Flint, MI— Councilman Eric Mays was removed from the Special City Council Meeting Monday, March 1, 2021, after accusations that he was inebriated.
It started after he tried to to add a discussion item to the agenda to discuss whether Council President Kate Fields could, “keep messing with people speaking factually.”
Fields asked Mays directly if he was inebriated, and Councilman Maurice Davis said he believed Mays was “drunk” and that he should not be in the meeting.
Mays denied being drunk or inebriated and said he despised his colleagues saying that about him.
“When I start telling the truth on y’all, y’all wanna accuse me and discredit me of being inebriated,” Mays said. “I’ll volunteer to take a breathalyzer test…y’all got a lot of nerve trying to discredit me, a senior Black councilperson of being inebriated.”
Councilwoman Monica Galloway said her colleagues’ accusations were “defamatory,” and asked how they could know if somebody is inebriated through the phone.” City council meetings are held digitally due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fields said she believed he was impaired because of his “slurred speech” and behavior.
Mays’s proposed discussion item was put to a vote. Mays said “I vote ‘no’ that Kate Fields should let people speak.” A ‘no’ vote meant that he voted against the addition of his discussion item.
The discussion item failed, and Mays claimed he was not asked for his vote. After arguing that his vote was not counted, Fields removed him from the meeting citing disorderly conduct.
On March 2, Mays told Flint Beat that he was not drunk, but that he was “a little tired, and a little sick.”
He said if he were to accuse his colleagues of being inebriated, it would be called a “personal attack,” and said there was a double standard on the council.