Citizens packed City Hall for a chance to comment on different topics during the city board meeting on Tuesday, March 21.
The topics citizens spoke on included the status of library books pulled from library shelves for content certain citizens found obscene, the current political climate in the city and the petitions to recall Directors David Allen and Lesa Rissler.
Library books
Several citizens commented on the library books pulled due to content some citizens deemed as obscene. Kent Wyatt spoke about how people had spoken at the previous board meeting about being passionate about books, something Wyatt is also passionate about.
Wyatt also said when people are willing to sacrifice children and young people on those altars they have lost sight of why those were important in the first place.
"I'm a reader and a writer and I love good books," Wyatt said. "But it worries me that people hold them more sacred than kids sometimes."
Wyatt said he spent 30 years as a police officer and has interviewed numerous child abusers and said he found a lot of the people who abused kids justify themselves by saying they are just showing love to the kids because to them love equals sex.
"I think there's a same kind of thinking in some of these books, that I got in one of these books," Wyatt said. "The author suggests that he makes it clear that he thinks parents should not have the right to teach their children about normal sexuality, even jokes about taking such child away and giving it to social services."
Wyatt did not say which book he found this in.
The next person to speak was Gene Linzey, who said he worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M., for 23 years. Linzey said while he was at the laboratory he and his colleagues were in search of truth. Linzey said what is in the books in question was not truth but instead brainwashing.
"They're not trying to give them truth related to nature," Linzey said. "What we find in those books is not natural, it's unnatural. And I request that we here in this town teach about the truth of nature on all levels."
Chainey Macak spoke in defense of the books saying that they are being put on trial by some members of the community and that it's important to protect the rights of all members of the community and the rights of parents to choose what's right for their families.
"It is important for all members of the community and we need to protect those that are marginalized, including the LGBTQ," Macak said. "These books in particular have been found to be objectionable before because discrimination against the LGBTQ is nothing new."
Macak went on to say the books have never been found to be harmful or offensive in any court of law.
Political climate in Siloam Springs
A few citizens spoke about the current climate in Siloam Springs. Tim Estes spoke first on this subject. Estes said he is speaking in part because he serves as president of the board of the Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce. Estes said there is no premium on divisiveness in the world.
"Just as weeds grow exponentially faster than vegetables," Estes said, "so negativism and division can drive a wedge quickly between otherwise mostly agreeable people before goodness gets out of the ground."
Estes is not suggesting that everyone will fully agree on anything but is suggesting that in disagreement there should be a thread of civility, he said.
A few years earlier, Estes said he had lunch with a man who he had an intense conversation with on social media and the two walked away understanding one another better.
Estes also said people who are thinking of moving to Siloam Springs and corporations that are looking at bringing jobs to the city are watching this.
"So we can talk about our schools, our hospitals, our parks, all we want to," Estes said. "But if we fail to treat one another with high levels of dignity and respect and divide into camps and panel petitions for further division, we can kiss many of these people and their ensuing opportunities goodbye."
Robin Waits, the owner of Heart of the Home, spoke about how there was little notice given to the March 13 special meeting to select a screening committee for a new city administrator.
Waits asked why the meeting was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. when everyone was at work. She asked that the directors would amend the rules to have special meetings at times when people can attend them and to give the public 24 hours notice so people can plan to attend.
"There are so many of us here because we're upset, because we aren't getting answers from you all," Waits said indicating the packed boardroom. "And when you don't let us attend, then even more answers or more questions come up that we want answers to."
Waits asked why directors Allen, Betsy Blair, Rissler and Ken Wiles voted against tabling the issue until the city board meeting on March 21. The directors did not answer this question when they gave their directors reports.
Casey Letellier said during his turn to speak about having fond memories of city board meetings that were pretty boring where there was very little politics at the meetings.
"It feels like a great deal of sneaking around," Letellier said. "Firing our super competent city administrator with no cause at great taxpayer expense, calling the meeting to hire his replacement at a time when no working people can actually be there."
Letellier said the city will not be able to hire a competent replacement for Patterson because the city has a reputation of undermining someone who has performed competently in his duty. Letellier said.
Recall petitions
Letellier, who owns Ivory Bill's Brewing Company, said he has petitions available to recall Allen and Rissler.
"If we're going to have a functional city," Letellier said, "there has to be consequences for the activities that happen here in this board. We deserve better Siloam Springs."
When Meghan Feyerabend went to the podium she yielded the balance of her time to comment to her husband Matt Feyerabend giving him an extra three minutes.
Matt Feyerabend began by saying that the community was shocked, furious and troubled when Patterson was terminated. People only knew that Patterson was terminated without cause which will cost the city $180,000 and asked if the four directors were planning this in advance.
Feyerabend then called into question Rissler's qualifications to serve as city director because she doesn't live within city limits.
"If this is true, it would mean she is not legally a qualified elector for Arkansas Code § 14-48-110," Feyerabend said.
Rissler's property actually straddles the city limits of Siloam Springs. Part of Rissler's property where her driveway sits is within city limits while other parcels of her property are in Benton County.
According to the Benton County Election Commission, when establishing voter eligibility, the commission uses the driveway of the voter. With Rissler's driveway being within city limits, she is qualified to vote in the city.
Feyerabend also said that when he researched Rissler's property he found that she does not pay city tax. According to Rod Grieve, the county assessor, Rissler is charged city tax for her property.
Rissler's breakdown of taxes is $5.76 for her property that is within city limits, Grieve said. This total is reached when multiplying $100 by 0.5755, Grieve said.
Benton County Tax Collector Gloria Peterson said in a follow-up email that Rissler pays her taxes through her mortgage payments.
Feyerabend denies having sign in the window
In an interview with the Herald-Leader, Feyerabend offered a response to Allen's comments in the March 22 Herald-Leader story "Group seeks to recall Directors Allen and Rissler," where Allen said "I would like to say I was shocked when Matt posted a huge 'Defund the Police' sign in the window of his Pure Joy ice cream store in downtown Siloam Springs.
In speaking with the Herald-Leader, Feyerabend denied ever having a "Defund the Police" sign in Pure Joy's window. He added Allen has been saying that since 2020 "despite being corrected repeatedly."