CLAREMONT — City Councilor Abigail Kier has recommended the council publicly censure fellow Councilor Jonathan Stone at its Feb. 27 meeting for social media posts he made in December that were directed at a resident who complained about the city’s religious holiday displays in Broad Street Park.
Stone reacted angrily to Kier’s recommendation, which she said is based on Stone’s online “interaction” with resident Sam Killay — who objected to the religious displays — and his wife, Trish.
“You all should do some independent investigation to find out what the merits of this are,” Stone said to his colleagues at Wednesday’s council meeting. “I don’t know what investigation you’ve done, other than some emails sent to you, but maybe I’ll find out.”
Stone then demanded that the council discuss at its next meeting hiring independent legal counsel to investigate Mayor Charlene Lovett and whether she violated the city charter by interfering with the duties of former City Manager Ryan McNutt, who was fired in early January. Stone said the interference accusations have been stated a number of times by residents at public meetings.
Meanwhile, Lovett obtained an opinion from legal counsel on what the council’s options are regarding Stone; removing him from office is not one of them.
“The grounds for removal must be on a ‘for cause’ basis, which is somewhat identified, by the Charter, with a few scenarios such as ‘prolonged absence from or other inattention to duties, crime or misconduct in office, or as specified in the charter,’ ” the legal opinion said. “Basically, it is a very high standard in order to establish the necessary grounds for removal of a councilor. In fact, it is such a high standard that it is very rare to see such a proceeding, unless the conduct is incredibly egregious.”
Removal is only possible if “for cause” is established, according to the opinion.
Among the options spelled out are public censure, or reprimand; creating a council policy on the use of social media; and adopting a policy or resolution that defines “expectations that the council has of each of its members while serving in office,” which would be nonbinding.
Kier said the issue regarding Stone’s social media posts has been brought before the council a number of times and nothing has been done, giving the public the perception the council is ignoring the issue. While she said she respects individual rights and does not want to infringe upon them, the council is sending the wrong message by doing nothing, she said.
“I also think it is paramount to our success as a council to encourage trust in ourselves and the city through our actions,” Kier said. “I do believe we should hold ourselves to a higher standard to meet those goals. I feel if we can’t stand for civility and equality of our citizens, then how can we or anyone else take us seriously for standing for anything?
“I recommend we as a council do what is in our power which is to issue a public censure of Councilor Stone in reference to his interactions with a resident whose opinions he disagrees with.”
Killay came before the council in December and asked that the two religious holiday symbols displayed in Broad Street Park — a nativity scene and a menorah — be removed. He argued that the displays violate the First Amendment clause against establishment of religion. The city did not remove the displays, but agreed to refer the matter to the council’s policy committee, of which Stone is a member, for review. A policy proposal is expected this spring.
Soon after he made his request to the council, Killay said, he became the target of online threats and insults from Stone and others. In a December interview with the Valley News, Killay said that Stone, as a city councilor, had an obligation to conduct himself in a civil manner. Killay referred to Stone as “being downright menacing.”
In an interview, Stone denied having made threats against Killay but did not deny the content of his posts on social media. He accused Killay of threatening the city with his demands and told the Valley News that “if you’re going to poke a bear, you’re probably going to get pushback.” He also said that just because he is a member of the city council does not mean he gives up his First Amendment rights to free speech.
Neither Stone nor Lovett have publicly responded to citizens’ comments regarding Killay or the alleged violation of the charter’s interference clause.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
Correction
The web headline of this story has been updated to eliminate a garbled phrase related to an assessment issue also discussed at the meeting.
