A city fracas over furniture Council votes 4-3 to allow Chamber to take Hubachek table, chairs
Ely council members came under fire Tuesday after voting against the wishes of two city committees.
The council will allow the Ely Chamber of Commerce to display a historic table and chairs at the new trailhead building, rejecting committee recommendations against the proposed move.
At issue was furniture donated by the Hubachek family and on display at the Chamber’s previous headquarters - the city-owned building at 1600 East Sheridan Street.
Both the city’s historic preservation commission and the parks and recreation commission opposed the Chamber’s request to take the furniture with them for display at the new trailhead - but the council took an opposing view with Mayor Heidi Omerza and members Jerome Debeltz, Al Forsman and John Lahtonen siding with the Chamber.
They formed a 4-3 vote with Adam Bisbee, Angela Campbell and Emily Roose going with the committees’ recommendation.
The fallout was swift. “You had two different committees discuss this situation for hours and hours, and to see the council vote against those committees is a little disheartening and confusing to me,” said Abby Dare, who chairs the parks and recreation group.
She added that the vote made her question “if you trust the committees.”
The HPC’s Pam Turnbull went to the podium during the open forum portion of Tuesday’s meeting, saying “I have to say I’m taken aback.”
“The HPC used proper procedure, going to the city council, being referred to parks and rec, and spending much time on it,” said Turnbull.
Forsman made the case for the council majority, saying earlier that “These tables and chairs have been in possession of the Chamber. They were donated to help assist with the Chamber’s operations at that building.”
Forsman added that he disagreed with the council’s decision to consult with the parks and recreation commission, contending it was not a parks issue and added, “to me it’s part of the furnishings of the building.”
Harold Langowski, the city’s clerk-treasurer and operations director, also weighed in.
“It has been the Chamber’s intent since day one when they moved to take some of the things that were significant to the Chamber in that facility and bring them down to the new facility,” said Langowski. “These chairs have been in the cabin for 50 years the entire existence.”
Langowski added the table and chairs are meant for display.
“They aren’t going to be sat on,” he said.
Langowski also voiced some frustration that “I’m hoping that we didn’t have to bring every single item in front of the council for debate, but that seems to be the direction it’s going. The Chamber has always wanted to have those items there. It’s not something that just came out of the blue.”
Bisbee said he wanted to bring perspective to the debate, pointing to the parks and recreation discussions about the future use of the city-owned building and hesitation to remove the furniture in case the facility is used in the future as a museum.
“To put a better analogy, if you lease a tenant a furnished apartment, when they leave they don’t take the furniture with them,” said Bisbee.
