A meeting to discuss the future of a popular park in the northwest part of the valley ended with two people being kicked out after things got heated.
Pop Squires Park is part of an HOA, but many in the public also enjoy it. It's why many people were interested in a meeting hosted by Councilwoman Michele Fiore at the YMCA to discuss saving the park from being redeveloped into apartments.
Some at the meeting claimed as the meeting began, Fiore was hostile from the start, explaining that her staff was bullied and attacked at a previous meeting, and that this was a private HOA meeting and anyone there being disrupted would be removed.
They say one person in the audience questioned Fiore and was immediately asked to be removed by marshals.
That's when disabled veteran Randall McGlade started recording on his phone. At that point, he says Fiore pointed at him and asked if he lived in the neighborhood. When he responded that he lived in the area (not the HOA), Fiore then asked for McGlade to be escorted out.
McGlade, a former police officer, says he was shocked. "[The marshals] were basically acting like Fiore's personal Gestapo," he said. He and other neighbors believed the meeting was public. McGlade was there because he enjoys walking in the park with his dog.
Several people at that meeting contacted 13 Action News, claiming Fiore's behavior was out of line for a public official.
Fiore disputes that. She says she made it clear this would be HOA only, and says asking people she says were "making a ruckus" to leave was appropriate. She also says having marshals with her at events is normal and is done for her safety.
She says she also recognizes many people there who care about the park are not in the HOA, and told 13 Action News she is willing to have an open meeting as well to discuss the park.
