MASON CITY – NIT Publisher Matt Marquardt was forced to leave a meeting of elected officials Wednesday at the Mason City Public Library.
Marquardt went to the library to cover a meeting that was called a “mayors luncheon” on a publicly posted agenda of meetings from the Cerro Gordo County Courthouse.
“I saw the meeting on the County Board of Supervisors’ meeting agenda for Wednesday,” Marquardt explained. “What would be more newsworthy than a room full of Mayors, Supervisors and other elected officials?”
Those in attendance included City Administrator Brent Trout, Mason City Mayor Eric Bookmeyer, Clear Lake Mayor Nelson Crabb, Nora Springs Mayor George Anderson, Mason City Council member Scott Tornquist, and Cerro Gordo County Supervisors Urdahl and Bob Amosson, among others.
At the meeting, which was held in a second floor board room at the Mason City Public Library Wednesday at noon, a sign on the open door said only “MAYORS LUNCHEON.”
Marquardt, in an attempt to cover the meeting for a news story, entered the board room where the meeting was being held.
Within a few seconds of entering the room, Marquardt was spotted by Trout, Bookmeyer and Urdahl. Bookmeyer immediately motioned to Trout and stepped aside, allowing Trout to advance towards Marquardt (see video below).
Trout told Marquardt that he was “not invited” and had to leave as he crowded Marquardt out of the room towards the door, blocking his view. Marquardt refused to leave, identified himself as a member of the press, and told Trout that he could call police if chose to as the room full of elected officials filled their plates and ate.
“The people of Mason City are not invited,” Trout told Marquardt. (See video.)
Trout then told Marquardt that he would call the police, and proceeded to do so. After Trout stepped aside, Marquardt walked further into the room and shot about 3-4 still shots and about 10 more seconds of video of the elected officials eating and then met Trout outside the board room.
Marquardt and Trout were then escorted downstairs to a first-floor classroom by Library Director Mary Markwalter where they waited for Mason City Police to arrive.
Ten minutes and 30 seconds later, Mason City Police Chief Michael Lashbrook, accompanied by another officer, entered the room where Trout and Marquardt were waiting.
Trout confirmed in the discussion that followed that Eric Bookmeyer was acting in his capacity as Mayor of Mason City at the meeting.
See video, below, for that discussion.
County Supervisor agenda:
Board of Supervisors Cerro Gordo County – MEETINGS AND AGENDAS FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 25, 2013
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013
9:00 a.m. Press Conference – Iowa Citizen Action Network on Medicaid Expansion in Boardroom (a)
10:00 a.m. County Social Services Board Meeting – Butler County Courthouse – Dougherty
12:00 p.m. Mayors Luncheon – Mason City Library Boardroom – Urdahl & Amosson
1:30 p.m. Meeting with McGladrey LLP – Board’s Office – Urdahl (a)
Video:
httpv://youtu.be/u3ZjQYuEKpI
The Manly city council members are carrying pistols to the council’s meetings and everywhere they go
Why are they doing this?
Classy classlessness. You’re a born satirist
Matt get over your infatuation with Mr. Bookmeyer, how many times have you done a story on the mayor or mentioned his name, is this the only topic you got? Could you go a day 2 days a week without mentioning the mayor? It’s pretty obvious you can’t get the guy off your mind give it a break! You personal attacks bringing up things that happened years ago in Clinton are getting old, you record isn’t squeaky clean either!!!
Really haven’t written much about Clinton, Iowa and Bookmeyer’s charges there. As far as your sad attack on me, I have never been charged with a crime in my entire life. Grow some guts and blog with your real name and let’s check your past otherwise head for the Glob where you will be much more happy. In the meantime, stay tuned for lots more stories about City Hall.
what was Bookmeyer charged with in Clinton?
I’m not interested in re-hashing all that. The guy is leaving office.
Matt keep up the good work and don’t let these people who dislike the truth get you down.
I am concerned that most of the commentors seem to be focusing on the free meal and fewer people seem to care that the citizens and the press were shut out of a public meeting of the Board of Supervisors. That’s the essence of our democracy and it looks like it’s being stomped on.
