LINN — Linn resident Gwen Sullentrup shared numerous concerns she has with how things are being handled by the Board of Aldermen and the police department at the March 24 Board of Aldermen meeting. Sullentrup was approached by a Linn Police Officer several weeks earlier for parking on Jefferson Street, which is in front of her house.

“We’ve lived in the same house for going on 28 years and it has never been an issue,” Sullentrup said. “I won’t say that the officer was rude, but it was brought up that it was illegal to park there, and we shouldn’t be doing it.”

Sullentrup said that the officer complained about having to do paperwork and cited a code from the Missouri Highway Patrol, not a city ordinance.

“He was very misinformed about what the actual rules are,” Sullentrup said. “I guess the whole situation was cleared up by Chief (Sam) Ford the next day, and he did say the officer was wrong.”

Sullentrup explained that one of the things that bothered her about the situation was that someone had complained on Facebook about the cars parked on her street, and an alderman had responded that the situation was being addressed.

“I understand Jefferson Street is a narrow street,” Sullentrup said. “So is Benton Street, and Adams Street, and a lot of other streets. Many of the homes on our streets don’t have a driveway, and sometimes people have to park on the street.

“I guess my concern is that it wasn’t brought back to the Board of Aldermen for a discussion,” Sullentrup continued. “The situation wasn’t handled in a way that was appropriate in my opinion.”

Alderman Dustin Flamm responded that he was the board member who had previously responded on Facebook, stating that the situation was being taken care of.

“A citizen complained, and I just called Chief Ford and said that there may be a car parked where it shouldn’t be parked,” Flamm said, adding it was not unusual to take the issue directly to the police chief since the board meeting wasn’t scheduled for several weeks. He said that several parked cars were addressed in the previous few weeks.

“It’s our job as board members to ensure the community is clean, and parking is appropriate,” Flamm added.

“If people don’t know what the rules are, it creates a lot of confusion,” Sullentrup said.

She noted that it is difficult to look up city ordinances because they are not available online. She understood that the city is working on having the ordinances available online, but she doesn’t understand what is taking so long.

“We’ve asked for over two years for this issue to be resolved,” Mayor Dwight Massey said, referencing the process of posting the ordinances online. “I keep getting told that it is a process, that it is being worked on, and we still have nothing.”

“I also have concerns that there are inconsistencies and not full transparency, and part of that is because things aren’t online,” Sullentrup said. “It’s hard to know what is going on.”

Sullentrup explained that she has a hard time making it to board meetings because of the timing of the meetings and her job in Jefferson City.

“As long as I’ve been here, I’ve never tried to hide anything,” Massey said.

“I’m not saying you’re trying to hide things,” Sullentrup said. “I’m saying that it looks like a lack of transparency because residents can’t access things.”

Massey reiterated that the city is currently in the process of posting the ordinances online.

Sullentrup also complained that Jefferson Street has a lot of extra traffic as people try to avoid buses and beat the stoplights. She is concerned with how fast people are driving on Jefferson Street.

“I’m asking the police department to patrol Jefferson Street,” Sullentrup said. “That’s their job, and that’s what they are supposed to do.”

She added that she has seen a police officer sitting in the same spot, talking and laughing for hours at a time.  Sullentrup said that the Linn Police Department patrols Jefferson Street at regular intervals, about four times per day.

“Our road has heavier traffic than that, and higher needs than that,” Sullentrup said. “People use that road to walk their dogs. We have elderly people who walk, and kids on bikes.”

Sullentrup also complained that although the Linn Police Department is fully staffed, most of the officers are not from Linn.

“We need the officers,” Massey said. “We can’t just hire from within the city limits.”

Sullentrup argued that other communities hire officers from within their city limits.

“I would love it if every one of our guys could live in the city limits,” Massey said. “We take advantage of people we can find that are of quality, not just somebody, but good people. While I would love for them all to live in town, find me five houses if they wanted to live here?”

“I know it sounds like I’m criticizing, and I’m not trying to criticize,” Sullentrup said. “I’m happy to help and have conversations to make things better. I want better communication. As a resident, I want to stay here. I don’t want to leave, but to be very honest, if my husband would move, I would. He is the one keeping us here.

“When I moved here 35 years ago, I liked this place, and it was a lot different,” Sullentrup continued. “I understand that times change, but part of the confusion is the inconsistencies, and that people do not feel like there is transparency.”

Sullentrup suggested that the city livestream board meetings.

Massey responded that he did not mind if the meetings were livestreamed; it was just not something he was comfortable setting up.

Sullentrup also complained that there are trash cans left at the edges of the street after trash pickup.

“There are trash cans left out everywhere, and that impedes traffic as well,” Sullentrup said, “I haven’t gotten my mail delivered several times because of my neighbors’ trash cans.”

Sullentrup asked if there was an ordinance regarding the trash cans.

Massey said that he wasn’t sure, and the city would check into it.

“There are a lot of things within our community that could be done, but more people need to recognize this is a community, and instead of sticking their nose up in the air and their finger towards us, they need to say, ‘this is on me,’” Massey said. “I wish a lot more people felt the same way about this community as I do. I love this community and the people that are here. I don’t care where I go, I tell them I can’t find a better town than the city of Linn.

“When I find people with trash in their yard and trash cans on the street, it says to me they don’t feel the same way,” Massey continued. “I can only talk to them so many times to try to influence their opinion, and sooner or later that makes me the (expletive deleted), even though I’m trying to make things better.”

Sullentrup suggested that the city set up a committee for planning.

“We’ve had one several times,” Massey said. “We’ve suggested code enforcement, but we don’t have any codes in place. We’ve talked a lot about code enforcements, but it never happened. There’s a lot of stuff we can do. We have to find a way.”

• A budget workshop will be held on April 14 at 5:30 p.m.

• Other business from the meeting will be reported in next week’s paper.