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Resident blames mayor for division
By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer KENNETH CITY -- A resident who blames Mayor Bill Smith for much of the bitterness among Town Council members says Smith has called one colleague an idiot, repeatedly apologized for the actions of another and used a slur to describe the town clerk. "For this to be such a small town, there's so much bitterness between you guys. How are we ever going to get anything accomplished?" Bill DeBusk asked. "And, mayor, it starts with you." DeBusk's comments, which Smith denied, came during Wednesday's council meeting in reaction to the resignation of council member Ted Wiesner. DeBusk, 41, an engineer, has lived in Kenneth City for a couple of years and attends most council meetings. He has spoken on issues several times. Wiesner resigned, effective Saturday, because he apparently violated a U.S. Coast Guard rule barring active-duty personnel from holding public office. Wiesner said his superior officers gave him permission to run and serve but changed their minds after Mayor Smith and Town Clerk Nancy Beelman made several calls to Coast Guard officials. Smith denies calling the Coast Guard. Beelman first denied making any calls, saying the Coast Guard had contacted her. But on Wednesday, she changed her story and acknowledged contacting the military several times. DeBusk, whom Smith said he had considered a friend, said it was no longer relevant who called the Coast Guard. Then he blamed Smith for the dissension on the council: "You've stopped at my house how many times and we've talked. "You know, I've heard what a "B' Nancy Beelman is; what an idiot (council member) Fran Luke is; how stupid she is she can't even fill out a (purchase order). . . . and Jim (Galardi, DeBusk's partner) can vouch for this, okay? "How many times have you stopped and apologized to us for (council member) Al Carrier's actions at the meeting? "You know, until you guys can get along, how is anything going to get accomplished in this city? "And, you know, it doesn't stop there, okay? . . . Once you leave my house, you go on somewhere else and we're the town queers." Smith: "Well, that's not true." DeBusk: "Well, you know what? We've heard it from several sources that that's what you go around and refer to us as, the town queers." Smith again denied the comment, but DeBusk spoke over him: "Hey, we're in the 21st century, it's "gay'; it's not "queer' no more." DeBusk received scattered applause. After the meeting, DeBusk had more allegations. DeBusk and Dolores Urso, another Kenneth City resident who supported Wiesner and has applied for his empty seat, said they had spoken with Smith during a recent drunken driving traffic checkpoint. Both DeBusk and Urso said Smith was less than complimentary about the town's police force, implying that officers were not intelligent and did not sacrifice enough to merit state-level retirement and pensions. Smith denied making the comments and accused DeBusk and others of making them up. "I don't know where they're getting all this. I didn't even talk to Billy DeBusk out there," Smith said. "I don't know who they're hearing it from that they're blaming me. I don't know anything about it. I can't answer it." Kenneth City police Chief Jim Ernst was at the drunken driving stop that night and saw DeBusk, Urso and Smith. "I have honestly not heard anything similar to that," Ernst said. "I'm a little bit taken aback by some of the alleged statements. I'm going to inquire a little bit to see if there's any more than hearsay. . . . I hope they're way off base." DeBusk was not the only resident upset about Wiesner's resignation. Some protested Beelman's failure to act before the election was held. Beelman said the Coast Guard ordered her to keep quiet about the matter. That reasoning did not pacify former Mayor Harold Paxton. "She didn't do her job," Paxton said. Even if Beelman had no legal mandate to inform the electorate, she had a moral and ethical obligation, he said. If she had heeded that, he said, Wiesner would not have spent his time and money running and voters would have had a different decision to make. Other residents objected to the Kenneth City charter provision that says vacancies will be filled by a vote of the council rather than a special election. "Our votes are null and void," resident Steve Foltz said. "I think there should be an election." Smith responded, "Well, if you want to, change the code. . . . We follow the law and we'd appreciate it if you'd follow the law."
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