FAIRMONT– On Wednesday there was a hearing on allegations against Fairmont City Council Members Wayne Hasek and Jay Maynard, which was a continuation of a Dec. 17 meeting. Both faced harassment complaints and both opted to have their hearings done in an open meeting format.

Mayor Lee Baarts said the council would be tasked with determining whether the councilors violated the council code of conduct. He first read the complaint against Hasek, which stemmed from a Nov. 14, 2024 meeting, which was closed to the public to undergo the six month performance evaluation of former city administrator, Matt Skaret.

Per the complaint, Hasek yelled across council chambers at Council Member Britney Kawecki.

Hasek then had the opportunity to speak and started by saying that he takes his council seat very seriously.

“My feelings regarding our past administrator was that six months was not enough time to determine whether somebody was fit for being our administrator,” Hasek said. “We’ll be hiring a fourth city administrator since I’ve gotten on the council. There’s been two temporary administrators that I’ve served with during that time.”

He added that he’s maybe the only council member who has gotten along with the city administrators and that while he hasn’t always agreed with them, he’s communicated well with them.

Hasek alluded to not being happy when he learned that the former administrator had been terminated.

“I stand up for our city employees and feel that they do get abused. This is why I reacted like I did. I am not proud of how I acted. I did say some four letter words and I apologize for that. However from reading the code of conduct I don’t believe that I’ve violated anything in the code of conduct,” Hasek said.

He said it’s been alleged that he stares at council members and that the one that made that complaint happens to be in his line of sight.

In closing, Hasek again apologized for his actions but said he would continue to support city staff.

After Hasek spoke, the rest of the council was able to ask questions or make comments. Kawecki admitted that she had filed a complaint against Hasek

“He doesn’t just stare at you or be daydreaming at you. He glares and tries to intimidate or demean you which is how it comes across with his eyes when he doesn’t agree,” Kawecki said.

She said she had emailed Hasek about it “a year or three ago” but that the behavior has continued.

“I believe that councilor Hasek has an anger problem,” Kawecki said. “The previous councilor who sat in Ward 2, Ruth Cyphers, had the exact same experiences with him.”

However, Kawecki said that she did not believe Hasek had broken the code of conduct, but that she thought the community needed to know what was happening to other councilors behind closed doors.

“I just want the citizens of Fairmont to know what type of person Wayne Hasek is,” Kawecki said.

Council Member Randy Lubenow said there seems to be a stigma among the council that if someone doesn’t agree, they can be treated poorly.

He said that he believed a letter of apology should go to former Council Members Ruth Cyphers and Michele Miller and current Councilor Kawecki.

Kawecki said she did not see the purpose of a written apology, but Council Member Jay Maynard said he thought a written apology had value.

After several minutes of a discussion, the council was tasked with deciding to either do nothing, approve a resolution of censure, issue a directive, limit assignments and duties, request that Hasek issue a written apology or opt to gather more information.

Council Member James Kotewa made a motion that the city council issue a directive to Hasek to refrain from raising his voice to other council members during council meetings and to draft to former Councilor Miller and Councilors Lubenow Kawecki written communication of apology for his conduct at the Nov. 14, 2024 meeting and that no findings on the code of conduct violations against Hasek have been found.

The motion passed 4-0 with Hasek abstaining.

Next, the council considered allegations against Maynard, which also stemmed from the same Nov. 14 meeting.

Per the complaint, Maynard leaned toward Councilor Kawecki and started yelling accusations. He also leaned toward and yelled accusations at former Councilor Miller at that meeting.

When he was able to speak, Maynard said that at the time of the meeting he believed what was being discussed was “outrageous” and that he let his outrage get the best of him.

“I don’t believe those actions were appropriate and I’m sorry I did them,” Maynard said. “With that said, I’m going to take this opportunity to answer some of the coordinated campaign of character assassinations against me on social media.”

Maynard said he does not specifically attack women and that his outrage was not directed at those council members because they are women, but because he felt like what they were saying was outrageous.

After Maynard finished explaining his actions, the rest of the council was allowed to speak. Kawecki briefly recounted the events of the Nov. 14 meeting

“When he (Maynard) looks at me this way, his eyes are bulging out of his face and he’s breathing so heavy that you can hear him breathing and his mustache is moving and it looks like he’s going to attack you,” Kawecki said. “I’ve never been in a situation like that where I felt that a man was going to attack me. I didn’t know if he was going to get up and grab me and choke me. I didn’t know.”

She said that Maynard had also acted similarly with Miller. As of 2025, Miller is no longer on the council and was not able to speak to the events herself during Wednesday’s meeting. Kawecki also said Maynard acted similarly in a Nov. 19, 2024 Charter Commission meeting.

Kawecki said, “I admit, there is no code of conduct that Maynard broke because we don’t have anything in there… but I just think it’s important for the citizens of Fairmont to know we have two representatives that are supposed to be held to a higher standard.”

Council Member Randy Lubenow pointed out that the reason his seat recently changed inside council chambers is because Maynard formerly sat there and the councilors on either side of him did not feel comfortable there. He said he took issue with three women coming to him telling him they were afraid of physical violence.

“If I see that again, I will be pressing charges and I would hope that the council would take swift action,” Lubenow said.

Maynard responded to that and said that a criminal complaint was filed against him and that nothing criminal was found during the investigation.

Kotewa made a motion that city council issues a directive to Maynard to refrain from raising his voice or engaging in conduct perceived as physical aggression at other council members during council meetings and other boards and commissions related to the city and to draft and submit a written communication of apology for his conduct to former Council Member Michele Miller, a Charter Commission Member and Council Member Kawecki and that there were no findings of a code of conduct violation.

The motion passed 4-0 with Maynard abstaining.

On Wednesday the council also considered undue influence allegations on a city administrator against Councilors Hasek and Maynard but tabled making a decision as it needs more information first.