The Keokuk City Council's regularly scheduled meeting on Jan. 7 started as usual with the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance and a roll call of city council members. But when only Mike O'Connor (1st), Dan Winn (At Large), Larry Mortimer (4th Ward) and Sandy Pollitt (5th Ward) said present, Mayor Tom Marion was forced to call off the meeting due to the lack of a quorum.
The city council has nine members, so at least five must be present in order to conduct business.
City Clerk Barb Barnes said she was told ahead of time that Mike Moore (2nd Ward), Ron Payne (3rd Ward), Roger Bryant (6th Ward) and Susan Dunek (7th Ward) would be absent for various reasons, including work, illness and vacation. So when John Helenthal (At Large) did not show up, the meeting ended early.
Barnes and Marion said after the meeting that they could not remember the last time a city council meeting was canceled due to the lack of a quorum.
The city council was scheduled to vote on a new contract with City Attorney Douglas Dorando and on a request for more than $100,000 in funding for the Keokuk Area Hospital.
A special meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 12, during which the city council will consider everything it was scheduled to deal with Thursday.