By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Deer Creek City Council reaffirmed its support of city clerk/treasurer Miriam Steuck, but acknowledged there may be some personality clashes and some things to work on moving forward.

As part of a special, and somewhat contentious meeting at times between approximately a dozen people in attendance and the city council, the Deer Creek City Council weighed whether to ask the city clerk/treasurer to resign after several residents have expressed concerns in recent months. 

The discussion between the council and residents lasted about 45 minutes with topics ranging from not always cashing utility payments in a timely manner, personality clashes with some residents in town and potentially covering a sign of a business on election day. There was also a concern brought up by business owner Tanya Zerr about a delay in getting a new lease for her space in the community center. 

The council also heard from one resident who claimed he was going to be charged a fee to email him a copy of an ordinance, even though the council was unsure if such a charge had been imposed in the past. Ultimately the payment was not made and the city council said it is working on updating its website to make city ordinances readily available online for no charge. 

Steuck did not respond to a number of the allegations, but did say she remembers some of the interactions happening differently than the residents who expressed concerns last week.

After nearly 35 minutes of public comment, Steuck asked the council if they think she should resign from her position. The council largely defended her work and did not ask her to resign. She said a lot of the topics that were brought up should be put on future city council agendas and there are some things that may need to be adjusted moving forward.

Councilman Jayme George said a lot of the time Steuck is acting at the direction of the council when it comes to gathering information and working with the public to help the council make informed decisions. 

“A lot of the time she is acting on council approval, or things that we have asked her to do as a council, not directly as a clerk going rouge, going on her own, doing all these things. Most of the time our council is directing what she needs to do and she is honestly is doing what she is told to do,” he said. 

The council largely said Steuck has been doing the job that has been assigned to her, but agreed that some changes could be made in the future to assist the city clerk/treasurer and the community as a whole.

“I think she is doing a good job but maybe the personality conflicts we can work on that, but as far as her job duties, what she is suppose to be doing, getting information for us, I think she does a good job,” said city councilman Danny Hendershot. “If we are asking her to do something that is above the scope of her duties, maybe instead of saying Miriam can you look this up and see if this is legal, maybe we go to the lawyer instead. (Maybe) it costs us $500 an hour, but our (backs) are covered.”

In addition to discussing the city clerk position, the Deer Creek City Council also offered the position of public works director to Luke Mitchell, who currently works as the Team Maintenance Leader for the City of Hewitt. The current public works director in Deer Creek, Dan Kovar, has informed the city council he plans to retire from the position at the end of 2026, but would be willing to leave sooner if a suitable replacement can be found.