GILBERT — A messy Broadway Street following Gilbert’s annual Third of July festivities turned into a potential clash between the city and its union.
The garbage-strewn main artery was what many residents navigated through on July 4, and it caught the attention of the council. Better planning around garbage cans and allowing overtime checked off easily solutions, but Councilor Paul Skrbec said there was more to it.
Skrbec said he investigated where the city fell short, and learned the private contractor that supplies garbage cans to the city tried to call the public works department, only to receive no return call. That led to some misunderstanding between the company and the interim city clerk, Lynn Lourey, who was experiencing her first Third of July celebration.
The bigger concern for Skrbec was how the job landed on the clerk, rather than public works, to start.
“In this whole switchover with the commercial garbage, and this goes into a grievance that has been filed, we now have a history with how the transition has gone,” he said. “The lack of cooperation by that team with this transition … They have clearly taken an action to not cooperate, and that’s not OK. This is a serious issue.”
City Attorney Bryan Lindsay said it was fine to get on the record, but the city should handle any further talks with AFSCME privately.
Regardless of the route city officials take, they were in line with their mutual distaste of how the main street looked the next day.
“I don’t want that to happen next year,” said Councilor Ryan Redepenning, who broached the topic during his report. “The following morning there was still garbage everywhere.”
Mayor Karl Oberstar Jr. the city will have to look at its current overtime moratorium for events like the parade and dance.
“That will be corrected,” he said. “We put a moratorium on overtime, so we have to clean that up so they can come out the next day and pick it up, even if it is overtime.”
The overtime pause came to be during a contentious meeting last month in the city hall chambers, where Councilor Rudy Vertachnik and administrative assistant Marion DeLage had a heated discussion about time sheets submitted for approval.
Skrbec, who was absent from the June 23 meeting, chastised the council for its tone, personnel discussion, and passing the moratorium without it being on the agenda where the public and bargaining units could participate.
He said he would be proposing and ordinance to provide training on city government and open meetings for councilors.
“That should never be done in a public forum” he said. “I was embarrassed, appalled, disappointed by the conduct I saw at that meeting.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated on July 16 to reflect the ordinance’s mention.
Accessing the Gilbert City Council
Gilbert City Council agendas and minutes can generally be found on the city’s website. Recordings of the meetings can be found through Mesabi Community TV’s Vimeo account. Editor’s note: Gilbert’s current interim clerk situation has caused a lag in agendas being posted. Agendas should be available at city hall prior to meetings.
