West Des Moines City Council votes to terminate contract with private security firm Conley Group
West Des Moines IA August 21 2021
When West Des Moines City Council members voted unanimously Monday to terminate the city’s contract with The Conley Group, a Des Moines-based private security company, a full council chamber broke out in applause.
The city plans to give notice to the company tomorrow, Mayor Steve Gaer said, that it will end its agreement in 30 days.
The council originally planned to give notice about its plans to terminate its contract with the firm on Aug. 2, but officials backtracked after receiving a letter from Conley’s attorney indicating the move might expose the city and individual councilors to legal action.
West Des Moines city officials launched an internal investigation on July 21 after a Des Moines Register investigation revealed that Tom Conley, the company’s CEO, wrote in emails to Des Moines city officials that participants in racial justice protests last year engaged in “terrorism” and also referred to members of the central Iowa-based Black Liberation Movement as “little sissy b******” on his Facebook page.
Gaer invited people for and against the resolution to speak during Monday’s meeting.
Three people spoke in support of ending the resolution. None spoke against it. State Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines, attended the meeting but did not speak on the issue.
West Des Moines resident Rachelle Long told city councilors that she supported the resolution, saying the city needed to be careful not to set a precedent that the city would do business with people who held viewpoints like Conley’s.
“We need to set a precedent for Mr. Conley and anyone else that wants to do business or spend our taxpayer dollars that if this is how you feel, if this is how you think — not only Mr. Conley, but any and everyone else that feels that way — we should not support that,” she said.
Gaer told residents earlier this month that the city would not have renewed its contract with the company in 2022 whether the motion passed or not — in part because the city will no longer have use for Conley’s services.
“With the millions of dollars of renovations that we’ve made to City Hall, we no longer need this security service,” Gaer said at the council’s Aug. 2 meeting.
 “This service is going to be addressed based on the public safety improvements we already made to the building, so I can assure you, whether this gets legally terminated in 30 days or it expires at the end of the year, we’re no longer going to need a security firm in City Hall.”
The City of Des Moines, which also has a contract with The Conley Group valued at $250,000, has not yet made a decision on whether to extend or terminate its contract with the company. City officials have said they continue to investigate Conley’s comments and further consider the city’s options, and that “there will not be an item on a council agenda … until that process is concluded.”
Des Moines Register
