Alva Review-Courier -

Dissension lengthened an already long Alva City Council agenda Monday night. Split voting began immediately as the council members considered the consent agenda, which included minutes from two meetings, claims, payroll expenses and a large aviation fuel invoice.

All council members were present including Daniel Winters, Taylor Dowling, Gail Swallow, Sadie Bier, Troy Brooks, Randy Stelling and Greg Bowman.

When Mayor Kelly Parker started to read the consent agenda items, he was missing all the financial figures. "You know, we have a long agenda," he said. He suggested the item be tabled and addressed at a later meeting. After the motion and second, Swallow found the information in her paperwork and handed it to the mayor. With a motion by Winters and second by Dowling on the floor, the mayor called for a vote to table. The motion failed 2-5 with Dowling and Brooks casting the only two yes votes.

Parker read the agenda item, this time with all the financial numbers. Dowling said he was hoping to pull the March 19 minutes. Swallow explained this was the budget retreat, and Dowling said he had some issues with the minutes.

Winters made a motion, seconded by Bier, to approve the consent agenda except for the March minutes. The motion was to approve minutes of the Sept. 19 meeting, claims of $138,763.25, payroll expenses of $175,257.79 and an ASAP Energy fuel invoice for $28,862.19. That motion passed 5-2 with Dowling and Brooks voting no.

Dowling explained that meeting minutes are required to list council members present and not present. The minutes of the March budget retreat did not have that list. Brooks made a motion to table those minutes, seconded by Dowling, and the motion to table was approved unanimously.

Mayor Parker said he was going to skip all the reports on previous meeting to shorten the agenda.

Mayor of the Year Reception

Heather Bonham, the minutes clerk, stood to announce plans for a reception honoring Parker who received the Mayor of the Year award from the Oklahoma Municipal League.

Bonham said a lunch for city staff would be held on Oct. 20 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Then a reception with cake would be held for the public from 1 to 2 p.m. at City Hall.

Lahr Approved for Council Seat

Parker announced his recommendation to appoint Dr. Garret Lahr to fulfill the unexpired term of Connor Martin for Ward 1, Seat 2. Martin resigned in September. His term would expire in June 2023.

Parker said he received three recommendations for the position. "Each one of them has qualities that would have been good for our city council," said Parker. "I ultimately brought Dr. Lahr for recommendation because of his business knowledge and experience, his skills as an educator and his other experiences and interests in the community. I think that he will insure that we will have some continued diversity of thought on our city council. I don't know Dr. Lahr, but in speaking with people that do, I believe he will be an articulate voice on matters of finance, policy and long-range strategy. So for those reasons, I'm recommending Dr. Lahr for the appointment to city council."

According to agenda information, Dr. Lahr is the assistant professor of business and the chair of the division of business at Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

Winters made a motion to appoint Lahr to the council seat, seconded by Bier. Dowling immediately asked the mayor if it was possible to ask some questions of Lahr such as what he thought of council and what drew him to accepting this. "What kind of pitch did he (the mayor) have to give you to get you on?" he asked looking toward Lahr in the audience.

Parker said he had a motion and second, and asked if there was any council discussion. Brooks said, "I'm just curious. We had a candidate that actually put the time in and ran in that district or the ward. I'm just wondering why you chose one candidate over another when we had Justin."

Parker said he spoke with all those recommended, and he had no problem with any of the recommendations. "I can only tell you that I recommended Dr. Lahr because he represented a demographic that was not represented on our council," he said.

Dowling asked him to explain that demographic. Parker sighed and said, "Not the same as the other two. It was Justin Scribner and Bryce Benson. Bryce has served on city council before, and I didn't feel like having him back on was appropriate. After I spoke with Mr. Scribner I felt like he shared a lot of the same ideas that some of our existing council members presently share. So I feel like if we have diversity and we talk about issues that come up from each of our different perspectives, we come up with more well-rounded solutions. That is my rationale for recommending Dr. Lahr."

"I agree," said Dowling, "But what were his opinions that differed from everybody else here ... why he was not the same as everybody else?"

Parker lifted his hands in frustration, "I mean ... I don't know what you guys want to hear. I told you what I have to say. I don't know what you want to hear."

Dowling asked if Lahr had any viewpoints on taxes, understood well municipal law, talked about different items that have come up, a view on different business codes. "I kind of figured you had a pretty thorough conversation that you could pull some bullet points from, but if I'm assuming too much, I am," said Dowling.

Parker asked if he had a specific question. As Dowling turned toward Lahr, the mayor reminded him, "This is a council item."

Dowling again turned to Lahr and started asking a question. Parker stopped him, "Mr. Dowling, we have a lot of stuff to accomplish tonight. Can we move on?"

Dowling said he just wanted to make an informed decision. "How long have you known that Dr. Lahr was the recommendation?" asked Parker. Dowling said about 78 hours. "Then you need to read your email," said the mayor. Council members were notified of the mayor's recommendation by email two weeks prior to the meeting.

Brooks said the public is going to ask "why we did what we did." He said they would bring up the transparency issue that "they do bring up fairly often, at least to me."

"Mr. Scribner, his father is the city marshal," said Parker. "His brother works for the city of Alva. An appointment in that manner, I do not feel would have been appropriate. Dr. Lahr does not have previous city council experience, and he does not have anybody he's related to that currently serves in any capacity the city of Alva."

"If that's the rationale ..." said Dowling. "I mean I've known Lahr all my life. He's a good guy."

"He is an accomplished professional in our community," said Parker. "He's risen to the top of his profession at a young age.'

Bowman asked if this was a six month appointment. Parker pointed out the office is up for election again in April. "Just a lot of advantages to the incumbent," commented Dowling.

Parker called for a vote, and Lahr was accepted for the city council seat by a 5-2 vote with Dowling abstaining and Brooks voting no.

Lahr stepped to the front of the room where City Attorney Drew Cunningham recited the oath of office. Lahr then took his seat between Winters and Dowling.

The mayor realized he had skipped the item titled Remarks and Inquiries by Citizens. As Joe Parsons started toward the podium, Parker explained remarks on the dilapidated property would come later during the public hearing. Parsons returned to his seat.

Bier Appointed to Tourism Committee

The mayor then said he wanted to appoint Bier to take Martin's place on the Alva Tourism Tax Committee as the council representative. Winters made the motion, seconded by Stelling, for the appointment. The motion passed 6-2 with both Dowling and Brooks voting no.

Further council action will be covered in separate stories. A video of the entire meeting may be viewed at http://www.AlvaReviewCourier.com.