Five Des Moines residents have filed a complaint calling for the removal of Ward I Representative Indira Sheumaker from the Des Moines City Council.The complaint is the first written filing against Sheumaker’s nearly five-month absence from city council meetings and work sessions.The document references the Iowa legislature, saying an elected officer may be removed from office for “willful or habitual neglect or refusal to perform the duties of the office.”In the complaint, written with the assistance of an attorney, they want the matter to be set for a hearing at an upcoming city council meeting before giving Sheumaker an opportunity to appear and defend herself.At that point, the complaint calls for a vote on Sheumaker’s removal, requiring a two-thirds vote of the entire council.One Ward I resident expressed his concerns about Sheumaker’s absence.”She’s not been going to council meetings and all of that, so do we really have representation in our neighborhood? Probably no,” Alfred Hopp said.KCCI tried to contact Sheumaker via both phone and email today but didn’t receive a response.When asked about how the complaint would proceed through the council, at-large council representative Carl Voss said, “This is new territory. I can’t speak until we chat with the city attorney.”The people who signed the petition want it done by Nov. 7, so the city can set an election for her replacement.
Five Des Moines residents have filed a complaint calling for the removal of Ward I Representative Indira Sheumaker from the Des Moines City Council.
The complaint is the first written filing against Sheumaker’s nearly five-month absence from city council meetings and work sessions.
The document references the Iowa legislature, saying an elected officer may be removed from office for “willful or habitual neglect or refusal to perform the duties of the office.”
In the complaint, written with the assistance of an attorney, they want the matter to be set for a hearing at an upcoming city council meeting before giving Sheumaker an opportunity to appear and defend herself.
At that point, the complaint calls for a vote on Sheumaker’s removal, requiring a two-thirds vote of the entire council.
One Ward I resident expressed his concerns about Sheumaker’s absence.
“She’s not been going to council meetings and all of that, so do we really have representation in our neighborhood? Probably no,” Alfred Hopp said.
KCCI tried to contact Sheumaker via both phone and email today but didn’t receive a response.
When asked about how the complaint would proceed through the council, at-large council representative Carl Voss said, “This is new territory. I can’t speak until we chat with the city attorney.”
The people who signed the petition want it done by Nov. 7, so the city can set an election for her replacement.
