Price City Council held their regular city council meeting on July 23 due to Wednesday, July 24 being a holiday. Council began the meeting in a prayer led by Andrew Lasslo of New Life Ministries, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Council members Tanner Richardson and Amy Jespersen were not in attendance.
Council then opened public comment with Price City Police Department (PCPD), Captain Brandon Ratcliffe once again in attendance. Prior to Capt. Ratcliffe reaching the podium, Mayor Mike Kourianos and Councilman Layne Miller advised Capt. Ratcliffe that, due to him being a Price City employee, there is a grievance process that is supposed to be followed and the city council public comment forum isn’t the place for it.
Capt. Ratcliffe stated that he has read the policy and has followed it as such. Capt. Ratcliffe said that he understands that he is required to first go to the person with whom he has the grievance with, then to his department head, which he stated held the same grievances as him, and then to the Mayor.
Councilman Miller advised that nowhere in the policy does it state that public comment is the place to do that. Capt. Ratcliffe asked if council would rather he remove his uniform prior to giving public comment.
Councilman Miller then asked to make comment on social skills. Councilman Miller discussed his prior teachings on social skills in the elementary schools and discussed how he taught his students about getting things done.
“It was always about listening, it was about getting along in the sandbox, it was about watching out for the bully. We don’t like bullies, especially in the sandbox,” expressed Councilman Miller.
Councilman Miller went on to question Capt. Ratcliffe’s social skills and expressed that he feels as though Capt. Ratcliffe is not accomplishing anything other than upsetting the councilmembers, advising he needs to keep his concerns internal rather than expressing them during public comment.
Capt. Ratcliffe then said that he does not find joy in feeling as though he needs to continue to appear at council meetings. Capt. Ratcliffe explained that he is there in regard to recent issues that have occurred in the last two weeks that prove a clear bias against him and the PCPD.
“It actually brings me great stress and hurt to have to come here in this forum, because the past forums and opportunities we’ve had to address issues have not been met,” expressed Capt. Ratcliffe, in which Councilman Miller responded, “Don’t give up.”
Councilman Miller urged Capt. Ratcliffe to continue to bring up his grievances internally with Price City.
Mayor Kourianos interjected, stating that the council had formed a committee in which Capt. Ratcliffe had been invited to. Councilman Miller said that they had begun to put a committee together who planned to meet after International Days to hear Capt. Ratcliffe’s concerns. Capt. Ratcliffe’s told the council that he has never been made aware of a committee or an invitation for him to be a part of any said committee.
Councilman Miller advised for Capt. Ratcliffe to wait and address things with the committee and stated that council is unable to decide on anything tonight, in which Capt. Ratcliffe proclaimed that he was not asking council to decide anything, but rather hear what he has to say in regard to recent events.
Councilman Miller expressed his disapproval of Capt. Ratcliffe previously stating the names of Price City employee names publicly, in which Capt. Ratcliffe advised he is more than happy to leave out Price City employee names, but he also feels that it is detrimental that council is aware of all of the issues that have recently occurred, that again, he feels proves a clear bias against PCPD.
Councilman Miller told Capt. Ratcliffe once again that he needs to follow the grievance policy. Capt. Ratcliffe responded that he’s unable to follow policy when he has what he feels is clear evidence of a bias against the PCPD, making following the grievance policy in this instance ineffective.
Mayor Kourianos interjected stating, the meeting was not the place for Capt. Ratcliffe to have this discussion. Councilman Miller then advised that Capt. Ratcliffe’s three minutes was up, as Capt. Ratcliffe’s continued to attempt to prevent evidence to council regarding recent events that had transpired within the last two weeks.
Capt. Ratcliffe then asked if Mayor Kourianos was restricting his public comment, in which Mayor Kourianos expressed that with him being a Price City employee that yes, he was.
“Government for years and years going back into our entire history have restricted speech for certain reasons and it rarely… it has mostly been done because of inconvenience,” expressed Capt. Ratcliffe.
Capt. Ratcliffe advised that a GRAMA request had been submitted to the city to try and understand where the funds and money were going to help provide solutions within the budget.
Dominique Kiahtipes then took to the podium to make a public comment. Kiahtipes began by stating that she feels extremely disheartened by the council’s decision to not allow Capt. Ratcliffe to make a public comment, as a public figure, which she feels is a public matter and feels as though the public should be made aware of.
Kiahtipes began to get emotional as she went on to express the impact that this issue has had not only on her family, but other families as well. Kiahtipes stated that she feels as though officers who put themselves in harm’s way each day should be able to take care of their families, while also being able to put something on the side in case something happens to them on the job.
“When I hear Council member Miller reprimand Capt. Ratcliffe about civility and his experience, nobody practices that on a day-to-day basis more than police officers, and I hope you can understand that. They have followed the process; every time, every way, they have followed the policy and it has gotten them nowhere,” expressed Kiahtipes.
Councilman Miller then stated that it is still a grievance, to which Kiahtipes responded that the policy has gotten them nowhere in four years. Kiahtipes then urged council to reconsider their previous decision to not allow Capt. Ratcliffe speak, expressing that the voices of the PCPD need to be heard.
The decision was made to stick with not allowing Capt. Radcliffe to speak before council then moved into the consent agenda, in which Mayor Kourianos asked that the discussion in regard to the Road Department Shed Project be pulled and discussed at a later date. Public Works Director Miles Nelson interjected, stating that he would like for the discussion not to be continued at another time due to there being time limits.
Nelson advised that he is more than happy to answer any questions that the Mayor and council may have. Nelson stated that he preferred to get the discussion done. Mayor Kourianos explained that when it comes to big purchases using Class C road budget money, there is a need to have further discussion, in which it was stated that the money is not Class C money.
It was explained that the money that was being used for the new road department building was coming from the sale of the current building, as well as the sale of other properties, in addition to some funding that the road department received from the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT).
Nelson stated that this is the first year that the city has received money through the Rural Road Fund and that they were not expecting it due to this being something new that legislature recently passed. Nelson stated that the money carries many of the same rules that Class C money has and cannot be spent on anything other than roads, including buildings for the road department.
Nelson stated they will be able to pay the building off and the city will not have to make yearly payments. Nelson also said that, by selling the previous property, it will bring in continuous tax revenue for the city.