File Photo 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.

Unanimously approved at the second meeting of the current council membership, the motto read: “We are a community, and we will cooperate when possible, compromise when necessary. Confrontation is not an option.” The letters U-N-I-T-Y in “community” were underlined for emphasis. It bore the names of all nine council members and the mayor.

“My name was on that sign,” Joyce said.

Some council members have noticeably butted heads during meetings in recent months, but opinions are divided over whether the mayor was justified in removing the sign.

“I don’t think he should have taken it down,” said Councilman Bob Mercer. “Every council has issues. Ours are worked out.”

Councilman J.R. Carpenter said he’s “in total agreement” with Joyce.

“I felt many times that that motto was not lived up to on our end,” he said. “I believe compromise was a necessity, and we did not do that very well. I believe the confrontation happened more than once.”

Some confrontation came in May and June, after then-Council President John Reed and Councilwoman Sharon Kuhl unveiled a logo around the theme of “I Love My PKB,” intended to accentuate the positive aspects of the city. Carpenter and some other members questioned whether their subcommittee had acted outside the scope of its powers, and the initiative stalled.

“We had a disagreement on that, and J.R. won it,” Reed said. “But we still work together and go ahead with other things.”

Kuhl has said there was never any intention to circumvent city code or rules. She pointed to that situation as an example of negativity on the part of other council members, without specifying which ones.

“I would (love to) see us work together as a unit, but with certain City Council members, that’s not going to happen,” she said. “If you can’t say anything positive about Parkersburg, then keep your mouth shut.”

Carpenter said part of council members’ job is to question items before them.

“You have to discuss the entire picture, not just the rosy-colored parts,” he said.

Although he emphasized he can’t speak for all council members, Carpenter said he believes that, long-term, they all have the same goals.

“I think everybody up there wants Parkersburg to be a better place to create business, to have our children want to stay here,” he said.

Both Kuhl and Reed disagree with the removal of the sign. Reed said since it hung in council chambers, council should make the decision on whether to have left it in place.

“I think we had unity except … we didn’t agree 100 percent on everything, and I don’t think we should,” he said.

Joyce said that “under no circumstances am I trying to promote or advocate for a rubber stamp.” However, “you can disagree and still treat folks with high levels of decency and respect,” he said.

“An environment of contention and animosity and, honestly, flippancy … only makes the work more difficult,” Joyce said.

Councilman Eric Barber said he’s noticed “a little bit of an adversarial posturing amongst a couple council members.

“Politics has become very divisive, and it’s very polarizing right now,” he said. “That’s being reflected at all levels” of government.

Barber — who rubbed some fellow council members the wrong way more than once in 2018 meetings — said he believes council still works together when all is said and done.

“I think things are going to pass based on their merits,” he said.

Councilman Jeff Fox said it doesn’t matter to him whether the sign is up or down.

“Those are words on a sign, but actions always speak louder than words,” he said. “And apparently, the mayor has made decisions (based) on the actions he sees.”

Councilman Dave McCrady said with a laugh that he hadn’t even noticed the sign was gone, while incoming Council President Mike Reynolds said he wasn’t aware of the reason for its removal until contacted for this story.

“I know when there’s nine people working together with nine different opinions, it’s hard to agree,” Reynolds said. “I don’t have any problems with anybody on council. I’ve not really had any major disagreements.”

The city began streaming its council meetings on YouTube in January 2018. The number of views ranged from 15 to 205.

Carpenter said the practice should resume.

“We have nothing to hide,” he said.

Fox said it gives people who can’t be at the meetings themselves “the opportunity to stay a little more abreast of what’s happening.”

Reynolds said he hasn’t been asked about the streaming of meetings.

“I’ve not had anybody from my district mention that they stream our meetings,” he said.