AG declines to rule on Byron mayoral power; repairs to Rec site also stir strong discussions

A plea for the council to use microphones, an argument about paying for repairs at the Rec Center and a letter from the state attorney general declining to rule on Mayor Heidi Brightly’s dispute with the four councilors on mayoral authority were among sometimes heated topics during a Byron Town Council meeting.A crowd of nearly 40 persons filled the Town Hall for the gathering on Tuesday night, Jan. 12. As usual, the mayor had Police Chief Noe Garcia and part-time Police Officer Frankie Rohrer attend the meeting.The letter from Wyoming Attorney General Peter K. Michael sparked criticism from Councilman Alan Bair. Brightly had contacted Michael for an authoritative decision on the issue of mayoral authority related to appointing and dismissing various officials and committee members. She took the action after Bair and fellow councilors Sydney Hessenthaler, Walter Roman and Gary Petrich voted in October to revise an ordinance on the matter, which Brightly sees as an effort to keep mayors from exercising their due authority. Especially at issue is her unilateral dismissal of the former Rec Department Committee and appointing new members last year, and the council’s Dec. 8 vote to make Becky Bates the Rec’s leader.The mayor announced the AG’s polite refusal to be involved at the Jan. 12 meeting. Bair took her to task, saying that “because of such a fuss” about the matter that “the public should be made aware” of Michael’s decision. Basically the AG wrote that he is not going to rule on the request due to a state statute prohibiting same. Bair said that a letter from Michael to Joey Darrah, the town’s attorney, was dated Nov. 10; that Darrah sent it to the Town Hall on Nov. 16; and that it was received two days later.“Why did you not tell us about the (attorney general’s) decision?” queried Bair, referring to the fact that the appointment of Bates and a 4-1 vote with arguments occurred Dec. 8.“Were you not aware of this?” Bair asked the mayor. She answered, “no.” Bair noted that Brightly had said that a work session should be held to discuss the appointment and that she should have told the council about the AG’s decision instead of letting the item become an issue. Because the letter forwarded by Darrah was date-stamped by Donna Booth, the town’s clerk and treasurer, Bair asked her, “Why didn’t the mayor know?” Said Booth, “She did know.” Bair then continued his question to Brightly, asking why she “did not correct me (during the Dec. 8 meeting),” and accusing her of twice misspeaking. Said Bair, “Were you being deceitful or did you forget?” Brightly replied “I am going to say it’s a forgot.”In a related matter preceding the AG’s letter, placed on the agenda by Bair, the council voted 3-2, with the mayor and Roman voting against a motion by Bair, to revise a part of the town code covering job descriptions including that for the Rec’s leader. Bair listed some 17 points he feels should be addressed “for commonality of language.” Brightly accused Bair of “wandering” in his presentation, adding, “You’re confusing people.” Bair disagreed and the mayor agreed to meet with Darrah to discuss the item.Repairs to the building that housed the former Byron Elementary and High schools, which the town uses as its Rec Center, stirred a period of dissenting discussion. Bair has presented bills totaling $6,636 for work at the center, as they were identified by Todd Wilder, who on Sept. 15 was appointed president of the new Rec Committee after Brightly terminated the previous group. Wilder in an Oct. 18 report recommended that use of the center be curtailed until the noted discrepancies were fixed. The mayor last week argued that bids were not sought, that no itemized invoices were received by the town and that Bair violated town policy.During a meeting late last year the mayor vetoed paying for the repairs and during the Jan. 12 meeting reiterated her position that the owner of the building, Postern Capital LLC, should pay. On a motion by Bair, with a second by Roman, the council overturned Brightly’s veto 4-0. On Sunday, Jan. 17 the mayor, in response to a reporter’s request, provided the following: “Everything is still as it was, on schedule. The council approved the money for the repairs and they are complete.”Pam Hopkinson (immediate past mayor and dismissed chairman of the former Rec Committee) has spoken to the new Rec Committee explaining that the fire marshal had conducted the follow-up inspection and everything was safe to use. Use of the Postern building by members who have paid a fee has not stopped as a result of the walk-through inspection by five state inspectors. Her report included a statement that, according to the inspectors, “There was never anything to indicate the stopping of the offerings that were in the building including community events and recreational activities, but were maintenance items easily fixed.”Noted the mayor, “We have the owner’s time to make the repairs and the fire marshal did not shut the building to use. As I have always maintained, this mayor is doing everything possible to keep the Recreation Department active and open to the members.”Mic use urgedFor several months the mayor has asked at the start of each meeting that the council join her in wearing a microphone for the benefit of the audience, as well as for the recordings made of meetings (available at byronwyoming.org) so that viewers can hear the proceedings. Roman has tried to use his mic, as has Hessenthaler, while Petrich and Bair have declined. Ofttimes it appears that the mics do not work as designed, so the audience has some difficulty hearing what the council is saying.Last week, Joyce Zarate addressed the council in a heartfelt appeal to use their mics, not only for those at the meetings but for those who watch the recordings and who cannot hear the voices. “Please wear your mics,” she pleaded, adding that residents want to see entire meetings and not what she called “summaries in the newspaper.”Zarate also, during her presentation, said that “after the last meeting I was unhappy and disappointed.” She scolded the council for what she says is a situation that she said seems to indicate that the council has met prior to meetings to deal with matters and then essentially springs them on the mayor and audience to leave them out of understanding items or leaving room for discussion. The mayor has alluded to the same perception in previous meetings, as Bair almost invariably adds items to the agenda at the beginning of meetings.“You are losing the battle because of public opinion,” Zarate said. Applause came from several in the audience and the mayor asked them to please avoid such outbursts.In another contentious matter involving a $90 fee for six Byron fifth-graders, the council after considerable discussion deferred approval until next month. Zarate, who is co-treasurer of the new Rec Committee, said that she would present a report on funds so that Rec-raised monies would be used rather than taxpayer funding.The mayor and council also heard from Sherry Rageth, chairman of an ad hoc committee, regarding funding for the 2019 WyDOT upgrades to Main Street. She said that the town now can apply for a $400,000 grant to assist the city in paying for the project and that the WyDOT estimate includes new street lighting and sidewalks “to the east end of town.” She added that with the grant application in the clear, more planning for the project can be undertaken.

BY BOB RODRIGUEZ