West Newsmagazine 7-5-17

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By MARY SHAPIRO
On June 26, at the end of the Wildwood
City Council meeting, Councilmember
Tammy Shea [Ward 3] made a presentation
that was to include a video of an altercation
that took place at a Ward 6 residents’ town
hall meeting on June 1 between Councilmember
Jerry Porter [Ward 6] and Shea’s
husband, Ward 3 resident Dan McLaughlin.
Shea’s video failed to play properly at the
council meeting but West Newsmagazine
has acquired a copy of the video [which is
linked to this article online].
On June 26, Shea said Porter “accosted
resident Dan McLaughlin, who was filming
the meeting, and he told McLaughlin
to leave and threatened to get security,
though the meeting was open to the public.”
McLaughlin regularly attends and videotapes
city meetings, including those of
the council and individual ward meetings.
Shea said Ward 6 resident Bill Kennedy
also was asked to leave the meeting and
asserted that “Porter grabbed Dan’s camera
[tripod].”
“I ask that Mr. Porter address this and I
ask the city attorney to render an opinion
on this under the city’s code of conduct.
Mr. Porter’s actions demonstrate a lack of
respect for the community,” Shea said.
In an interview with West Newsmagazine,
Porter said later he “did not consider
this [the Ward 6 meeting] to be a public
meeting.”
“This was simply a gathering that was
aimed at polling my constituents, of which
the individual who caused the disruption
was not one,” Porter said. “No decisions
were to be made regarding government
functions or otherwise. This was simply for
discussion of priorities and/or concerns of
a small group, not the community or city as
a whole, regarding issues that would only
affect that small group.”
He contended that McLaughlin “arrived
unannounced after the meeting had begun
and created a distraction for the speakers
and some of those in attendance.”
“His attitude when asked about this was
disrespectful and combative,” Porter said.
“He was asked to leave because of the
disruption. The other individual [Bill Kennedy]
added to the disruption and was
asked to leave or go back and sit down, as
he was invited to the gathering, so as to get
the gathering back on track.”
In an interview with West Newsmagazine,
McLaughlin said he was invited to the
Ward 6 town hall, held on the campus of St.
Louis Community College-Wildwood, by
Kennedy. However, he added, “I believe
these are public meetings whether someone
is invited by anybody or not.” He said
he set up his camera on a tripod in the back
of the meeting room and was approached
by Porter as soon as he arrived. Mayor Jim
Bowlin was speaking to residents at the
event, McLaughlin said.
“He [Porter] said I ‘couldn’t be here,
that this was a private meeting,’ and I said,
‘This is a public meeting,’” McLaughlin
said.
City Administrator Ryan Thomas later
said the town hall “was not legally a public
meeting of the city.” He said the Sunshine
Law defines a public meeting as a meeting
of a quorum of a public body,
while he said the town hall
simply had the two councilmembers
from Ward 6 [Porter
and Greg Alexander].
“Although ward meetings
are not ‘public meetings’ under
the Sunshine Law, the city
has consistently made efforts
to foster greater communica-
July 5, 2017
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
Councilmember, resident clash at Wildwood ward meeting
See CLASH, page 49
I NEWS I 17
Jerry Porter [right] confronts Bill Kennedy on June 1.