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Second removal hearing for Muscatine Mayor set to reconvene

Evidence presented accuses Broderson of misconduct, maladministration and neglect.
muscatine city council

MUSCATINE, Iowa – The Muscatine City Council and Mayor Diana Broderson will once again argue whether or not Broderson deserves to keep her job.

The council and Mayor Broderson will reconvene following last week’s hearing that went on for more than 10 hours and ended without an outcome.

The council only heard witnesses from the city’s side during last week’s hearing. Mayor Broderson will present her defense Saturday, April 1, at 9 a.m. during a second hearing a Muscatine city hall.

At the start of the very first hearing, Broderson’s attorney, Bill Sueppel tried to get the case moved to district court. Council members denied the request and moved forward with the hearing, calling 15 witnesses – most of them city employees – to the stand.

Witnesses were cross examined by both parties’ legal team for 11 hours.

Many witnesses claimed Broderson had conversations with staff without the approval of the city administrator. According to city code, that is prohibited.

Formal charges filed claim Broderson used $500 of her campaign funds to pay for her attorney and send out $1,200 worth of personal letters to residents of Muscatine… with “verbal and personal and verbal attacks on the character and motives of council members.”

Broderson hired a private investigator to look into if she was being discriminated against because she’s a woman. Those claims were unfounded and the city administrator says that was the breaking point.

“The last attempt to come to a resolution, we shook hands that night and the following morning there was a gender bias discrimination complaint filed by Mayor Broderson and that ended any opportunity to fix or come to resolution,” said City Administrator, Greg Madsager.

Evidence presented accuses Broderson of misconduct, maladministration and neglect.

Muscatine city council members first voted to start the process to remove Broderson from office back in January, 2017.

They are the same people that decide the final outcome.​

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