2014-06-16 Special - Laserfiche WebLink

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Kathryn McKay, 507 Mapleview Drive, University City, MO Ms. McKay stated that unlike what most people think because of the banners that she displays, she was never a political person. She stated that she did not get involved to be vindictive, play politics are because she was a sore loser. She got involved because it was about right and wrong. Ms. McKay stated that the problem initiated when she tried to communicate with the Mayor and Council to ask one single question, did Mr. Kraft, who is her Councilperson, apologize? She stated that the response she received from Mayor Welsch, time after time, was “Thanks for the note”. Mr. Kraft however totally avoided the question in spite of the fact that five emails were exchanged back and forth. Ms. McKay stated that this type of non-responsive behavior is typical of what other citizens are receiving and it is not right. Dennis Fuller, 7365 Colgate, University City, MO Mr. Fuller stated that he would appreciate it if Mayor Welsch would allow him to express his feelings about winning or losing the election and not have to read about it in her column. He stated that he did not have sore feelings about losing the election and quite honestly, he is happy to have lost the election because this Council is a nightmare. Mr. Fuller stated that he had congratulated Mr. Glickert and that they have worked together since that time with no ill-feelings. In conclusion he stated that he waned to ask Council for the fifth time in a row, to consider Resolution 2014-31 by voting on it, because the citizens of University City deserved adequate fire protection. Kevin Feely, 7320 Colgate, University City, MO Mr. Feely stated that the last campaign started out as a rather general discussion about how the City was going to be run and devolved into a decision about how the firefighters were going to conduct their negotiations. As a result, the minority members of Council have brought three resolutions to the table with the intent of trying to tie the City Manager’s hands, and at this point Council needs to adopt Robert’s Rules and prohibit Councilmembers from placing these items back on the agenda once they have been tabled or postponed indefinitely. Mr. Feely stated that all of this back and forth is taking up a lot of time and it is not productive. He stated that this Council has a number of bigger issues that it needed to focus on and the firefighters are just one of those issues. Mr. Freely stated that while he may not think that the firefighters were treated fairly, he does not believe that the Fire Department is operating at a dangerous level. So it’s time to start moving forward. While his hope is that the firefighters will return back to work in the near future, it really is a matter between the City Manager and the firefighters. Tracy Gritsenko, 737 Oakbrook, University City, MO st Ms. Gritsenko stated that she is a resident of the 1 Ward and had hoped to have an opportunity to speak to Mr. Kraft this evening. She stated that Beth Martin is a friend who is an upstanding citizen in this community and deserves the respect of her Councilman. She stated that the incident which occurred at the last meeting was not the only time that Mr. Kraft has exhibited rude behavior. Ms. Gritsenko stated that on several occasions she and Ms. Martin have stayed after a meeting in order to speak with Mr. Kraft and that he had yelled and physically gotten in their face. She stated that the reason she wanted to share this with everyone is because prior to the name calling and water bottle she had brought these yelling incidents to the attention of the Mayor and every member of Council because she was concerned about the safety of citizens. She believed that if these issues were left unaddressed that they would just get worse. Ms. Gritsenko stated that she started attending Council meetings because of what was going on with the firefighters, not because she was a sore loser. She stated that unfortunately, she never received a response from the Mayor or Mr. Kraft, but would like to thank Mr. Crow and Dr. Carr for their immediate response. Ms. Gritsenko stated that Mr. Kraft’s actions are simply not right and if she had done anything like this at her job she would be fired immediately. Her hope is that when Council goes into their study session that these issues are really discussed. G. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Shelley Welsch adjourned the meeting to go into Council Study Session at 7:56 p.m. 10