Tensions mounted at Thursday night’s Plymouth City Council Meeting, and not just between the council and the public.  According to Maria Nunez-Simon, Mayor Jon Colburn made a disconcerting statement at Tuesday’s Supervisor’s Meeting in Jackson, where the mayor stated that he was there “representing the Plymouth City Council.”  Several other citizens came forward to state they had heard the same statement.  The mayor disagreed with Mrs. Nunez-Simon by stating that he had said he was there representing the “citizens of Plymouth.” Mrs. Nunez-Simon’s concern was whether or not the Mayor had the right to speak for all members of the council. Additionally, there were brief moments of disagreement about items on the agenda and what would be tabled for the next meeting. 

At one point, the Mayor reminded the council members that all calls to the city attorney should first be approved by the Mayor or the City Administrator.  It was implied that this statement was in response to Vice Mayor Fordyce’s recent call to the city attorney due to the fact that the Mayor had accused the Vice Mayor and one other person of violating the Brown Act.  The Vice Mayor indicated that she would call the city attorney any time that anyone was making “false accusations” about her or another member of the council.  Vice Mayor Fordyce went on to say that her purpose in serving on the city council was to protect the interests of the people of Plymouth. Perhaps one of the most dramatic comments came from Gary Colburn, a citizen of Plymouth and the brother of the mayor. Mr. Colburn stated that the hiring of the new City Administrator, H. Dixon Flynn was a “ray of sunshine” to the city of Plymouth, and indicated that the citizens of Plymouth had been “made to suffer” over the last four years, citing significant “evidence of dysfunction” with the prior members of the city council.  Conversely, another citizen had only criticism for the new city administrator.