Parkersburg mayor has sign taken down, streaming stopped; cites contentious atmosphere

Parkersburg City Councilman J.R. Carpenter, left, talks with City Attorney Joe Santer, prior to the start of a January 2017 council meeting at which the motto displayed behind them was approved. The sign was recently removed at the instruction of Mayor Tom Joyce, who said council members were not living up to the words it displayed.


PARKERSBURG — A sign bearing a motto adopted by Parkersburg City Council has been removed from council chambers after nearly two years, and council meetings are no longer being streamed live on YouTube.

Mayor Tom Joyce said he made both decisions based on how city legislators have been interacting with one another.

“I had the sign taken down because if you read that sign, quite frankly, I don’t think City Council was living up to the promise they made in January 2017,” Joyce said.

The reasons the streaming of meetings was stopped after Nov. 13 “are exactly what we just talked about,” he said.

Read more: http://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/local-news/2019/01/parkersburg-mayor-has-sign-taken-down-streaming-stopped-cites-contentious-atmosphere/