Four members of the Cottonwood City Council voted 4-2 to censure Mayor Tim Elinski for his alleged actions during the previous year at the council’s meeting Tuesday, June 4. Councilwoman Helaine Kurot was absent.
The censure resolution was introduced by Councilwoman Lisa DuVernay and Councilman Michael Mathews.
The proposed resolution, read by Mathews due to DuVernay’s remote attendance via Zoom, made five separate allegations against Elinski. First, Mathews alleged that Elinski allowed the deputy city manager to assume the duties of the acting city manager in violation of city ordinance in March 2023 and January 2024.
Section 2.20.040 of the city code states that “in the event of the city manager’s extended absence or disability, the deputy city manager will be the acting city manager subject to approval of the city council.”
Rodriguez had previously assumed the same duties as acting city manager from November 2022 to May 2023, when Mathews was previously on council. Mathews did not object in 2022.
Mathews did not provide any evidence that Elinski had been personally responsible for Rodriguez’s assumption of the acting city manager’s duties, nor did he identify the ordinance he and DuVernay claimed Elinski had violated by allowing Rodriguez to perform his duties.
Next, Mathews alleged that Elinski had refused to allow council members to agendize items on multiple occasions, again without specifying which items Elinski may have blocked or providing any evidence that Elinski had intervened to remove any items or prevent their discussion. Mayors set meeting agendas by adding or scheduling items for discussion.
Third, Mathews alleged that Elinski had failed to enforce meeting rules during the public forum at council meetings, thereby allowing members of the public to criticize council members and creating “a negative public perception of Cottonwood City Council.” Mathews did not specify which of the council’s rules Elinski had allegedly violated or provide examples of such violations, nor did he identify a statutory requirement making the mayor responsible for maintaining a positive public image for council.
Fourth, Mathews alleged that Elinski used his position to attack city employees and other council members, thereby exposing the city to “potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements.” Mathews did not provide examples of individuals or specify any occasions.
Two of the pending claims against the city were filed by former police chief Steve Gesell, fired by a former city manager after he made threats against a city staffer, and Councilman Derek Palosaari, who filed a notice claim against the city after an internal investigation reported Palosaari had sexually harassed numerous female staffers.
Finally, Mathews claimed that Elinski had lied to council regarding an investigation. Mathews claimed that correspondence related to a recent lawsuit addressed to the mayor and council “was not properly passed along to the city manager nor to the council.” He did not specify to which lawsuit he was referring or provide documents to support the claim of purposeful miscommunication.
Mathews also stated that on Dec. 8, 2023, a $1.75 million claim was entered against the city as a result of a police dog attacking and injuring a DPS trooper, but that the claim was never brought to council for consideration, and argued that the information was “purposefully kept from council’s knowledge.” He did not provide any documentation in support of his statements, such as a Cottonwood Police Department incident report or investigative report, or any chain of evidence showing that Elinski was responsible for either the dog attack or the alleged suppression of information.
“This is nothing but a kangaroo court,” Vice Mayor Debbie Wilden said. “Because this could affect our lawsuits, I think we should go into executive session to discuss this.”
“I don’t think we should be discussing any of this in the body of this,” Elinski said, but added that he didn’t think there would be any benefits to going into executive session.
Wilden then made a motion to go into executive session, seconded by Elinski, which failed 4-2.
Public Comment
Seven residents spoke on the proposed resolution, six of whom opposed it.
“The case for censure is not clearly and substantively made,” council candidate Felicia Coates said, adding that the allegations related to the withdrawal of ordinances in the resolution should be omitted. “Other charges in the resolution require greater clarity … For example, one of the statements in the charges reads, ‘Mayor Elinski lied to the council and the public regarding an investigation in violation of the implied ethical standards expected of council members.’ Maybe you all understand what this means. I don’t. I think the citizens of Cottonwood deserve to know as well what this means.”
