Residents tell council they lacked notice on street work, question fire department staffing and an elected member's attendance

During the public-comment period two residents raised concerns about city communication and public safety and one criticized a council member's attendance record.

John Jenkins, who said he owns a business on South Fourth Street, told council that downtown businesses were not adequately informed about recent work and that business owners were unprepared for changes on Fourth Street. Jenkins also reported that a fire occurred in front of his building and said he had been told the city "do[es] not have a paid fire department anymore," asking council, "Is this correct?" The transcript records his question but no immediate confirmation or response by name from council staff in the public-comment segment.

Diane Rowan said she had requested attendance records under the Open Records Act and told the council that from November 2021 through the present there had been nine meetings and "He was present for 3," referring to Councilman Jones. She urged him to step down if he cannot reliably represent his district.

Council members and the presiding officer managed brief procedural clarifications about public comment timing; the meeting then moved on to routine business. The transcript does not record a staff response to the specific claims about fire-department staffing or a formal reply to Rowan's attendance allegation during the public-comment period.