Raleigh mayor threatens City Council member with censure. ‘You do that,’ he retorts.
Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin threatened City Council member David Cox with censure and accused him of bullying during a virtual meeting Tuesday.
Cox told Baldwin he would “welcome” her censure.
The two have clashed throughout the last year with Cox the lone man remaining from the previous council’s majority. That majority championed themselves as “pro-neighborhood” but were also criticized as being against growth, while Baldwin has been criticized as being too close to developers.
The bickering began during a virtual meeting of the council’s Safe, Vibrant and Healthy Community Committee, during a discussion about outdoor seating in neighborhood mixed-use zoning districts.
Cox had asked city staff members to bring back a graph showing how loud patrons outside a bar would be and how that noise dissipates over distance.
“We were not able to find in the public domain research that looked at that question specifically,” said Pat Young, Raleigh’s planning director. “I think we’d have to hire an acoustic expert to ...”
“I don’t think you’d have to do that,” Cox said, interrupting Young.
Then Baldwin and Cox begin to talk over one another.
“Excuse me, everyone,” Baldwin said.
“I said I have several questions,” Cox said. “I’ll raise my hand again, but I have several questions. And several comments.”
Then Baldwin said Cox was violating the code of conduct “once again.”
He said he wasn’t and that he had told her at the beginning of the meeting he had several questions about the topic.
“Council member Cox, please stop,” Baldwin said.
“You stop,” Cox said.
“I will bring you up for censure,” Baldwin said. “I’m telling you right now.”
“You do that,” Cox said. “I welcome you to do that.”
“It would be lovely, thank you,” Baldwin said.
“Yes, it will,” Cox said.
‘We are not going to be bullied,’ mayor says
Baldwin asked that Cox not interrupt staff and that he raise his hand and be called on before speaking.
“We are going to continue to have decorum in these meetings,” Baldwin said. “We are not going to interrupt people. And we are not going to be bullied. Now stop it.”
The Baldwin called for a break and the meeting resumed after five minutes.
“I am going to remind everybody on council that they need to obey the rules of decorum and the code of conduct,” she said. “You may raise your hand. I will call on you. You will not interrupt staff. You will let them continue to speak.”
The full Raleigh City Council can vote to censure members who “intentionally and repeatedly fail to follow proper conduct,” according to the city’s code of conduct for council members.
This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 2:14 PM.
