FLINT, MI — Mayor Sheldon Neeley has issued an executive order, designating an employee parking garage beneath City Hall as off-limits to the public because of recent “threats of physical violence and intimidation” against city officials.
Neeley announced the order on Friday, May 12, four days after a Flint City Council meeting in which 9th Ward Councilwoman Eva Worthing received a police escort to her vehicle and 4th Ward Councilwoman Judy Priestley said she “didn’t feel really safe” and reported that audience members followed her as she walked to her vehicle.
The mayor told MLive-The Flint Journal that the order is in response to threats made against council members after they met at the Genesee County administration building on Monday, May 8.
Worthing, Priestley and council President Allie Herkenroder walked out of that meeting, which was marred by bitter bickering among council members and heckling by the audience.
“This is the first of several forthcoming actions to ensure the safety of council members and city employees,” Neeley said in a statement. “Several upcoming council meetings will take place in the dome at City Hall, and we want to be proactive about ensuring the safety of everyone in attendance.”
The City Council is meeting outside its chambers — at the county building and the dome — during the renovation of the chambers.
The city announced the new executive order in a news release, which says the mayor has the authority to “determine the use of space within City Hall and within city boundaries.”
But 6th Ward Councilwoman Tonya Burns said Neeley’s new order isn’t necessary and said the meeting Monday grew out of order because it was poorly run by 2nd Ward Councilwoman Ladel Lewis.
The council debate during its Special Affairs meeting stretched for more than four hours and members who remained never dealt with any business on the regular meeting agenda because the county building closed for the evening at 9:30 p.m.
Lewis warned one audience member at the meeting about possible removal and declared there was “chaos in the chamber” before calling a recess after Priestley, Herkenroder and Lewis left the meeting.
“If you put nine people (together) you’re going to have” disagreements, Burns said. “Sometimes you have to work through the difficulties.”
Burns said there’s no history of threats being made in the city parking garage and said audience members were coming and going from the county parking area, not following council members.
Neeley’s order designates the city parking garage as a non-public area and says it can only be used by only city employees and their passengers.
Anyone who isn’t authorized to be in the garage is loitering, a violation of city ordinance, and could be arrested and prosecuted, the city’s announcement says.
Read more at The Flint Journal:
After heckling, threats and ‘chaos,’ 3 Flint council members walk out of meeting
HIV-positive Flint man charged again with sex crimes. This time, the victim is a child
Influential Flint pastor, A.J. Pointer, remembered as ‘kind and gentle person’
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