand. Councilperson Darryl Ammerman was the one who spoke out for it to stop--not the mayor.
At another time, Councilperson Bobby Pettit told Ernst that he had received threatening emails, including threats against his family, and rather than listening or asking for a conversation later regarding the emails, Ernst only denied having any hand in that behavior. Pettit was not making an accusation; he was stating an alarming fact: someone was willing to go to those lengths to sway his vote.
When Councilperson Sabrina Hazen expressed concern that Falmouth still does not have full-time police protection, Ernst recalled the vote against his desire to charge the county over $200,000 for fire protection, a vote that he swayed himself. "We could have paid for another officer with the $75,000 we gave away." Now, his stand is the city cannot afford another officer above the four full-time and one part-time officer. The one full-time will leave in October for the academy, and he cannot ride alone until his training is up.
When Ernst called for a vote, saying the people deserved it, Ammerman moved to vote with a $10,000 limit to the actions of the mayor. Ernst addressed that as another sign of the council working against him, saying the limit from the state is $40,000. (Actually, that number from HB522 requires all city governments to retain a bid for projects over $40,000, Rep. Mark Hart clarified upon request from the Falmouth Outlook. Council, who is in charge of spending, can limit spending by the mayor as they see fit.) Ernst stated no such restriction had been placed on any other mayor. The motion was seconded, and the vote went 4-2, with Hurst and Carson voting against the proposed budget the mayor referred to as his.
Ammerman explained later he made the motion in order to get the council out of the situation. He expected the council to vote against the budget, but that did not happen. Ammerman himself voted yes on the budget. (A councilperson can make a motion and then vote against his own motion.)