‘Pettycoat’ Rules: Town council revisits rules and procedures

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — A special meeting of the town council this morning, called and conducted on a federal holiday, was all about playing nice in the sandbox as tensions between select government electeds have become a distraction.

Elephant in the room? Jim Rooks. Elephant trainer with a stool and whip? Jessica Sell Chambers.

Those two councilors are the impulsion for the implosion of the council currently, even if town staff insists they have had on their ‘to do’ list since March an update to its Rules and Procedures. It has all been brought to a head by the recent email sniping between Councilwoman Sell Chambers and Councilman Rooks.

Inbox incoming

The first salvo involved an email (dated September 17) sent to her colleagues on the council and heads of town staff, where Sell Chambers detailed her frustration with Rooks’ “unexplained and unpredictable absence” from town meetings.

Councilman Jonathan Schechter was first to respond to Sell Chambers.

On September 20, he referred to the highly-charged issue as a “bright shiny object” type of distraction that takes away from the fundamental business of town government. “Tail wagging the dog,” “Ready, Fire, Aim,” and “Solution in search of a problem” have all been phrases used by Schechter and other electeds to express their annoyance with agenda fluff like gender neutrality in correspondence, properly addressing colleagues during meetings, and establishing a dress code—all brought by Sell Chambers.

Schechter’s dog in the fight is history with Sell Chambers. The newly-minted councilwoman flat out asked Schechter to resign his seat on the council in September 2020 because there were already too many old, white guys in local government and not enough minorities.

Sell Chambers floated the idea of replacing old white Schechter with a younger woman of color, Jennifer Ford. Ford later stated she had nothing to do with Sell Chambers’ backdoor meddling and did not appreciate being dragged into the fray.

This time around, Devon Viehman appears the potential beneficiary of Sell Chambers’ master plan should Rooks be forced out of office. Viehman ran against Sell Chambers for a seat on the council. The two had run-ins on social media then but have since bonded over shared experiences.

When Rooks eventually responded Sell Chambers, it was in an email dated September 22. Rooks disclosed the reason for his absences and limited availability to electronic correspondence. He added, “I also wouldn’t start throwing stones while living in a glass house…or a $10,000 monthly rental. Perhaps we should examine that as part of our policy as well. I suppose you would like anyone who disagrees with you to resign or better yet, be ‘terminated?’”

The testy tete-a-tete escalated to the point Sell Chambers stated she felt threatened by Rooks’ emails and claimed the councilman sworn in with her was under the influence of narcotics at one orientation meeting the two attended.

Rooks reportedly admitted to a rehab stint for pain management being the cause of his absence but denied he has taken any prescription painkillers in years.

Dysfunction Junction

After the growing rift between Sell Chamber and Rooks was aired during a regular meeting on September 20, town staff busied a Rules and Procedures updated draft to address expected ‘behavior’ of councilmembers and what might constitute a vacancy in elected office.

During this morning’s meeting, held via Zoom, the council touched on all Sell Chambers’ concerns.

No councilor seemed overly-stoked about a dress code (Rooks was the only meeting participant without a collared shirt). None appeared to be terribly concerned about developing standards of addressing one another, though they did agree formalities should be adhered to when possible. (Sell Chambers was the only participant to identify herself in Zoom as council person: “Councilwoman Sell Chambers.” She had not done so at previous meetings). The others simply stated their full name without the formal address.

In the minutiae of “Robert’s Rules of Order – The Sequel” taken up by the council, there was also no appetite for a tenet requiring a council member get permission to ‘leave the screen’ during a meeting to go to the bathroom or fix themselves a bologna sandwich. The town clerk will simply note when the council person left their seat and when they returned.

Councilman Schechter did share that he thought more rules simply begets more burden. He cited the current U.S. Senate as a governing body that has wrapped itself in so many restrictive rules and procedures it can barely function.

Council agreed to take a closer look at a heavily redlined draft of an update to the town’s Chapter 2: Rules and Procedures once it is ready for review.