Onslow County votes to censure county commissioner

ONSLOW COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - Commissioners in one Eastern Carolina county have voted to censure a fellow commissioner.

On a 5-2 vote, Onslow County commissioners decided to censure Walter Scott. Scott and Commissioner Lisa Carpenter voted the two no votes.

A censure is essentially a resolution showing their dissatisfaction with what Scott has been doing.

The two-page resolution to censure Scott listed a number of complaints, including repeated displays of disrespect, along with threatening and intimidating employees, including the county manager and department heads, implying wrongdoing, and accusing county management of hiding $20 million.

“So you all censure me, you all censure me for doing what I think is right. I will stand up for any employee that we have. We have allowed certain department heads to get away with whatever they want to do, going unchecked,” Scott said before the vote.

Fellow Commissioner Royce Bennett claimed last week it has been a pattern of behavior.

“There are a lot of issues that have happened within the last two years or so. The resolution doesn’t list all of them, but we could have had a much longer resolution,” said Bennett.

In April – Scott brought a document to a meeting that Bennett felt was the last straw.

Commissioners said the behavior has been ongoing for the past two years, creating a hostile work environment for some county employees.

“We’re talking about a pattern of behavior, plain and simple, a trend,” said Vice Chair Robin Knapp. “When you say certain things and you threaten employees that’s not the type of environment you want to be in. You don’t want to have someone making comments and pushing the buttons all the time.”

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