Angst In Angier: Commissioner’s Husband Accused Of Threatening Man

Man said he was threatened over Facebook comment

By Emily Weaver
Dunn Daily Record

ANGIER – An Angier man is claiming a commissioner’s husband threatened him at the Angier Board of Commissioners meeting on March 7.

Bob Jusnes said he was attending the meeting with his wife and had just criticized the actions of the board in a comment on Facebook when Brian Hawley “burst in the back door … looking furious.”

Jusnes accused Hawley, chairman of the town’s ABC board and husband of Commissioner Loru Hawley, of insisting he meet him in the parking lot.

“He was red in the face and puffed up his chest, telling me to come out to the parking lot with him,” Jusnes wrote in a formal complaint to the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday. “I asked him if he was threatening me, a question which he ignored, and he continued to insist that I meet him in the parking lot. I informed him that I would do no such thing. After glaring at me for a while, he eventually left the building.”

Brian Hawley declined to comment on the complaint “for legal reasons” on Wednesday evening.

Jusnes said the altercation happened during a discussion of plans for the town’s new water tower. Both Hawleys expressed opposition to the new tower moving across the street from the entrance to the Whetstone subdivision where they live.

The following account comes from Jusnes’ formal complaint to the board:

“During the meeting, Commissioner Loru Hawley discussed possibly postponing a hearing regarding Angier’s water tower, which prompted members of the public to speak up and assert their presence and interest in being heard on the issue.

“At this point, during active session, Brian Hawley, Commissioner Hawley’s husband and appointed Chairman of the ABC Board in Angier, burst through the back door and began shouting. 

“‘Who’s barking back here,’ he asked angrily, and then added that he was ‘sick of people targeting [his] family.’ He moved toward where the public was seated and pointed to myself, my wife, and another gentleman seated next to us, stating, ‘you, you, and you.’ He then pointed at another person and said, ‘don’t start with me.’ 

“He was gaveled down by the mayor, spoke briefly on the issue at hand, and left the building shortly after.”

The Board of Commissioners narrowly approved a plan to make the water tower more aesthetically-pleasing, adding $500,000 to the project’s cost. The vote came on a motion from Loru Hawley.

Bob Jusnes posted the following comment on the town’s live stream Facebook video of the meeting, after the vote: “At the risk of being labeled an internet troll again, I wanted to make sure I witnessed correctly that a commissioner slipped in a half million dollar water tower upgrade to beautify and increase the value of their property? Does that not mean she has financial interest? Should she even have voted on this? Why didn’t she ask her constituents how they felt about it? So much confusion. Must be that intelligence I lack.”

Jusnes said Hawley burst back in the room with the parking lot challenge after he made that comment.

“At the close of the meeting, we approached a member of law enforcement who was present during the incident and he offered to escort us to our vehicle. Brian Hawley’s intimidation tactics, as both an individual and as an appointed Chairman of the ABC Board, were absolutely inappropriate, shameful, and wholly against the spirit of democracy and self-governance,” Junses wrote in his complaint.

Both Hawleys complained of online harassment targeting their family in the past few weeks, especially after recent shakeups on the ABC board. Bob Junses’ wife, Courtney, was a member of the board before her departure in February. Others (board members and general managers) have left in the weeks before and since then. 

Bob Junses is asking town commissioners to rethink Brian Hawley’s appointment to the ABC board. He was appointed on Dec. 31, 2020. 

Brian Hawley said his wife recused herself from the vote on his appointment. Their son now works at the ABC store, but Brian Hawley contends he knew nothing of his job application or acceptance until after his son took the job.

The ABC board voted unanimously to give the store’s new general manager discretion to increase the pay of hourly employees up to $21 per hour at a meeting on Feb. 16. Brian Hawley recused himself from the vote, according to minutes of that meeting.