Mayor issues apology over Travers Park comments

SANDPOINT — In hindsight, Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad told the council and those filling the room for Wednesday’s council meeting that he wished he had allowed public comment on Travers Park at the city’s Oct. 4 meeting.

Prior to the early October meeting, citizens held a protest scheduled to take place outside City Hall as councilors arrived. Through their efforts, they hoped the council would reconsider the location of an indoor sports facility at Travers Park and prevent the removal of 20 trees. There were no items on the agenda for Travers Park renovations at that meeting, and a decision had already been made, meaning no public comment about the park was allowed, Rognstad said at the time. However, many protesters attended, hoping they would have a chance to speak. Most were angered, and were asked to refrain from commenting multiple times. Now, two weeks later, Rognstad said Wednesday that he wishes he would have taken a different approach.

“I would like to issue an apology to the public,” Rognstad said. “I wish I would have conducted that meeting differently two Wednesdays ago and accepted public input, suspended the rules, and allowed for the community to be heard. Because as I continue to receive emails … I know many of you feel very passionate about Travers Park.”

Most importantly, Rognstad said, he wants the public to be part of decisions.

“I know that I could have done better in enabling that, and if I could do it again, I would have suspended the rules and I would have allowed public comment even though that was an issue that was already decided,” he said.

Rognstad offered further explanation for why a rule prohibiting public comment on decided issues in certain contexts exists.

“I want you all to understand why we have that rule in the first place,” he said. “Because I think it can be very misleading for the public, for the council rather, and myself, to allow testimony on an item that has already been decided. Because it gives the false impression that there's still a decision before this council — still a decision to be made. That it’s still a decision that you can have an impact on — and now isn’t the case. This was a decision that was decided back in May.”

While the council approved a contract revision in September, which brought the issue back into public awareness, the final decision for location was confirmed this spring, he said.

“So this has been a long time decision, a long time coming, as part of that Parks and Rec Master Plan. There was a community survey that went out, it was a statistically significant survey — we got thousands of responses back and at the top of the list priorities for the community, where the community wanted to see investments made, was in an indoor recreation facility.”

The decision didn’t emerge out of nowhere, Rognstad added.

“We could have, as a body, taken more time for this decision,” he said. “It's been about a year and a half that this has been under way. And I recognize that this community is in a place right now, where — I don't know how else to say it, other than, we're sensitive. You know, lots has been going on in recent years. There's a lot of polarization. There's distrust. There's concern around the growth in our community, and the impacts that it has … And I think that’s what we're seeing … play out, is a result of the impact, and the pressure that growth brings upon our community.”

Despite the recognition that the council could have taken more time to decide, Rognstad said he doubts the outcome would have changed had they drawn the discussion out.

“So all that to say that, in all honesty, I don't think that this body would have made a different decision, had we taken more time in this decision,” he said. “I think we made the right decision. But I know that we could have done a better job at communicating, engaging with the public and making sure that the public feels heard. And for that I apologize.”

The mayor referenced the council’s five year decision-making process to install artificial turf at War Memorial Field. After half a decade of robust public involvement and debate, the council and public were still just as divided when the decision was made as when the conversation began.

“There are decisions that this body has to face where we're not going to get 100% agreement,” he said. “And we have to do our best to make difficult decisions a lot of the time. And this is one of those cases.”

He also addressed behavior toward city staff in recent weeks. While his role is not to protect the council from uncomfortable comments, it is his role to stand up for city staff, he said.

“City staff do not deserve to be berated, accused of malfeasance, attacked, disrespected … It's unacceptable, I will not tolerate it. And if somebody is going to behave like that to city staff in this room, they're going to get ejected in any public forum that I'm responsible for. And I would hope that any mayor that sits in the seat after me will hold the same standard.”

He continued, saying that staff merely implement decisions decided by the council, and should not be blamed for actions they do not control.

“If you've got something nasty to say, say it to us, not to city staff,” Rognstad said. “They don't deserve it … They're not making the decisions. They're following orders.”

In regards the Russell Sports Complex, the mayor said there has been a year-and-a-half worth of engagement.

“There have been over 10 public meetings, stakeholder meetings for all the potentially impacted user groups,” he said. “We had a public meeting in April, there was a public survey, there was an open house in May. We've done, maybe not our best, but we've certainly made a substantial effort to try to engage the public’s comments. So I know we can do better. But those of you who are just now coming to awareness of this decision, I would encourage you to please get engaged. Stay involved with the city … we will do our best to try to engage you and we need you to meet us halfway please.”

Following his address, the mayor welcomed announcements from council, at which point Andy Groat also issued an apology concerning his decisions regarding the park. As he closed his apology, he also resigned from his position and left the meeting.

Some council members annexed their own apology, saying they see improvements they could have made with how they interacted with those they represent.

“You shouldn’t have to shoulder the blame for the last meeting,” Councilor Justin Dick told the mayor. “I can’t speak for everybody, I can speak for myself. I should have asked you to allow those comments at that last meeting to let the healing process begin somewhat, and hear out our community members … We're not always going to get it right with engagement. But we do strive for that.”

As Councilor Kate McAlister responded to Groat’s resignation, she also contributed her own apology.

“I think in all this, we do all share the blame in not standing up, because I think it was a little shocking to all of us,” she said. “I'm very sorry. I can't take that back. Whatever you think of me is what you think of me.”