{"id":10007,"date":"2023-04-06T21:59:14","date_gmt":"2023-04-06T21:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=10007"},"modified":"2023-04-07T00:47:17","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T00:47:17","slug":"at-the-city-council-an-outbreak-of-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2023\/04\/06\/at-the-city-council-an-outbreak-of-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"At the City Council, an outbreak of peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Any Durhamites who showed up to City Hall on Monday night expecting to witness another profanity-laced screaming match between members of the City Council may have been surprised by Mayor Elaine O\u2019Neal\u2019s declaration of Peace Month.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI, as your mayor,\u201d intoned O\u2019Neal from the podium near the start of the April 3 meeting, \u201chereby declare peace over this chamber.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This peace came after a difficult couple of weeks for the Council, which was expected to vote on <\/span>a resolution to censure<\/span><\/a> Council member Monique Holsey-Hyman over allegations of using city staff for political activities. Instead, O\u2019Neal announced that the Council had referred the allegations to \u201cthe appropriate authorities,\u201d and called for residents and officials to refocus on the Bull City\u2019s other issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the mayor neared the end of her Peace Month proclamation, she looked up from her paper and slowed her speech. Her eyes swept the audience and the dais as she implicitly signaled an end to at least the public portion of the Council\u2019s infighting, a saga that included allegations of fisticuffs in City Hall (disputed).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI hereby declare and decree peace over this City Hall. I hereby decree and declare peace over this Council. And I hereby declare and decree peace over our employees, and I hereby decree and declare peace over all the City of Durham.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sitting shoulder to shoulder on the dais, the city officials took turns attempting to cast the light of peace on their prior disagreements. Mayor Pro Tem Mark-Anthony Middleton took O\u2019Neal\u2019s dramatic rhetoric a step further by quoting Abraham Lincoln\u2019s second inaugural address, delivered near the end of the bloodiest conflict in American history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work that we are in to bind up the wounds of the nation,\u201d Middleton said, also citing the impact of Middleton\u2019s recent visits to the Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. memorials in Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the Council work session on March 23, Holsey-Hyman was accused of two possible legal violations, including offering to support a property developer\u2019s project in exchange for a campaign donation. That extortion allegation was referred to the State Board of Investigations, and Holsey-Hyman has not discussed the accusation.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was also accused of recruiting city staff to work on a future political campaign, which would violate both North Carolina law and Durham policy regarding partisan or political activity by city employees. Holsey-Hyman denied these allegations, saying that her actions were not in violation of any laws. Holsey-Hyman, appointed to the Council in May of 2022 to fill a vacancy, is the newest member. Her seat is up for election this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After that dramatic work session, a recording surfaced of Council Member DeDreana Freeman yelling at Mayor Pro Tem Mark-Anthony Middleton, shouting expletives with the accusation \u201cthis is how you treat Black women\u201d in apparent reference to the resolution to censure Holsey-Hyman.<\/span><\/p>\n

Different local sources made different claims about the physicality of that interaction. INDY week <\/span>reported that<\/span><\/a> Freeman allegedly struck both Council member Leonardo Williams and Mayor O\u2019Neal in an attempt to get at Middleton after the work session. WRAL, however, <\/span>interviewed a witness<\/span><\/a> who said Freeman did not attempt to strike Middleton, and that \u201cshe was just talking with her hands.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In regard to Holsey-Hyman, O\u2019Neal laid out three other options, based on advice from a professor at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government: The Council could decide to take no action, discuss the allegations in open session and vote to censure, or call for an investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

By choosing a fourth path \u2014 referring both allegations to law enforcement \u2014 the Council removed itself from the process.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI will be making no further public comments on this issue while it is under investigation. And I would ask all to do the same,\u201d said O\u2019Neal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Holsey-Hyman did not directly address the extortion allegations. She used her time to talk about her efforts last month to help a local single father secure housing for himself and his three daughters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I put my name in the hat to be a City Council member, it was about service. It was not about a title. It was not about power,\u201d she told the chamber. \u201cIt was about service.\u201d The audience applauded.<\/span><\/p>\n

Freeman, the member who allegedly attempted to physically attack Middleton, remained silent for that portion of the meeting. She spoke up on a later topic to join Council member Javiera Caballero in commending the successful communication between a developer and community members.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had some wounds,\u201d said Middleton. He looked down the dais and addressed each Council member by name.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet us get back to work.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Any Durhamites who showed up to City Hall on Monday night expecting to witness another profanity-laced screaming match between members of the City Council may…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10010,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[104,134],"class_list":["post-10007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-government","tag-durham-city-council","tag-elaine-oneal","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nAt the City Council, an outbreak of peace - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After allegations of shenanigans and a backroom brawl, the mayor reads a proclamation for peace.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2023\/04\/06\/at-the-city-council-an-outbreak-of-peace\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"At the City Council, an outbreak of peace - 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