by Matt Marquardt –
14 minutes and 20 seconds.
That’s how long community volunteer Janice Easley spoke for at Tuesday evening’s City Council meeting.
And that’s before she was stopped from leaving the podium and harkened back by Council member Scott Tornquist, whose council seat is on the line this fall. He wanted more Janice, and he wanted everyone to know it.
For those of you following the saga of Ms. Easley’s battle with Mayor Eric Bookmeyer and his attempts to silence the lady who saved our Band Shell, there is no other way to put it: She beat the mayor. She made Mayor Bookmeyer and the council sit at attention for over 14 minutes, on the edge of their seats, pinned to her every word. Their eyes never wavered; I’m not sure any of them blinked once as she went from topic to topic. And for good measure, just to show how much he cares, supposedly, she was called back to the podium by a suddenly kinder, gentler Scott Tornquist.
Yes it is true, Mayor Bookmeyer told Ms. Easley she could only talk about the Band Shell four times a year as part of the agenda and she was not allowed to speak about donations that were made to the cause. He excluded her from the last two council meetings.
All that went out the window Tuesday evening, as Ms. Easley took the podium after a warm greeting from the mayor. He didn’t likely forget that just a three weeks ago, Ms. Easley called him a “snake in the grass” to his face.
But he backed down, 100%, and let Janice talk, and talk, and talk some more, and he said nothing.
Meanwhile, some persons in the larger-than-usual crowd weren’t as accommodating.
There were a few groans and whispers as Ms. Easley went well past her allotted 8 minutes given to her by the Mayor. “What is the Mayor doing?” One person was overheard saying. “Her time expired but she’s still going?”
Mason City Chamber of Commerce Director Robin Anderson was seen rolling her eyes and making other gestures as Ms. Easley spoke. Apparently the two ladies have a past, as Ms. Easley once told NIT that Anderson banned her from the Band Fest parade.
“You’ve got to watch out for Robin Anderson,” Ms. Easley once said.
“That was not fair, what you did to me,” Janice told the Mayor Tuesday night.
“And I wonder how many other people you do it to. Enough said about that.”
Watch short video:
httpv://youtu.be/6KJ-0ESl1S0
