Shouting match halts City Council meeting

The argument started when the Maxwell tried to stop Walters from going what the Mayor thought was off-topic. In a discussion over fees timed to a new city diversion program to allow some people arrested for misdemeanors to avoid court entirely by entering the diversion program.

In discussing the fees, Walters tried to make the point that arrestees should be considered innocent when the Mayor told him to get back on topic and focus on the fee schedule. Walters continued to speak, then the Mayor spoke over him, leading Walters to say, "I'm not even listening to what you're saying right now."

Maxwell and Walters continued a back-and-forth discussion. Walters yelled, "You're not a Council member." Maxwell shouted back, "I am the chairman of this meeting." At which point, Council member Erica Pickett, who sits between the Mayor and Walters, suggested a ten-minute recess.

The Mayor left the Council floor for a couple of minutes, then returned to the meeting, afterward saying to a couple council members and this reporter, "That's the first time you've seen me angry…okay…the second time."

Walter frequently asks questions and makes suggestions that one Council member suggested that might not be inappropriate, but go unsaid by other Council members for the sake of unity. After an earlier Council meeting, one Council member pulled this reporter aside and said, of Walters, "He's not making friends on the Council and you can't accomplish anything if you don't work with others."