Gladstone Park Board members, mayor clash

• Meeting

Gladstone Park Board member Erin McGahuey on Thursday stands her ground before a meeting at the community center. The board members didn’t call the meeting due to legal issues.

Talk about it

GLADSTONE — Gladstone Park Board members intended to have a meeting regarding an eviction notice placed on the campers at Prairie Rose Park, but it turned into a shouting match when the mayor claimed the meeting couldn’t take place.

City Council members ordered City Attorney Mary Nordsven to ask the park board to desist maintaining the campground July 9 during a regular meeting, stating it is meant for tourists, according to a letter she wrote to board member Monty Martin. It advised him to take immediate steps to remedy the issue, and he served an eviction notice July 10 stating residents must leave by Aug. 10 or the campers would be towed at their expense.

The other four board members never received the letter, board member Erin McGahuey said. The board was to meet with Bismarck attorney William Delmore and Nordsven, who was not present. Delmore stated Martin could not serve the eviction without a quorum.

Delmore is representing the board in a lawsuit filed against the city claiming a measure to dissolve the board should not have been on the ballot. The board also contested how the names were put on the ballot and demanded the election be deemed invalid.

Mayor Kurt Martin said he notified McGahuey and board member Lillian Bondell that they were elected to the board, but both said they did not receive it. He added since they did not take an oath within 10 days of notification pursuant to North Dakota law, they could not serve on the board. Both members showed The Dickinson Press notarized oaths from July 11.

Monty Martin called the board members liars, adding they didn’t know what a law was.

“Excuse me?” McGahuey said. “You are calling me names? That is real mature.”

Kurt Martin also said Gwen Lantz and Leah Andersen were not on the board legally and the board did not have a quorum.

Monty Martin tried to talk, adding the city can “disband the man camp” according to its ordinance. He ordered the members to listen to him, stating “I have had enough.”

Delmore advised the board to postpone the meeting until the matter was discussed with Nordsven. Members were concerned about paying utility bills, the attorney said the park board has to vote to pay bills and can’t do it without a meeting.

Pat Nagel, who lives in Prairie Rose, did not agree with the eviction.

“What it seems like (the city) is trying to do is make it so (the board) can’t pay its bills,” he said.

McGahuey said Monty Martin acted like a dictator and he threatened to sue McGahuey. She said she has taken down bigger men than him.

“I don’t care. You don’t win all the time,” he said. “We’ll see you there.”

Tags: park board, mayor kurt martin, monty martin, name calling, shouting match, news, gladstone