@ anonymous – The two go hand in hand. The ones who can afford to buy politicians pricey meals are the ones politicians want to spend time with. The time they spend with them is either in a restaurant most of us cannot afford, or in a closed off part of a place like the library. Urdahl lives for his free eats. But if an average person offered to take him to McDonalds Jay would probably turn it down. Jay thinks he is too important to waste time with the common people he tricks into voting for him. He likes to go first class, but only when people like Pappajohn or Bookmeyer or Blodgett picks up the tab.
why if this is a closed meeting..why do the tax payers have to foot the bill..?
why is it everywhere our mayor goes there seems to be a male councilman right there with him..?
if the council board members ,that are suppose to represent the issues of there districts, has a mayor with a concilman lap dog …how can this councilman ever represent fairly?
Read the story the Mayor paid for it with his own money.
He has no job, so the money he makes as mayor paid fpr his lunch. And who pays the mayor the taxpayers so the money used came from the mc taxpayers.
The mayor of Rock Falls, Rich Peterson was there. He was allowed inside the ropeline.
Yeah and we kicked you out of our meeting as well. Some places YOU are just not welcome, and that’s just how it is. Maybe you should ask next time.
Nothing in the event’s announcements indicated that this luncheon wasn’t open to the press, and if John Skipper had shown up, does anybody doubt that he’d have been welcome? There were invited guests who are not mayors or elected officials, and every single person at that lunch is being paid by tax dollars. The meeting was held in a public building, on land owned by taxpayers. To have kept NIT out was wrong, and it reeks of secrecy, snobbery, and arrogance. Keep up the great work, Mr. Marquardt. North Iowans have a right to know what’s going on around North Iowa, and NIT is protecting our rights.
If you are referring to Christie Vilsack’s meeting with locked-out sugar plant workers, I was invited. Charlie Wishman asked me to leave when he got there; he was respectful about it and I left immediately. Local labor members asked me to be there, including Tom Willett, that’s how I knew about the event. Too bad it was all for a lost cause; your candidate got humiliated in the election.
http://northiowatoday.com/2012/09/25/vilsack-in-mason-city-for-fundrasier-and-meeting-with-workers/
Is this guy an arrogant puke or what. Never met him but I never hear good words about him.
The city/county shouldn’t have published this lunch if they didn’t want people to show up. I think Bookie needs to give everyone in Mason a free lunch now…. who’s hungry?
When the Ombudsman investigates this, he/she will need to talk with those present to see if this fits the definitions that require it to be an open meeting; then, however, the Ombudsman will have to look at rules concerning press access as well as public access because, at first, Matt, you said you were there as ‘press’, but then switched to saying you were there as a ‘tax-payer’. There would be different rules concerning access I would think. I kind-of wish you would have stuck with ‘press’ because I’m not sure this will end up being considered a meeting that the public should have had access to.
Please let us all know the outcome after the Ombudsman investigates. I’m anxious to hear how it comes out.
Thank you.
“definitions that require it to be an open meeting” = public place, quorum of supervisors, mayor on official business, public employees and elected officials holding a meeting, get a clue idiot.
Funny, you are so sure you actually know what I do, lol . . .
It wasn’t a meeting, it was termed a “luncheon”. How bout quoting where you are getting your information and back it up like I did when I pulled from the Iowa Code below.
You dumb ass actually are the idiot.
I actually am a Matt fan, so don’t know why you are so hostile. I’m open to whatever the outcome is and, although I suspect this one will go in favor of the officials, I am entirely open to being wrong and fine with that. That’s why I said, looking forward to hearing of the outcome, duh.
If this wasn’t an official meeting why would the county supervisors post it on their board. Also why are the people being forced to pay the administrator to be mayors go between. Matt keep up the good work people are taking notice.
It’s possible the supervisors noted the mayors luncheon on their agenda, simply because there might be the possibility of them having a quorum present.
And they did have a quorum present.