Parkersburg City Council President Mike Reynolds speaks at the start of Tuesday’s meeting in council chambers. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

PARKERSBURG — One person was told to leave Parkersburg City Council chambers after vocally objecting to a statement made by Mayor Tom Joyce.

Joyce took exception to accusations reportedly made at an April 8 town hall meeting that representatives of the city had been involved in setting fires at vacant houses. Joyce said if anyone had evidence of such activity they should file a police report.

“If there’s any truth to that, you find a tree. I’ve got the rope,” he said.

Multiple people reacted verbally. Council President Mike Reynolds asked a police officer to have the man removed.

The man left, criticizing statements the mayor made about homelessness as he went.

Former member Nancy Wilcox asks Parkersburg City Council to vote against moving an event tent from Southwood Park to the Greater Parkersburg Convention and Visitors Bureau welcome center downtown. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

“And then the mayor’s talking about lynching people,” he said before describing the situation with an expletive.

Joyce said he apologized “if my colloquialism offended anybody.”

Reynolds opened the meeting by reminding people of recently changed council rules requiring speakers in the public forum to address only topics on the agenda and saying there should be “no cheering, clapping or speaking out of turn.” People who do not observe those rules could be removed or the chambers cleared, he said.

People largely honored those requests, with a few instances of quiet clapping at first, although some were louder later on. Speakers addressed specific agenda items and occasionally branched off to criticize recent changes to the public forum or Reynolds’ decision last week to remove Councilwoman Wendy Tuck from two committees.

The final speaker said he was talking about the bird sanctuary and then made a vulgar remark to council members before leaving the chambers.

Flyers calling for the recall of Parkersburg City Council President Mike Reynolds were placed on some seats in council chambers ahead of Tuesday’s meeting. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Council voted 6-3 on March 11 to limit topics of discussion in the public forum only to items on the agenda. In the first meeting after that rule went into effect, Reynolds asked two people to step away from the podium, saying they were not following that guideline. One of them did not stop until after a police officer told him to leave the podium.

Reynolds was absent from the April 8 meeting when council members moved to adjourn as a woman continued speaking after Vice President Roger Brown told her she was violating the rule. Parkersburg resident Mary Goe later said she was speaking about the public forum, which is listed as part of every agenda.

During the April 8 meeting, a communication from Reynolds was read, announcing Tuck had been removed from the Finance and Personnel committees.

Reynolds said later that Tuck had made disparaging remarks about the administration and other council members on social media, including sharing a post about how to recall members of council. He also pointed to Tuck’s questions during and outside of meetings about the city budget, saying she should know “how to navigate her way through the budget and how to offer up amendments.”

Tuck, who opposed the public forum change, said she only shares information and may disagree with policies but does not attack people personally. She acknowledged she makes mistakes but said many times the questions she asks in meetings were posed to her by constituents.