SECOND UPDATE (11pm of 5-9-13) ON 5-9-13 PRESS CONFERENCE
ANNOUNCING MAYOR BETTIS'S 2-MONTH LEAVE OF ABSENCE
According to Ward 1 Alderman and 2013 mayor pro tem, Sabrina Bengel, in answer to questions I posed to her today, she will fulfill the mayor's duties in his absence and in accordance with the City of New Bern Charter, which follows:
"Sec. 6. - Mayor and mayor pro tem.
At its first meeting in the month of December, the board of aldermen shall choose one of its members as mayor pro tem to serve for a term of one year. The mayor pro tem shall act as mayor whenever the mayor shall be absent from the city or be prevented by sickness or other cause from attending to the duties of his office and he shall possess all the rights and powers of the mayor during the continuance of such vacancy, absence or disability. The mayor shall preside at meetings of the board of aldermen and shall exercise such other powers and perform such other duties as are or may be conferred and imposed upon him by the general laws of North Carolina, by this Charter and the ordinances of the city. The mayor shall have the right to vote on any question before the board of aldermen only in the case of a tie. He shall be recognized as the head of the city government for all ceremonial purposes, by the courts for serving civil processes, and by the governor, for purposes of military law.
(Session Laws 1983, ch. 266, § 1; Session Laws 1985, ch. 64, § 4; Res. of 2-22-00(2), § 1)"
*Reporter's NOTE: Contrary to the next to last sentence in the above charter excerpt, the BOA petitioned the NC Gen Assembly on 1-11-11 to allow the mayor to vote on all questions coming before the Board. This was approved and Mayor Bettis first exercised that duty on 6-14-11.
Mayor pro tem Bengel stated the City was relying solely on the information presented in this afternoon’s press conference as to an official beginning and ending date to Mayor Bettis's absence (none were given), but referred to the City Charter that she is required to serve in the absence of the mayor (which the press conference stated was to be 2 months). If calculated from today, that would put Mayor Bettis's return to duty at July 9, 2013, the day after the official filing date of July 8th for candidates wishing to be on the October ballot for municipal elections. Mayor Bettis announced in February of this year that he would not seek a second term as he had accomplished all that he had set out to do. His leave of absence also means he will not be participating in budget planning activities for the upcoming fiscal year 2014. Regarding any further action to be taken by the Board upon hearing the press conference information about the mayor's leave or in response to this week's events of: the traffic citations issued to Mayor Bettis; the 911 call accusations of domestic violence reported by his wife not quite 48 hours later; or the serious health conditions that Mayor Bettis reported to various media including the ones that he was made aware of by the EMTs at the scene of where LE pulled him over this Monday morning (hip replacement surgery in Oct '12, hit by a bus in Dec '12, abnormally high BP indicative of a cardiac event May 6th '13), she stated "the Board has not taken up any specific issue regarding the mayor, but it's in the Board's discretion to take up any issue it desires at any time it desires, provided it complies with the public notice requirements."
As of late this afternoon, Ward 6 Alderman Dana Outlaw said that he needed one more alderman to join him in requesting a special called meeting "to discuss the Mayor of the City of New Bern". His response to that lack of action and the current state of city government leadership was to tell me, "It is actually all about the citizens of New Bern suffering from a lack of judgment in no one along with me calling for a special meeting" to plan or provide remedy for the situation.
Mayor Bettis will continue to draw pay while he is on his leave. When asked if this leave removes him from any liability to the city and its taxpayers should he incur anymore legal citations or medical events, Mayor pro tem Bengel answered, "No; however, public officials are immune from liability when acting in their official capacity - with a few very rare exceptions".
When I listened to the WCTI-TV Ch12 11pm report of May 9th, their reporter attributed these same answers above, as coming from the City Attorney, Scott Davis.
UPDATE ON 5-9-13 PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCING
MAYOR BETTIS'S 2-MONTH LEAVE OF ABSENCE
In researching the various media accountings of Nicole Bettis's 911 call in the wee hours of this past Wednesday morning, I found that WNCT TV Ch 9 was reporting that Mrs. Bettis had communicated with their reporter Madeleine Wright via voice and text phone calls. So, that piqued my curiosity and I set about to ascertain what the taxpayers' burdens might be in this convoluted scenario of 'she said/she said not'. I made a phone call at 1:50 pm to Maj. Jason Wank, PIO for Carteret Cty Sheriff's Office. Maj. Wank informed me that earlier today he had spoken himself to WNCT reporter Wright and was informed that when Mrs. Bettis learned that her 911 call would be made public, she changed her story. He reported that currently there is no investigation to ascertain who, in fact, made the 2:10am Wed., May 8th 911 call or whether that call was for a valid incident.
