MADISON, Neb. — A complaint by a Madison citizen led to the council president threatening to walk out of the city council meeting Wednesday night.

Two people put forward their concerns dealing with the Open Meeting Act and issues they said they have seen from the council.

The first complaint dealt with the address of where the city council meeting was taking place.

Due to construction at city hall, the meetings have been conducted at the fire hall training room on 201 W First St.

On the city’s website, it listed the location to be at City Hall on 211 S Lincoln St. According to City Attorney Mike Brogan, the change has been corrected and updated.

The other concern dealt with executive session information being discussed with the public, as well as the harassment of a city employee. 

The complaint was towards council president Paul Kellen who previously did not agree with the $390 in restitution to utilities Superintendent Jim Lewis, decided by the council in an executive session.

Council members Steve Ainsworth and Rick Schommer said in previous meetings and on Monday night, they want to move on from personnel issues being on the meeting agenda.

When asked how the item of personnel issues has appeared on the agenda, Kellen said he has not brought up the item in past meetings.

“The first four months were put on by yourself [Mayor Robert Fite], Brian [Zessin], and Rick [Schommer] when you put it in the memorandum.  You said we had to have the monthly report about personnel.”

Kellen did say he remembers putting the item on the agenda for May’s city council meeting. He also said that the complaints came not from Madison residents, but from people who live in Norfolk and Arizona, with one of the complaints coming from someone related to Lewis.

Following this, Schommer put a motion forward to remove Kellen as council president and said he does not have faith in him in that role.

Kellen said if Schommer went forward with the motion, he would walk out of the meeting.

City Attorney Mike Brogan asked if the motion was relevant to the agenda item of the citizen’s concern of the Open Meeting Act.

Brogan said the Open Meeting Act does not give the council jurisdiction to penalize a member.

The citizen said she plans to refer the complaint on, and Brogan said she could bring the complaint to district court or raise the issue with Nebraska’s Attorney General or the county attorney.  

However, Brogan stated he did not see anything criminal to do with the complaint.

After a public member questioned if the motion violated the Open Meeting Act, Schommer said it did not and related to an item on the agenda.

“I believe it is because there’s a citizen that is asking for something to be done with the harassment, and I feel it is harassment,” Schommer said.

After some silence, the motion failed to gain a second and Fite declared the motion dead.