LYNCHBURG, Va. – Lynchburg City Council is in the hot seat once again, after Councilman Marty Misjuns was censured during Tuesday night’s meeting. This comes after several citizens spoke, calling for his removal.
”Councilman Misjuns is not just wasting our time and our attention, but actively looking to harm our community by sowing hate and bigotry,” one Lynchburg resident said.
This was just one of several complaints made by the public Tuesday night, criticizing Councilman Misjuns.
But this isn’t the first time he’s come under fire.
Back in 2021, while Misjuns was still the fire captain, he posted a controversial cartoon on social media about transgender individuals.
Several speakers at the meeting also alleged that Misjuns attempted to spy on Mayor Stephanie Reed and Vice Mayor Chris Faraldi.
But some people spoke on his behalf, including Lynchburg resident Kimberly Wynn.
“Asking Councilmember Misjuns to step down for doing what others on this council have done is absurd,” Wynn said.
In the end, council members were asked to comment on the situation before voting to censure.
Councilman Jeff Helgeson said censuring isn’t the way to go.
”Don’t vote to censure,” Helgeson said. “Vote for you to talk. Vote to have private conversations. Vote to pull our community together in love.”
Misjuns responded to the comments by saying he plans to continue forward.
I will continue fighting for the taxpayer, and more importantly the children of this city,” Misjuns said.
The vote to censure Misjuns passed, 5-2. He will forfeit his council salary for one month as a result.
10 News spoke with people in Lynchburg to see how they feel about the public disagreements between the city council.
One couple said it’s unacceptable.
”Their roles are to support the community, to solve problems in the community and if they’re not, it’s not working,” Rodney Bradley said.
They went on to say that the council just looks bad to the people they serve.
”We are taxpayers,” Jessica Bradley said. “We pay so they can get a salary, that’s the truth. So they deserve to be a role model for society, for the next generation, our kids.”
We reached out multiple times to the city council, including Misjuns, in an attempt to speak with them, but they were either unavailable or did not respond.
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