At this juncture, I insert my observation that when a reporter at today's press conference asked Mrs. Bettis's father, Mr. Bill McClure, "who exactly made that 911 call?", the personal family assistant/Bettis Law Firm business mgr Susan Namowicz pulled him back and shook her head indicating 'no' and stated "no comment". Continuing my conversation with Maj. Wank, he said that he had not heard nor watched the noon press conference (chronicled below). So, I relayed Mrs. Bettis's father's quote regarding her 911 call : "My wife and I have been with him since this past Sunday and know that Lee did not injure or harm our daughter or grandchildren," Maj. Wank's response was, "Mrs. Bettis's father can claim whatever he likes, we would need to speak to Mrs. Bettis herself to hear if she was to tell a different story" that she was not the caller and/or that she was not abused by her husband. At that point and "if a case in the future is opened where Mrs. Bettis reports she did not make the call and then, after an investigation of that claim is made, we would discuss our findings with District Attorney Scott Thomas. The DA would then be determining the exact charges that would be brought, if any. Should the case be adjudicated, the presiding judge would render a decision and assess the penalties accordingly". Our office would not have dispatched a deputy to that address and filed the report we did if the claims made by Mr. McClure were true. Maj. Wank said that a deputy was in fact dispatched and as a result of his investigation he determined he had reason to arrest Mayor Bettis, but Mrs Bettis declined to prosecute him so we did not arrest him. Maj. Wank also emphasized that the Carteret County Sheriff's Office is not conducting any investigation into the validity of Mrs. Bettis's 911 call or the information she relayed within that call. Further, he said that, "in my 20 years of experience, the office has not investigated a reversible case". He said she or any compaintant has up to two (2) years to change her mind and refute the claims. He also stated that it is a matter of routine that when a domestic violence call is made, these cases are referred to the Carteret County Dept of Social Services for investigation into matters that they have responsibility for and that did happen in Mrs. Bettis's case.
Below is the original story:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAYOR BETTIS' LAW FIRM BUSINESS MGR/FAMILY PERSONAL ASSISTANT & BETTIS' FATHER-IN-LAW HOLD SUDDEN PRESS CONFERENCE - 9 MAY 2013
At 12:05 today, 9 May 2013, Mayor Bettis's father-in-law, Bill McClure, as well as a Ms. Susan Namowitz, who identified herself as the business manager employed by the Bettis Law Firm and a personal assistant to the Bettis Family, held a sudden press conference in front of the Bettis Law Firm New Bern office on Craven Street.
First to speak, Mr. Bill McClure read a statement praising his son-in-law, the New Bern mayor, for his virtues as a good husband, provider and father to his daughter and her children. He stated that both he and his wife had been living with Mayor Bettis, his wife Nicole and his two grandchildren since this pastSunday (5 May 2013) and that despite the 911 call to Carteret County Dispatcher made by his daughter, Mayor Bettis's wife Nicole, at 2:10am on Wed., 8 May 2013, there was in fact no domestic violence incident and therefore no harm done to either his daughter nor his grandchildren. He continued by saying that the entire family is working to provide a safe and nurturing environment for their children. He also asked for the public and media to respect the privacy of his family members as they work through this difficult time.
Next, Ms. Susan Namowitz read a statement on behalf of Mayor Bettis which stated he would be taking a two (2) month leave of absence to take care of family issues.
Despite two (2) reporters asking five (5) questions, including who made the 911 Carteret County Dispatch call and will the mayor resign his mayoral position, neither spokesperson answered any saying there was no further statement at this time.
This reporter also notes that no date was given for the effective date to neither begin nor end the leave of absence. According to city officials, Mayor pro-tempore Sabrina Bengel will officially assume mayoral duties for the City Of New Bern.
To refresh the readers, I would refer them to any of the local media sites to read of the various controversial situations encountered by Mr. Lee W. Bettis Jr., this week.
Rhonda Taylor
CCTA Watchdog for New Bern Board of Aldermen
New Bern, Ward 6
No comments:
Post a Comment