Lewis gets full government back

The town of Lewis, Iowa, is looking forward to getting back to “business as usual.” After three council members quit three months ago in a dispute over city spending, Mayor Donald Sanny says they didn’t have a quorum and the council couldn’t do any official city business. He says it shut the town down, preventing the paying of bills or making decisions since there’s no council to approve such moves. Sanny says without enough members to make up a quorum the town can’t legally do important things, like pay many of its bills. He made arrangements yesterday to pay a bond that might have been called in if unpaid, but light and gas bills are among those that are tied up. Now that the town’s filled the three seats with a special election Tuesday, Mayor Sanny’s hoping to see the rift begin to heal. He says it doesn’t do any good to keep the dispute going, though he knows some won’t get over it quickly. The new council members for the southwest Iowa town of 430 people are Jerry Hudson, Jeff Pope, and Jon Mosier. Three of the town’s five council members quit back in September, during a dispute over funding for the Lewis Fire Department. The town still needs to hire a city clerk. The new members expect to attend the council’s first meeting a week from today (December 11).