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Henderson council publicly censures Councilmember Geraldine Champion after social-media complaint
Summary
The Henderson City Council voted to publicly censure Councilmember Geraldine Champion after a formal complaint alleging false and threatening statements on a Facebook Live broadcast; the minutes record the named votes but show an apparent inconsistency in the numeric tally.
The Henderson City Council voted to publicly censure Councilmember Geraldine Champion during its Sept. 8 meeting after a formal complaint alleging defamatory statements were made during a July 29 Facebook Live broadcast.
City Attorney Hassan T. Kingsberry read the complaint from Charles Turrentine Jr., who alleged Councilmember Champion "made false, defamatory, and threatening statements" about him on social media, including accusations of sexual misconduct and bribery. Turrentine told the Council the allegations were "entirely false" and had caused reputational harm and stress.
Champion responded that she "was not speaking as an elected official on the Facebook Live session but as a private citizen," said she had court records to support her comments and denied making false statements. "I always use disclaimers in my social media posts to clarify I am not speaking on behalf of the city," she said.
Councilmember Sam Seifert moved for public censure; the motion was seconded by Councilmember Lamont Noel. The minutes record the motion as "APPROVED" with Councilmember Michael Venable listed as the lone 'NO' and list the members who voted "YES" by name. The meeting record also states the vote was "6-1," but the names shown for 'YES' result in a different count; the minutes contain this inconsistency (see audit note). The Council's operating rules permit censure by majority vote.
Councilmembers who voiced concern during the discussion emphasized that, regardless of whether a social-media statement is factually correct, elected officials are viewed as representatives of the Council when speaking publicly and should adhere to the City's Social Media Policy. "Officials are expected and required to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the City's policies and standards of conduct," Kingsberry told the Council while summarizing the policy language.
The Council did not take additional disciplinary steps at that meeting. The censure itself is a public reprimand under Council rules; the minutes do not describe any remedial or investigatory steps attached to the censure.
The meeting later moved to closed session on personnel matters and, after returning to open session, the Council accepted the immediate resignation of City Manager/City Attorney Hassan T. Kingsberry and appointed Deputy City Clerk Paylor Spruill as interim city manager.
