Iona voters seek to recall mayor

IONA – A heated debate over recalling the Iona mayor has divided the city.

The controversy began when water metering was discussed as a way to regulate water usage, in a town hall meeting in Iona last year. Despite strong opposition from the citizens of Iona, the issue of water metering continued to be brought up in City Council and town hall meetings.

Mayor Brad Anderson said with the current growth Iona is experiencing, he and the council have been looking at ways to prepare for a possible water shortage within the next 10 to 20 years.

In an attempt stop the City Council from going forward with water metering, a referendum was brought before the city council that would require a vote from the citizens before water meters could be placed.

The referendum garnered well over 500 signatures, but was still struck down by the City Council.

The mayor said he was warned that if the referendum was not passed he would be recalled.

Water metering

Water metering was first discussed at a town hall meeting in August 2015. Meters were to be placed city-wide for the purpose of gathering data with the possibility of implementing a metered billing rate in the future, according to town hall meeting minutes.

That idea was quickly rejected by the citizens.

“The people said they don’t want meters,” Anderson said. “So we took it off the table.”

But later, the City Council decided that the city needed a clear definition of water waste. So during a town hall meeting in November 2015 it was discussed that the city purchase 25 meters for $20,000 to be placed strategically around the city. The meters were to be used to gather data to determine how to define waste.

Despite the change in the proposed use for the water meters, Dennis Bateman, an Iona citizen, announced he was working on gathering signatures for an initiative and referendum that would require a vote from the citizens before any water meters could be installed, according to town hall meeting minutes.

The referendum got 531 signatures.

The Iona City Council struck down the referendum June 26, according to city records. Council members said the document’s language that could hinder them from making decisions efficiently.

Voting rights

That’s when Lawrence Burke, an Iona citizen, began a petition to recall Mayor Anderson.

“When people came to me and said, ‘They’re not going to pass this, they’re not going to let us have the vote,’ there was enough reasons in my mind to think we should probably get him out of office as soon as possible,” Burke said.

On Aug. 4, a group of Iona citizens, including Burke, Bateman, his son Curtis Bateman, and others gathered outside of the Iona City Building to discuss the petition.

Burke insisted the push to recall the mayor is about the voice of the people not being heard. He said the mayor’s attempts to make the issue about water metering is a “red herring.”

“The citizens were concerned at how easily the city would be able to – in the future – possibly change the water-removal law,” Burke said.

The discussion became heated when former City Councilman Dennis McArthur defended the mayor.

McArthur argued that the citizens got what they wanted when a decision was made by the city council to not use meters for billing purposes.

“This is not about meters,” Curtis Bateman said. “This is about giving the people a vote.”

McArthur said the citizens were given voting rights, from the city council, in water billing decisions.

Burke jumped in, accusing McArthur of perpetuating the same “red herring argument” Burke accused the mayor of making.

“They (the city council) have not agreed to that, they did not do that,” Burke said. “What you’re saying is not true. It absolutely is not true.”

A shouting match ensued as Burke continued to deny the existence of such a decision from the City Council and McArthur demanded the opportunity to speak.

“You do have a say,” McArthur said. “You elect the people on the City Council.”

Burke said that is what the recall vote is about.

“We absolutely have a say,” he said. “The say will be on Aug. 30, and we encourage everyone to come out.”

The Mayor

“It’s kind of like you’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t,” Anderson said. “And we were just trying to do what they wanted.”

He said he and the City Council have no plans to place water meters citywide.

“I’m just trying to plan for the health and growth and for the community that they have plenty of water,” Anderson said in response to an accusation that he’s a “loose cannon.”

He said he wants the people of Iona to know that throughout his 19 years of service he has never done anything illegal, unethical or immoral.

“I would hope that people would look at what I’ve done for the community, from the parks to the splash park to fixing the (water storage) tank,” he said.

If the mayor is recalled, the current chairman of the City Council, Dan Gubler, will take over and appoint an interim mayor until a new mayor is chosen by voters in November 2017.

At least 268 votes in favor of recalling the mayor are needed for him to be removed from office.