By Brian Stanley
Conflict between the mayor and a trustee over leadership ability continued to dominate a second straight Village Board meeting.
On Jan. 22, Mayor Rick Chapman presented the video and audio recording from a November committee meeting which included a presentation on sanitary sewer and filtration projects.
Trustee Barbara “Cookie” Kirkland filed a Freedom of Information Act request for Chapman’s cell phone records because she felt he was distracted and playing on his phone during the presentation of plans that will require millions of dollars in infrastructure.
“I decided if it was that important for our village president to be doing during a meeting, I thought it was something we needed to know about,” Kirkland said earlier. Chapman said the IT staff determined he had not sent or received text messages during the meeting and no texts had been deleted from his phone.
The two-and-half minute video Chapman played for the board does not show the mayor, but does show Joe Sullivan, a project engineer, discussing drainage needs.
“Two-and-a-half minutes isn’t a very long time, but it can seem so when you’re listening. I must have gotten in a lot of games of Candy Crush,” Chapman said.
As Sullivan wraps up, Chapman can be heard interrupting to question if a slide that reads “gallons per minute” should actually be gallons per day. Sullivan acknowledges the mayor is correct.
“I was paying attention…and (wanted) to correct this (at the first) break in his presentation,” Chapman said. “To be accused of sitting up here like a little kid playing on a phone or not paying attention is a shame.”
When Chapman said he expected an apology, Kirkland responded with “I stand by what I said and my conscience is clear.”
“The dignity of this board is at stake,” Chapman continued. “One lie, and if 10 people out there believe it, it’s a win.”