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Public commenter urges resignation over legal filings; Commissioner Hoyte declines and later says he will not resign
Summary
At the Aug. 6 meeting a resident accused Commissioner Damon Hoyte of extensive court filings and urged him to resign; Hoyte declined to answer questions publicly and later said he had considered resigning but chose to remain on the commission.
A member of the public confronted Commissioner Damon Hoyte at the Aug. 6 commission meeting, alleging he had filed multiple court actions against the county and an EEOC complaint and urging him to resign.
Steve Wagner, a resident who identified experience in law enforcement and criminal justice, asked Hoyte a series of questions about a superior-court case he referenced as 23CD072 and about magistrate-court pleas. Wagner said he had been unable to find a one-million-dollar lawsuit he had heard rumored and said he would continue investigating. He told the board he had submitted open-records requests and that taxpayers bear the cost of legal actions involving the commission.
When Wagner asked Hoyte about specific courtroom actions and filings, Hoyte said there were matters he could not discuss and declined to answer some questions on the record. County Attorney Bin Minter reminded attendees of the policy that commissioners are not required to answer public questions during the meeting.
After an executive session later in the meeting, Commissioner Hoyte told the board he had once prepared a resignation letter following election results but ultimately discarded it and would not resign. He asked those seeking his removal to pursue the formal processes available to them.
What the record shows and does not show: Wagner made multiple factual claims about case numbers and counts of motions. Those claims were presented by a private commenter and were not substantiated in the transcript. Hoyte did not provide detailed answers to Wagner’s specific allegations during the meeting; the county attorney declined to force responses. The meeting record does show Hoyte abstained from a separate vote on a conditional-use permit for 110 Stagecoach Road.
