By Emily Weaver
Dunn Daily Record
ANGIER – The Angier Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to censure Commissioner Loru Boyer Hawley after voting to recuse her from the decision at its meeting Tuesday night.
Angier Town Commissioner Loru Boyer Hawley waits while Mayor Bob Jusnes asks about a vote on a resolution to censure her at a meeting Mach 5, 2024. Dunn Daily Record Photo by Emily Weaver
The resolution to censure Hawley accused her of misconduct, including “belligerent behavior” during closed sessions, “disruptive and disrespectful behavior as a member of the audience at several ABC Board meetings” and “engaging in altercations with members of the public.” It also accused her of failing to adhere to several guidelines for governance the rest of the board adopted at a meeting in January — guidelines like supporting the board’s decisions and letting go of the past. The resolution claimed Hawley showed “continued and repeated displays of disrespect … and demeaning communications” towards the town board, staff, public and local business owners.
The resolution states that “any failure to correct” her “behavior would result in further action deemed necessary and appropriate per the Board of Commissioners.”
Hawley responded with a promise to stand firm and to continue to speak her mind in her service to the voters who elected her.
“The Censure resolution presented tonight is little more than an airing of petty grievances against me by other members of the board in an effort to make me conform or be silent. It was meant to embarrass and harass. And it was meant to quiet the voice of dissent. It will not accomplish any of these goals,” she said in a statement read to the board.
“I was not elected by this board. I was elected by citizens of Angier and it is to them that I owe my allegiance. I took an oath to faithfully and dutifully serve my constituents and that is what I will continue to do,” Hawley said. “If that means disagreeing with other members of the board, then I will disagree. If it means agreeing with an action proposed by the board, it will be my obligation to do that also.
“I did not run for office so I that I could be a member of the popularity cult but rather so that I could work to move this town that I love forward. I will continue to do so openly, and proudly with acceptance of good practices and ideas and resistance to bad ones. This is my pledge to the citizens of Angier,” she said.
The mayor reminded a crowd at the meeting that a censure does not prohibit Hawley from voting or participating in discussions.
“A censure does not have any legal weight behind it,” Mayor Bob Jusnes said before reading the censure resolution. “It does not restrict anyone’s actions. … It is simply a statement that the board makes, an official statement, that it is dissatisfied or otherwise unhappy with a board member’s conduct. It’s a statement to say that this one board member doesn’t represent the board as a whole.”
Commissioner Sheveil Harmon made a motion to recuse Hawley after Hawley declined to recuse herself from the censure vote. It passed 3-1, with Hawley in dissension. Harmon then made the motion to adopt a resolution censuring Hawley, which also passed.
Yikes
Wonder how much education she has?
Censure, as it states is a useless waste of time. Move on and do the job you were elected to do with respect, that goes for both sides of this issue.
Exactly and spot on.