Residents spoke about their displeasure with how the public forum is run during the city council meetings. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

PARKERSBURG — Parkersburg City Council adjourned its regular meeting Tuesday during the public forum without addressing the business items on its agenda.

Residents spoke about their displeasure with how the public forum is run, but discussion ended when the meeting was adjourned.

The meeting began with a proclamation from Mayor Tom Joyce recognizing April 2025 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Patrick Lefebure talked about the statistics of sexual assault and thanked the council for their support in this awareness.

“This touches many people who don’t know what we can offer through housing, through therapy, through counseling,” said Lefebure.

Members from the audience vocalized their disagreements with the premature adjournment of the city council meeting on April 8. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

Lefebure was joined by a member from the Family Crisis Intervention Center and Westar Child Advocacy Center to get the word out and raise more awareness about these issues and available resources.

Following the announcements were roughly a dozen people signed up to speak during the public forum. Before the start of the public forum, council made it clear that the public could only discuss the agenda items.

Sharon Lynch, Nancy Wilcox and Sue Ellen Waybright made comments in regard to the establishment of the bird sanctuary and relocating the event tent from Southwood Park to the Welcome Center at 113 Ann St.

“The word sanctuary means safe space, and unfortunately under the current circumstances, that particular part of the park is not safe because we still have a cat problem,” said Waybright while presenting the council with photos of stray cats around the park.

Preceding the concerns for the bird sanctuary and relocation of the event tent, Jamie McCormick raised his concern for his displeasure on how the public forum is used.

Mary Goe stands before the remaining council members to express her thoughts on how the public forum should go. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

“A bird sanctuary, out of all the things you could and should be working on,” said McCormick. “The infrastructure, public safety, access to housing, economic development or maybe why my trash is never picked up on time anymore.”

McCormick was asked to step away from the microphone, but he continued, stating that he was talking about the agenda.

Trish Pritchard made comments about her approval of a town hall meeting on homelessness that occurred earlier on Tuesday evening and how inspired she felt by the initiatives of Councilman Zak Huffman and Councilwoman Wendy Tuck, who organized the event.

Mary Goe stepped up to the podium to express her displeasure with the public forum and said there should be a space to express complaints.

“The reality is people complain because they want to be heard,” said Goe. After Goe was asked multiple times to step down or stick to the agenda, the council adjourned the meeting during the public forum.

Local business owner Jamie McCormick was asked to stick to the meeting agenda when describing his dissatisfaction with the bird sanctuary being on the agenda instead of other matters. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com

Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Patrick Lefebure wanted to raise more awareness for April 2025 being Sexual Assault Awareness Month. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

The public forum was cut short when a second to adjourn the meeting promptly ended any further agenda discussion. (Photo by Amber Phipps)