Larry Parker’s seen plenty of disagreements during four decades as a Richmond Common Council member. Even a fistfight on the elevator.
So some strife during the past year between council members and between council members and the mayor wasn’t so significant, especially because council’s business proceeded during meetings.
“I don’t think it ever stopped anything as far as the business of the city,” said Parker, who was elected council president for 2025. “It just wasn’t as comfortable as it should have been.”
As 2024 began, new members Anne Taylor, Jerry Purcell and Justin Burkhardt occupied three of the nine council seats, and Mayor Ron Oler, a former council member, started his first term. The four Republicans ran in sync, touting the strong team they could provide Richmond residents. That unity didn’t last.
Friction developed throughout the year, mostly through Facebook posts on pages identifying Purcell and Taylor as council members; however, the conflict was not evident when council considered actions and voted.
“I think that those that were not getting along very well still had the best interests of the city at heart,” Parker said. “I think it was more personality than it was having something to do with the ordinances that came before them.”
Doug Goss, the longest-serving Democrat on council, said any issues came down to personalities.
“Even last year, the way things ran, that wasn’t affected by all the personality conflicts,” said Goss, who joined council in August 2014 as Jack Elstro’s replacement. “Most of it was perpetrated on Facebook.”
Goss said he doesn’t see any problems “that will affect the business that we do here as a council.”
Parker expects meetings to continue running smoothly without conflicts.
“If that does come up, I’ll certainly make sure that the decorum is followed,” he said.
Decorum during council meetings has not been an issue, although there was a request to stop asking Oler questions unrelated to council’s meeting actions. Council members received an email from Gary Turner, who was then council’s president, with the request, following a meeting that included the mayor. The email was discussed briefly during a meeting, and Oler said that he did not request a stoppage of questions.
The mayor did call a November news conference to issue a written response to Purcell’s Facebook posts. The statement, which called Purcell disgruntled, said the public interest would be served by setting the record straight about what Oler said were factual inaccuracies included in Facebook posts.
The disagreements involved Richmond Fire Department merit systems and an invitation to meet with Oler that Purcell and Burkhardt declined to attend.
About that same time, a former RFD member filed a lawsuit against the city and Purcell regarding actions by Purcell when he was fire chief. Taylor posted about the lawsuit and has also been involved in a back-and-forth with Prosecutor Mike Shipman.
Richmond Police Department and Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Shipman are at odds over statements made by Major Adam Blanton, the department’s public information officer, and Shipman’s inclusion of Blanton on a local Brady-Giglio list that identifies officers who could have credibility issues when testifying in court. RPD Chief Kyle Weatherly is Taylor’s husband.
Blanton and the city have sued Shipman to remove Blanton from the list and for damages.
After the November 2023 general election, when Burkhardt, Purcell and Taylor were elected, Purcell said they brought a variety of strengths to council to form “one heck of a strong team” while leading the city.
Despite having differences in Year One, council continues conducting its business in 2025, and Parker sees no indication of deepening trouble.
“I don’t see anything going on to be alarmed about,” he said.
A version of this article appeared in the January 29 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.