Westfield City Council members walk out of meeting on Monday
The Westfield City Council drama continued on Monday night, as by the scheduled 6:15 meeting time, council members Beth Terpstra and Dusty Brunsting had walked out of City Hall in protest of Michael Bohlke’s attendance, failing to meet quorum to conduct council business. At the last meeting, Bohlke was petitioned for removal as Mayor by a 3-0 vote, with one vote absent and one vote abstaining.
Under the Iowa Code, a two-thirds majority vote (66.6 percent) by a council is required to remove an elected official. Four out of five members of the Westfield City Council needed to vote for removal, but only three (60 percent) participated in the September vote. Westfield finds itself in a political deadlock after last night’s cancelled meeting.
When the crowded confusion in front of City Hall cleared, Bohlke could be seen going over paperwork with council member Nancy Pridie, who was the abstaining vote in September’s meeting. KLEM spoke to Bohlke as he was reviewing the paperwork. He plans to keep showing up to City Council meetings. After a phone call with council member Mike Tadlock, who was the absent vote in September, Pridie explained her side of the situation.
“Mike (Tadlock) and I ran because we wanna make it better for this place.” She also said that Westfield no longer has a city lawyer after he resigned in May due to harassment from citizens. Pridie is unsure of what will come next, as she looks to help Bohlke find legal representation in time for the next meeting, which falls on November 16th.
