Eddystone council votes to terminate borough manager after she accused councilwoman of racist remarks
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It was a contentious special council meeting in Eddystone Borough on Monday evening.
While the majority of the council voted in favor of terminating borough manager Dawn Jones, several residents, the council, vice president and even the mayor vehemently disagreed with the board's decision.
CBS News Philadelphia received no comment from Jones as she walked into the council meeting Monday evening where the first motion on the agenda was her termination.
Jones, seated quietly at the back, recorded on her cellphone as the motion was introduced.
Council Vice President William Stewart immediately questioned if the vote violated the borough's code of procedures.
"I ask is this termination being made with or without cause?" he said.
Stewart and one other member voted to retain Jones, and the remaining four cited insubordination and mismanagement as reasons for her termination.
The decision upset many residents in attendance, some of whom walked out in rage.
"It makes me angry. I have been angry at this borough for years," Luanne Spencer, an Eddystone Borough resident, said.
"They don't deserve to lose a such a great borough manager," Rob Yannuzzi, the borough's mayor, said. "She really was the glue that held this community together and I'm disappointed that the council voted in the way that they voted."
The 4-2 vote comes a week after a council meeting on March 11, when Jones accused Councilwoman Rachel Walker of racial discrimination and allegedly using a racial slur when asked why a Black resident, Pastor Willie Ferebee, was not hired to fill a trash truck driver position with the borough.
Walker denied the allegations on the spot.
"I was very angry, more so because I believe [Councilwoman Walker] said it," Faith Ferebee, Willie's cousin, said.
Nicole Esbin, an Eddystone resident and daughter of Councilman William Bolton, agrees with Jones' firing.
"[Jones'] account last week when she made those accusations in a public forum, why did you wait nine months as a borough manager to say these things allegedly occurred?" she said. "Why now? Ethically you had a duty to report that when it happened."
The Ferebees are demanding that Jones keep her job and Walker resign.
"We don't need that here," Faith Ferebee said, referring to Walker. "We're trying to bring people together. Unity in the community. Not to divide people. And that's what's happening."
The borough agreed to pay Jones a severance package and will appoint an interim borough manager.
Jones said she plans to take legal action against the council.
