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Charles City woman voices concerns regarding gunshots fired within city limits

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

A Charles City woman told the City Council that she has concerns about an individual in the community who has repeatedly fired a gun within the city limits, and she doesn’t feel like anything has been done to prevent it from happening again.

“After two years, I’m still dealing with the same situation,” Holly Cheney told the council Monday. “I don’t feel that people are taking it very seriously.”

With certain exceptions, it is illegal in the state of Iowa for anyone other than certified police officers to discharge any firearm within the city limits without prior authorization.

Cheney, who told the council she was a single mother of four children, spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, when anyone in the community can address the council for five minutes.

She told the council that there have been two specific incidents with a “certain individual” who had held and pointed guns at other individuals, and actually fired shots at other individuals and at vehicles. She said she has gone to the county attorney with this complaint and that steps have not been taken as needed.

“I don’t believe the right action has been taken,” she told the council. “We’re teaching our younger generation that this kind of thing is OK.”

Cheney said that she has felt pressured personally to make contact and confront the individual, and that has placed her in situations that she is not comfortable with.

“We’re here to protect and help our children,” Cheney said. “How are we supposed to do that when we can’t rely on local law enforcement to take it into their hands and take care of the situation?”

Cheney told the council that she would like to speak with someone in authority personally to give them more details about the situation, and she doesn’t believe she’s gotten the opportunity to do that.

“I just believe that guns being pulled in Charles City — and actually fired — I believe that something needs to be done, not only for the safety of others in the community, but also for our children,” she said. “We’re here to teach them what they are and are not supposed to do.”

Cheney said that when kids see something like that occur and it keeps happening, the children learn that the behavior is OK.

“We’re just setting them up for failure,” she said. “We’re supposed to help them.”

She said she is counting on people like the county attorney to help with the matter, but believes that instead, the matter has been “pushed under the rug.”

Mayor Dean Andrews told Cheney that the county attorney was out of the jurisdiction of the City Council, which Cheney said she understood. Andrews offered to follow up with Cheney and meet with her personally, along with the city attorney, the city administrator and perhaps a police officer. Cheney agreed to do so.

On Thursday, Charles City Administrator Steve Diers said he hadn’t heard any more about the situation since Monday’s meeting, but did say that Cheney’s comments regarding firearms use in the city “certainly got my attention.”

Diers said that Andrews and Cheney had exchanged contact numbers with the intention of setting up a meeting, and he hoped that Andrews would be able to arrange a discussion.

“I’m sure we’ll be talking to her at some point,” Diers said. “It will be interesting to see what she says.”

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