“I know a few things about open meeting laws,” former Vice Mayor Karen Pfieffer said. “A lot of people here in Cottonwood are seeing a lot of open meeting laws broken … I really don’t approve of what the city’s putting you through, Tim … A couple weeks ago, four members didn’t show up. The same four members that all these people are complaining about. That must be contrived among the four, in my opinion and their opinion. I think the other four should be censured, not you.”
“It is a huge overreach in statement and content and it reads like a personal and political vendetta,” Jeanie Gold said. “Most of the points they attributed to our mayor many in the public would attribute to the two of them, such as causing strife amongst the members, causing public dissatisfaction with our city council, lack of decorum and lack of respect for the dais … It is unfortunate that these two council members choose to focus their time and attention on animosity, chaos, division and mudslinging instead of being productive members of a seven-person team … This kind of behavior is exactly what Cottonwood citizens are tired of. It is certainly not our mayor who owes an apology to our city. Rather, it is the members who proposed this resolution who owe our city an apology.”
“The mayor’s not been accused of — oh, let’s say for instance, sexually harassing city employees or bullying citizens from the dais,” Cathy Ransom said. “The mayor’s not running for office again …. This censure is a political stunt.”
Ransom added that Councilman Derek Palosaari is “the only one to blame” for the claim he brought against the city.
“The last few meetings, the rules aren’t being read. The public’s not following the rules,” Sharon Bonney said. “They’re calling out over and over again every meeting a name.”
No rule prohibits members of the public from speaking the names of other members of the public or of council or staff members during public meetings; such speech is protected under the First Amendment.
“Whoever says the agenda items they asked for doesn’t have to be put on there, obviously they don’t know what they’re talking about,” William Donovan said. “This is crazy that we’re here … You guys do what you want to do, but this is what happens. Kangaroo court? That’s what it becomes.”
“Several people speaking against this resolution don’t live in the city of Cottonwood,” Julie Fermat said. “You have a lot of support for this from people who don’t live in Cottonwood. Those of us that live in Cottonwood are tired of this.”
Roughly a dozen members of the audience held up signs expressing support for Elinski while Mathews read the resolution.
Word Choice
Elinski asked Mathews why he had changed the language of the proposed resolution, which in the draft read “illegal and unethical conduct,” to instead read “heinous and unethical conduct.”
“I deferred to that because of Mr. John Gaylord,” Mathews said, referring to the city’s interim legal counsel.
“And what did he tell you?” Elinski asked.
“He said that was fine. That was a good word,” Mathews said.
“‘Illegal’ is a good word?” Elinski clarified.
“Mr. Gaylord disagrees,” Mathews said. “He thinks there’s some ambiguity in there and I disagree.” He added that he and DuVernay had consulted an outside attorney.
“You sound pretty convinced that my actions were illegal,” Elinski said. “Why, then, did you remove ‘illegal’?”
“I did it out of deference because he [the city’s legal counsel] requested that I do so,” Mathews said. “I’ll tell you right now: They’re illegal.”
Councilmen Stephen DeWillis, Palosaari, DuVernay and Mathews voted to approve the resolution, with Elinski and Wilden opposed.
DuVernay previously signed a petition to recall Elinski in a effort that fell short of the legally required signatures. DuVernay is herself facing a recall election in November. Mathews is running for mayor against candidate Ann Shaw.
‘Irrelevant’
“I don’t have a response to the censure resolution because it is irrelevant,” Elinski said after the meeting. “What is relevant, however, and encouraging, is the outpouring of support I’ve received after the four council members voted to approve Mathews and DuVernay’s reactive resolution. The support I’ve received confirms what I have always known: That we live in a wonderful, engaged community that values forward progress. I am proud of the accomplishments made over the last two decades with my team and community. While it’s disappointing to end my term with a council so divided, directionless and unable to focus on the real and critical issues that face Cottonwood, I’m heartened that well-meaning, community-focused residents have stepped up to run for election to continue the great momentum that our community expects and deserves. As I’ve said before, our best days are ahead.”
