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Residents press council on division and delay in creating municipal court
Summary
During public forum, resident Kenneth Bowden criticized the council’s internal divisions and urged mediation; another resident, Bob Singer, asked why a municipal court authorized by a 2022 referendum has not been established. Council members explained administrative, timing and charter-ratification steps and said the council retained discretion over establishment.
At the public forum, Kenneth Bowden (speaker 9) identified himself as a Richmond resident and Persian Gulf veteran and delivered an extended critique of council behavior, describing the body as ‘divided’ and urging the council to hire a professional mediator — ideally a pastor or clinical social worker rather than a lawyer — to reconcile internal conflict.
Bowden said the council’s dysfunction harms Richmond’s civic life and business climate and offered to assist with reconciliation efforts. Several council members listened and thanked him; no formal response or motion followed his remarks.
Shortly afterward, resident Bob Singer (speaker 2) asked about the town’s municipal court. Singer said voters approved a charter referendum enabling the council to create a municipal court in 2022, and he asked why the council had not established it. Council members clarified that the referendum granted the town the right to create a municipal court but did not itself create one; the matter required follow-up administrative steps, charter ratification and budgeting (earlier plans proposed using ARPA funds). Council members noted costs and that the town administration deferred further steps pending changes in elected officials and priorities.
Council members described the issue as complex and said that while some voted to authorize forming a municipal court, implementation is contingent on additional legal and budgetary work. The transcript records differing views about whether voters expected immediate establishment; councilors reiterated that the referendum provided authority but not an automatic enactment.
The public forum concluded with the council thanking speakers and moving into the scheduled reports section.
