Residents urge support for safety forces; council starts internal review after complaints about fire department

Residents urged the Misire City Council on Feb. 17 to prioritize long-term support for the city's safety forces and to treat written public input the same as in-person comments, while councilors announced an internal review after complaints about fire-department conduct.

An assistant read an email from Melissa Bloomfield that praised Misire's fire and street crews and urged council members to "come up with longterm plan[s]" rather than short-term budget cuts when discussing safety forces. Bloomfield ' whose letter was read into the record ' wrote that "when you are discussing safety forces, you are discussing lives being saved." The council moved to accept and file the communication; the clerk later clarified that filing a letter places it in the record and does not signal agreement with its contents.

Clarissa Slater, who addressed the council during public participation, told members they must treat emailed input the same as in-person public comments and cautioned against retroactively refusing to accept letters. "You don't get to decide what information you're given," she said, asking the council to hold all input to the same standard so residents unable to attend are not disenfranchised.

Council members responded that votes on whether to accept or file communications are procedural and do not suppress public input. The president noted the council has the right to vote as members see fit but acknowledged the need for clarity on how emailed comments are handled.

Fire-department complaints and internal review: An official reported the city had received complaints from local medical professionals about the Birus fire department's behavior on certain calls and said an internal investigation would begin. Meeting remarks indicated the fire chief had not previously been informed of the complaints but would be notified and follow up; the council said it would monitor the matter.

Other action: Mayor Truga asked that county-owned sewer plants the city inherited be referred to the service committee for follow-up on unpaid accounts and operational issues; council voted to refer that matter to the service committee. The council also referred K9- program appropriations to finance.

What happens next: Council members said the internal review into fire-department complaints will be handled by the department and that follow-up will be reported back to the council. Committee referrals (sewer plants, solid-waste future planning, and appropriations) will be discussed at committee meetings.

Provenance: Public comments and the correspondence reading appear at SEG 033'SEG 139 (Bloomfield) and SEG 222'SEG 274 (Slater); the internal-complaint announcement appears at SEG 726'SEG 740; referral of county sewer plants is at SEG 515'SEG 523.