DES MOINES, Iowa — Indira Sheumaker, the Des Moines City Council member representing Ward I, released a statement July 11 to explain her absence from city council proceedings since May 23.
"In late May of this year, I contracted COVID-19 and was incapacitated, and largely isolated from friends and family for over a week," Sheumaker wrote. "As someone who suffers from severe clinical depression and anxiety, this isolation and relegation to one room of my home caused a huge dip in my mental health and well-being."
Sheumaker also said that a lack of accessibility accommodations for city council meetings exacerbated her time away from work. She claims that if the city switched to a hybrid virtual meeting model, as Des Moines residents with disabilities have asked for, she could have attended those meetings.
RELATED: As COVID restrictions disappear, disability advocates feel their needs are being disregarded
A local activist group that organizes around the city council, the Des Moines People's Town Hall, has repeatedly tweeted about a lack of accessibility accommodations during city council meetings, most recently in February 2022.
Sheumaker's explanation comes shortly after Axios published a story highlighting concerns about Sheumaker missing three city council work sessions and two city council meetings.
Axios reported that city employees and her constituents alike have been unable to reach her. City Manager Scott Sanders told Axios neither he nor Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie have received any response from Sheumaker despite repeated attempts to speak with her.
Reactions from the Des Moines community about Sheumaker's statement on social media have been mixed. Jaylen Cavil, a community organizer with the Des Moines Black Liberation Movement, showed his support for Sheumaker succinctly with three heart emojis.
But other, anonymous twitter users called Sheumaker a "coward" in the replies, and said this behavior is unacceptable and that she should resign from her position if she can't fulfill her duties.
Sheumaker attributed negative reactions from community members about her absences to their political differences.
"People who have never agreed with my politics may attempt to use my health issues to discredit me and the movement I am a part of, but my politics have not changed," Sheumaker wrote. "My individual health does not negate the reality of the world we live in, and my commitment to the people of Des Moines remains strong."
Still, some Ward I residents, including Tom Cameron, Prospect Park's vice president, told Axios that even though they supported Sheumaker in the 2021 city council election, her absences from meetings and radio silence mean she's lost their vote in the next election.
Sheumaker said she plans to attend the next city council meeting on July 18.