Bryan Harris speaking at the Great Bend City Council meeting Sept. 5, 2017.
Not that anyone is expecting things to completely go back to normal right away, but after the reinstatement of Great Bend Police Chief Cliff Couch Tuesday night it does feel a vocal portion of the community feels progress is being made.
After getting suspended on July 24 for calling out city administration for misconduct and unethical procedures, Couch was reinstated with a 4-3 vote from the Great Bend City Council.
Citizen Bryan Harris gave a presentation at the end of the meeting at the Great Bend Events Center, and mentioned the chaos over the past six weeks is both the city’s and community’s fault.
Bryan Harris Audio
Harris presented a nine-step program to regain trust in the city council. One of the steps was to live stream all council meetings discussing the use of taxpayer’s money and to install town hall meetings.
Bryan Harris Audio
Many blue and white signs were painted and placed in yards throughout Great Bend in support of Couch. Harris urged citizens to keep the signs out as a reminder when they go to vote in the upcoming election.
A city audit was approved by the council to look into the city administrator’s office, street department, city loans, police department, and department-wide surveys.