Chaffee official: City should get back to business after impeachment vote

The agenda for Monday's Chaffee City Council meeting is simple. It includes reports from city departments, including the police, and on the Florsheim building appraisal.

Whether the council will address an attempt to impeach Mayor Loretta Mohorc at a closed meeting Feb. 6 is unclear. The vote came after she reported receiving complaints about the police department making too many investigative stops of vehicles.

Billy Crites, owner of Larry's Quick Mart in Chaffee, said he was seeing as many as three simultaneous stops in the city of 3,200 on some evenings. He said police seem to have eased up recently.

He praised the police department for quickly resolving a case where a customer wrote $160 in bad checks at his shop.

"You have to take the good with the bad," he said.

Most city council members will not discuss the police stops or the impeachment vote.

Councilman Ron Moyers, who took office in April, said talking to the media "winds up causing more negative feelings toward the city we'd rather not have."

"We just have to let what has happened, let it go and carry on the regular city business and just get along," he said. "That goes for everybody."

Moyers said he would not make an impeachment motion Monday.

Councilman Bill Dysinger has blocked the Southeast Missourian's calls to his phone; when called from an alternate number, he hung up. Councilman Jaeson Fraser hung up twice; his mother, Councilwoman Debbie Eichhorn, said she would not comment on the police department or the mayor. Messages left for other council members were not returned.

Sue Sheffer, president of the city's police commission, said she will be at Monday's meeting. At the city council's last open meeting, Feb. 4, she discussed resigning, citing work commitments. On Saturday, Sheffer said she'll remain on the commission.

"I do have a great respect for the police chief. His job is to protect and serve and that is what he's doing, as is the police department," she said Saturday. "I have great respect for the city council. They are very knowledgeable individuals who are representing the city of Chaffee. They respect and represent the people of Chaffee, and they do a good job."

She said "there needs to be communication across the board" among city officials.

Police chief Jesse Chisum said the mayor visited him after the ice storm, with congratulations for working closely with the fire department to check the welfare of people without power and heat.

"Public works guys busted their butts and were helping with tree cleanups," Chisum said. "They worked really hard."

Mohorc said, "Chaffee was put first, and that was the most important thing."

Chaffee resident Mark Hicks has been circulating a petition to present at Monday's meeting. He said he's collected more than 300 signatures on papers that simply state "In support of Mayor Loretta Mohorc."

"I'm not against anyone. I'm not against council members," he said. "It would be a nice gesture if everybody was more worried about the town and less worried about their personal hitches with everyone."

Hicks said city officials could limit contention by instituting term limits. He'd also like to see more people attend the council's meetings.

"Everybody wants to sit at the coffee shop and gripe, but no one wants to do anything constructive," he said. "This is a small town. It shouldn't be that hard to run."

Mohorc said she'd heard about the petition but had not seen it. She was not sure whether any council members would continue to seek her impeachment.

The council meets at 7 p.m. Monday at city hall.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127