What happened?
On the night of the vote, three members voted in favor, two abstained and Ferguson voted against the censure. Celina Mayor Ryan Tubbs said the censure was approved and adjourned the April 8 meeting.
However, those abstained votes are counted as “no” votes under the city charter, according to a review by the city’s legal counsel, said Joe Monaco, Celina’s director of marking and communications, on April 14.
Council members Wendie Wigginton and Brandon Grumbles abstained from the vote.
With all of the votes accounted for, there was a tie on the censure motion, which means the item failed and Ferguson was not censured, Monaco said.
Generally, the mayor could vote on a tie but was not required to on this motion.
The details
The censure order the council voted on regarded allegations of unprofessional remarks and unauthorized actions by Ferguson. The council member allegedly subjected city employees to repeated "unprofessional remarks," according to the censure order.
A censure is a formal expression of disapproval that requires a majority vote by the council, Tubbs said at the April 8 meeting.
Council members Andy Hopkins and Mindy Koehne initiated the censure process. Ahead of the vote, Ferguson denied any wrongdoing and said the censure was politically motivated and meant to affect his re-election campaign for Celina City Council.
Ferguson is running for re-election against local realtor Dorothy Allan.
