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Residents urge transparency after levy fallout, police suspension and cancelled Givaudan project
Summary
Residents criticized council for limited public communication after a failed $27 million levy, the police chief’s administrative leave, and Givaudan’s withdrawal from a major development, urging transparency, accountability and community engagement.
Residents at the May 19 Reading City Council meeting pressed elected leaders to improve transparency after a string of developments that unfolded largely on social media, including the failure of a proposed $27 million levy, the police chief being placed on administrative leave, and the withdrawal of a $217 million Givaudan development project.
Nicolle LouAllen delivered the meeting’s most extended public comment, saying council and the mayor had been largely silent through multiple controversies and urging three commitments: “transparency,” “accountability,” and “genuine engagement.” She said the levy campaign “tore this community apart” and asserted that residents had learned important facts via Facebook rather than from the city. “When action only follows public pressure, that’s not accountability…that’s damage control,” she said.
Council member Michael Bishop responded that elected bodies are constrained in what they can comment on publicly, citing legal limits around private property, active investigations and personnel matters and warning that acting on social-media posts can expose the city to legal risk. Bishop encouraged continued resident correspondence and provided his contact email.
