Suzy Davis, a member of the Jefferson County Health Department Board of Trustees, was censured by fellow board members Tuesday morning.
The board voted 3-1 to censure Davis, who voted against the action.
Board chairperson Dennis Diehl and board members Tim Pigg and Amber Henry voted in favor of the censure, and board member James Prater was absent from the meeting.
Diehl read the resolution calling for the censure during the special meeting.
According to the resolution, Davis has not followed board bylaws, and if she continues to defy them, as other trustees have claimed, they could take steps to impeach her and remove her from the board.
“We have policies, we have procedures, and we're asking you to follow those,” Diehl said. “We're not asking you to change your opinions, We're not asking you to not vote however you want to vote. That is fine. But, once a vote is taken and the majority of the board rules, that's the policy of the Health Department, and if you don’t want to follow that, that’s a problem.”
Diehl cited several bylaws Davis allegedly has not upheld, including trying to tour the Health Department unaccompanied and without a scheduled visit.
He said last week Davis showed up for an unscheduled visit and livestreamed part of it on Facebook, which showed clients and interrupted the business of the department.
Diehl said Davis previously had at least one scheduled visit set up, but did not show up.
“Whereas to the course of her tenure as a trustee, Miss Davis regularly comes to board meetings late and unprepared,” Diehl read from part of the resolution. “She does not adequately review the board packets provided to her in advance of meetings so that she can take part in meaningful discussion. She's been offered the opportunity to ask questions to the chairman and director regarding information in her board packet prior to the meeting. Yet she refuses to do so.”
Diehl said Davis also “routinely” undermines the board when it comes to COVID-19 mitigation measures.
He said Davis also does not follow Robert’s Rules of Order, “talking over other members, refusing to adhere to a question on the floor, attempting to utilize public meetings as a personal forum for a personal opinion.”
After the resolution was read, Davis said she had just received a copy of it and didn’t have time to review it, so she wanted the vote to be tabled so she could go over it with an attorney and respond to every point.
“What is the procedure that I have as a board member to adequate due process in order to refute, explain the things you have mentioned throughout this document,” she said.
Diehl said she could discuss her points during the meeting.
Davis said she represents the majority of Jefferson Countians because they vote Republican.
According to final election results in the June 5, 2020, election, Davis received 6,463 votes, or 24.43 percent of the 26,453 votes.
“I am representing the people who have not chosen to get the jab,” she said.
The Health Department board is nonpartisan, and members do not run under a political party.
“This is not a partisan issue so that is totally irrelevant,” Diehl said.
Pigg also said he believes Davis has violated board bylaws, including a section about supporting the department’s director, Kelley Vollmar.
Davis asked for a specific time she did not support Vollmar, and Pigg cited an example from earlier this year when Davis voted against accepting extra COVID-19 vaccines from St. Louis County.
“The vaccines weren't mandated; we're giving everybody access,” he said.
Pigg said Davis is not concerned about people’s health, but instead wants to push her agenda regarding the Second Amendment and other issues that don’t fall under the Health Department’s purview.
Investigation
Also at Tuesday’s special meeting, the board voted 3-1, with Davis casting the sole no vote, to extend the scope of an investigation into previously filed complaints against a board member and against a Health Department employee.
Diehl said he could not name the board member or the employee under investigation, but he hopes to have the investigation completed within a month.
He also said there had been several complaints filed against both the board member and the employee, although he would not elaborate on the complaints.
Before the vote, Davis said the board has not answered a letter from a resident who filed one of the complaints months ago.
“I have never heard one thing addressed on that letter,” she said.
Diehl said that is part of the investigation.
Davis votes no
Davis voted against every motion during the meeting, including approval of the agenda, going into closed session and returning to an open session after the closed meeting.
She also said she was worried the board planned to discuss her censure in the closed session, even though the item was on the agenda for the open meeting and not on the closed meeting agenda.
Before the meeting started, Davis was not wearing a mask and was asked to put one on or leave.
She said she didn’t need to wear a mask because she was vaccinated, but when she was asked for proof, she said she didn’t have any with her.
“I am as healthy as anyone here and you can’t prove otherwise,” she said.
Coleman told Davis if she could not show a vaccination card, she would have to wear a mask or leave and if she would not wear a mask and refused to leave, she would be trespassing.
A Hillsboro Police officer was parked outside the Health Department, and Diehl got up to get the officer, but then Davis agreed to put on a mask.
