Salem city counselor uses racial slur against fire department

SALEM - Tensions rose during a Salem city council meeting earlier this month when a city counselor used a racial slur when talking about Salem Fire & Rescue.

At a Salem City Council public hearing and budget meeting on Tuesday, March 12, city counselor Chuck Kramer alleged that Salem Fire & Rescue was misallocating their funds and made a racial slur.

'When you can go out and spend $40,000 on a truck and not even tell us you've got that money and not even tell us you're buying the god(expletive) truck, there's a (expletive) in the woodpile somewhere folks,” Kramer can be heard saying in a recording of the meeting sent to The News.

The Salem Fire Association, which is a nonprofit not affiliated with the City of Salem, purchased a new Dodge brush truck for Salem Fire & Rescue in the fall of 2018. Items purchased for Salem Fire & Rescue become city property.

Steve Nichting, chief of Salem Fire & Rescue and president of the Fire Association, was not present during the meeting on March 12.

Nichting said that money to purchase the truck was raised during the past 10 years of Old Settlers and from various memorials donated to the Association.

Kramer said 'there's a (expletive) in the woodpile somewhere” is an expression, and he did not intend it as a racist statement.

'It's like saying there's something sneaky going on. It wasn't a racist statement. It wasn't a statement directed to a person. That's what they used to say years ago when someone said something sneaky behind your back. I know it wasn't right. I apologized after I said it at the meeting. It is what it is now,” Kramer said.

Kramer said the city spends too much money on Salem Fire & Rescue when they have 'streets and other stuff” to worry about.

'I'm not in agreement with the way we spend money with the fire department,” Kramer said. 'We can't keep giving them money or our streets are going to be mud.”

Nichting said Salem Fire & Rescue received a grant to assist in purchasing the skid unit, which cost the department less than $15,000. To make up the rest of the funds, the department asked the council if they could sell the old skid unit and some equipment like helmets and boots, which brought in about $1,000.

The sale of those items and purchase of the new skid unit was approved by the council 4 to 1 during a meeting on Dec. 4, 2018. Kramer voted no.

Kramer said the problem is now Salem Fire & Rescue is asking for $60,000 worth of air packs by July 1.

'They spent all this money and now they're saying they need new air packs by the end of July,” Kramer said. 'We've got to do something because we've got to buy them.”

The air packs are necessary for firefighters to go into structural fires, Nichting said. The packs they currently have expire July 1, something Salem Fire & Rescue has been reminding the council for the last eight years, Nichting said.

'Without (those) we will no longer be able to go into structure fires,” Nichting said. 'We can't go into any smoke. We can't go in to rescue anybody. You can't put a stove fire out if you can't go into the building.”

Feehan said the council has a 15-year plan and savings account for Salem Fire & Rescue, but they need the air packs now. Without them, they can't fight fires, she said.

Feehan said what Kramer said during the March 12 meeting is 'disgusting.”

'In 2019, we don't say things like that,” Feehan said. 'If the city does nothing to reprimand Chuck, it's a city problem. If the city does do something, it's a Chuck problem.”

Feehan said she spoke with the Iowa League of Cities, and they said the council can ask Kramer to resign because of his conduct, but they can't force him to.

Alan Kemp, executive director with the Iowa League of Cities, said all elected officials have to answer to the citizens who elected them. In the case of a city counselor using a racial slur, if citizens don't feel like that's appropriate conduct, they can take care of it at the next election, Kemp said.

Other city council members can also criticize a member for misconduct and say it's unacceptable behavior, that it doesn't represent the city, and they could go as far as asking for an apology or that city counselor's resignation. That has no legal authority, Kemp said.

'It's not easy and it shouldn't be easy to remove an elected official,” Kemp said. 'The courts tend to defer to the voters.”

Kemp said there is a chapter in the Iowa code that provides a process for the removal of an elected city official from office, including a city council member. Community members could file a lawsuit in the District Court, the state's attorney general or local county attorney could file a petition or the council could take action. At least one of seven reasons for removal have to be proved. Kemp said the one that fits best in this situation is willful misconduct or maladministration of office.

'Whether or not that's enough is up to the courts to decide,” Kemp said.

An agenda item for the next Salem City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 2, is 'council and public conduct during council meetings.” The meeting is at 5:30 p.m. at the Community Center in Salem.