Mountain Home 2.13.24 Meeting

The outburst

If you hadn’t heard yet, on Tuesday, Feb. 13th, Mountain Home had what might some call the wildest city council meeting, in a hot minute. There were two public hearings followed by public comment. All of which, were addressed by Karen Halligan.

Halligan felt that it was not only her duty as a citizen, but her right, to hijack the meeting.

There truly is no other way to explain what occurred at the city council meeting. Nonetheless by an individual who didn’t even know there was a meeting that day and just so happened to stop at City Hall that night. While every citizen that wishes to speak will have their three minutes for each public hearing or during public comment, this does not allow speakers to derail the event by exceeding their three minutes and steering the meeting away from the agenda and using this opportunity to yell at not only those on the stand, but all those present in the audience as well.

Halligan had started by using her first three minutes during the public hearing concerning the Libraries’ raised card fees for county card holders, to express frustrations about a lack of communication between the City of Mountain Home (CMH) and it’s citizens. She expressed that the CMH should inform the citizens when there are meetings, and public hearings.

The second public hearing was to discuss the new bin sizes, and prices, for garbage services. To which more than one citizen had question’s and comments about. However this was another opportunity for Halligan to express comments in a means that was not acceptable. There was anger sure, a feeling that many experience during these meetings; however, this is not an excuse to utilize the floor to yell and shout at those on the stand. She had started her minutes simply by asking questions about recycling and prices in a relatively calm fashion. However she was displeased by the fact that she was on a timer. This seemed to cause her the most anger, and had to be told multiple times that her time was up. Councilwoman Garvey and Councilmen Brennan even tried to put her at ease by answering some of her questions and concerns, unfortunately to no avail. After a few more heated moments Karen relinquished her position and sat back down.

Public comment followed the public hearings, to which Ted Thompson began his testimony. About 2.5 minutes into his time Halligan rose from her seat and began to hover behind Mr. Thompson with her arms crossed, staring down the clock and those at the stand.

The second his time ended Halligan interrupted him, tapping his shoulder and staring loudly ‘excuse me sir, your time is up.’ From this moment forward Halligan utilized this as an opportunity to attempt to call out the Mayor and the Council on mistreatment of citizens. She was irate as she expressed how ridiculous it was that a person only had three minutes to speak before the council. She had had enough of being told what she could and could not do inside the chambers and demanded to know who had made these rules, furious that she was being ‘silenced.’ She had attempted to persuade others to follow her suit and asked the audience if they agreed. To which she was greeted by more than a couple of people telling her to be quiet and sit down.

This went on for about 5-10 minutes before the Mayor had the Chief of Police escort her out of chambers. Chief Thompson had maintain a visual on the door for the remainder of the evening, as Halligan could be heard outside the building.

At one point later in the evening she had attempted to come back into the meeting shouting that she would be quiet and that they were kicking her out as the Chief barred her from entering. She could be heard outside the building, shouting for the next few minutes.

The agenda

There were two public hearings: proposed fee increase for county library card, and trash and recycling bin prices. Followed by recognizing people in the audience. There were also sixteen consent agenda items. The continued discussion of the spending limits (purchasing policy distributed 1.23.24) was tabled again. There was motion to establish new monthly garbage and recycling rates for 2024 that was passed. There were three non-action items: discussion regarding an Airport Liaison, discussion regarding city liaisons, and a discussion regarding city advisory committees.

There was a new item added to New Business to discuss the contract held with Republic Services and the current city ordinance regarding trash disposal. This led to the decision for updated ordinances that should come to fruition soon.

The packets

The agenda for the evening can be attained the Thursday before the meeting. Not only is this available to citizens via e-mail, but so is the packet that council members reference throughout the meeting. Reading these is a tedious task, and is a commitment, they are long and filled with a vast array of information. However these allow you to see what the council will be discussing for the evening and can be sent to you via e-mail.

Reminder

These meetings require all of us to remain respectful not only to our fellow citizens but also to council members, the mayor, department heads, and anyone who might be sharing while at the stand.