City Council Clash Sends Mayor to ER
Public discourse has often taken a turn towards incivility in the history of democracy, and our highly educated, liberal, little burg is no exception.
On Tuesday, January 26th during consideration of an MOU that resulted from closed-door salary negotiations with a city employee bargaining unit, the discussion amongst our elected city council members reached an all new low. As a result, Mayor Ruth Asmundson needed medical attention for an anxiety, heart or blood-pressure condition exacerbated by a series of highly-charged comments with Councilperson Sue Greenwald.
The full video of the Council proceedings can be viewed here. Eleven minutes of this exchange that highlight the penultimate exchange on the dais can be found here.
After leaving the dais once due to feeling physically ill, Mayor Asmundson stated,
“I’m sorry. You know, you [Sue Greenwald] are so disruptive. But I want the public to know… since I’ve worked with Sue the last 6 years, I have been to the emergency [room] four times because of her. And I’m feeling, I’m having that, it feels like I’m having another anxiety attack because of her, the way she treats everybody here. So… [inaudible because Sue Greenwald begins talking simultaneously.]”
Greenwald cuts off the Mayor in mid-sentence,
“Well Ruth, not everybody is cut out for public office.”
Seconds later, the Mayor asked Mayor Pro Tem Don Saylor to take over proceedings and she left the dais again.
Throughout all of this unrest, Saylor, Souza and Heystek remained completely calm, speaking in even tones trying to address the motion at hand. Only one minute later, while Councilmember Heystek was giving his comments, he stopped and stated that he would like to pause his comments because of what was happening off-screen in the vestibule. Saylor called a 10-minute recess.
What was happening in the vestibule? Mayor Asmundson sought medical attention from the firefighter that was on duty.
The rest of this account comes from two eyewitnesses. Both have asked for complete anonymity, and due to the serious nature of the situation, I will honor that request.
“Ruth looked like she was about to pass out while she was sitting on the bench. I don’t think that she could have even stood up. While the firefighter was checking her vitals and calling for an ambulance, several concerned people were milling around, including the City Manager.”
Then, according to both sources, Sue Greenwald walked into the vestibule, surveyed the scene and theatrically grabbed at her chest, while making a sarcastic comment that perhaps she too should feign an illness so that people would pay attention to her.
Sue also walked up to Bill Emlen, City Manager, and said,
“And you, boy, you should have stepped in and stopped this.”
At this point, David Greenwald (no relation) of The Davis Vanguard, stepped between Sue and Bill asking Sue to calm down.
Mayor Asmundson was taken away in an ambulance to Sutter Davis Hospital, then transferred to Woodland Memorial Hospital where she was admitted and stayed overnight. She was released on Wednesday after undergoing a series of tests including heart stress tests.
What was all this about? Ostensibly, it is about Sue Greenwald feeling like her actions in closed-door sessions were misrepresented as she repeatedly called Ruth Asmundson a liar. Also, Sue believes that she is never given enough time to comment. Ruth believes that she is treating everyone fairly but that Sue will be disruptive no matter what. What do you think? Watch the entire hour of proceedings and decide for yourself.
In reality, this brouhaha is about a culture of incivility in our public sphere, bordering on abuse, that has persisted for far too long and is blithely written off by some as “politics, not personal”.
I hope that this incident will convince the electorate that yes, issues are important, but so is the ability of our elected officials to work in a consensus fashion for the betterment of our community.
“I will not give up on changing the tone of our politics.” – President Barack Hussein Obama, State of the Union Address, January 27th, 2010
As far as Davis politics go, the exchange on the dais is pretty light weight. I’ve seen a lot worse over the years. But, if the events off-camera actually did unfold as described… I’m shocked. Anyone who is being treated for a medical condition deserves to be left in peace… call it a time-out, call it plain old consideration, call it empathy… call it whatever you want, just practice it. Sue should be ashamed of herself.
Like most who have been involved in local activism or politics, I have my fair share of stories about Sue’s infamous ability to alienate even her closes supporters. Although I often agree with her on the issues, to this day I cross the street when I see her coming and am reticent about entering into conversation with her.
I’ve always voted for her while holding my nose, but I can’t do that anymore. How much more harm will her appalling lack of compassion and common courtesy cause our community? I don’t want to find out. She should resign now so that we can elect a replacement in the June election.
As I’ve maintained for years, Sue and Ruth need counseling, together. They’re like two sisters who decided long ago that they’ll never understand one another and refuse to try. They just can’t stop antagonizing each other. Put one in power over the other, as has happened for the past 5 years, and you have instant drama.
Next time I’m waiting for an ambulance, I pray that Sue is out of state.
Thank you for writing about the encounter Kemble. I want to offer my sincerest thanks to Council members Souza and Heystek and Mayor Pro Tempore Saylor for their attempts to address the escalation.
After people process what occurred, I hope some constructive ideas arise to address the tenor and tone of the meetings.
Wow Kemble,
thank you for the wonderful coverage of city shenanigans! Shame, shame on Sue for her inability to control her mouth and mind. I work with people who have anxiety disorders and am shocked at the lack compassion and respect for ANY person who struggles to control anxiety. Panic and anxiety attacks are biochemical reactions to environments, toxic environments should NOT be tolerated in city council.
We all understand the tone of debate and discussion however city council should stop allowing a toxic tone in these meetings. I strongly encourage Sue to get some awareness/education about mental wellness and manners, maybe someone could call her mom so she can get a refresher on basic manners and sensitivity. Sue’s disregard and lack of sensitivity for the mayor’s anxiety attacks as reported is like telling a person with depression to “just get over it”…. I am shocked.
A lack of compassion speaks volumes about anyone in any circumstance.
Thanks for the commentary, Kemble. I hope that unfortunate event serves as a wake-up call to the Council – and the larger community – that we need a more civil public discourse. Like you said, it’s almost as important to address that issue as it is to address the myriad, daunting policy challenges we face.
While I am not impressed with Sue’s communication style, I would actually like to see Ruth and the rest of the council do a better job of putting Sue in her place (and I do *not* mean arguing with her). I have a tremendous amount of compassion for our poor mayor suffering anxiety attacks on the job! At the same time, I wish she could see that only she has the ability to rise above it and change her own response.
Kudos to Councilman Souza for his attempt to help police the situation. It’s fortunate that Don Saylor seems well prepared to handle this [i.e. Sue].
What are the steps to taking our outrage/shock/embarrassment and doing something as a community to make this different? Short of paper bagging my head out of shame when I go to other towns, I would love direction. I have written to the council. I agree with Amanda, Ruth’s response and playing along with this with her own response. Can someone tell me what to do, oh great wise people?
@Cayce – “What are the steps to taking our outrage/shock/embarrassment and doing something as a community to make this different?”
A lot of people are asking themselves the very same question. There are very few satisfying answers. I do know that many people are planning on going to the Council Meeting this Tuesday to make a comment in the initial Public Comment period… perhaps enough people of common conviction will show and a path to move forward will become clear…
Sounds like a great place to start thank you, I will be there!
:( where was everybody at the meeting, I gave it a go…. for what it was worth.