“This is a Kangaroo Court,” shouted Council President Kurt Fankhauser multiple times as things finally came to a head Tuesday night. Citing rules barring a Council President from residing over his own censure, Council removed Fankhauser temporarily, making Councilperson Kevin Myers President pro-temp.
Councilperson Aaron Sharrock then motioned to censure Councilperson at-large Carolyn Shireman for her repeated attacks on constituents and disruptive behavior in Council chambers. Fankhauser attempted in vain to take the gavel back to protect Shireman, but it was too late as Shireman was censured on a unanimous 6 person vote (Shireman abstained).
Sharrock then motioned to censure Fankhauser as well, citing his unprovoked defamation of fellow Council members through his YouTube page. Fankhauser vehemently objected, claiming Council was only doing this out of retaliation for “the truth coming out,” and calling the meeting a “Kangaroo Court" several times. Council disagreed as they voted 6–1 to censure the City Council President (Shireman voted no).
Upon being reinstated as Council President, a visibly rattled Fankhauser attempted to censure Councilperson Sharrock, citing “bad language on September 19th.” Shireman made the motion for him, but as nobody would second the motion, it never went beyond that. By lashing out, however, Fankhauser lent legitimacy to the charge of censure some view as largely ceremonial.
This all stems from Fankhauser’s YouTube channel where he frequently berates his fellow Council members and outright accuses the members he disagrees with of crimes. Fankhauser does not allow comments on these videos, presumably because he can’t defend his accusations, according to those close to the situation.
It remains to be seen how Fankhauser will respond to a united Council who has finally had enough of his antics.
