Weaver leaves Council meeting early, shouts 'No decorum!'

Councilman Dave Weaver stormed out of City Council chambers Tuesday night after rebuking a resident for making what he considered to be “snide comments” — the fifth time in less than 10 months he's left early, mostly during the public comment portion of the meeting.

In times past, Weaver has exited quietly out a side door as public speakers share their thoughts on city government, but this time there was finger-pointing and yelling.

The impetus: Margaret Hammond — a resident who frequently addresses the council on quality-of-life issues — implied he wasn't paying attention while she complained about bulky trash items clogging the sidewalks.

“Oh, Mr. Weaver, you look at the sky again; you look cute,” she said.

“Don't start making snide comments at me,” Weaver snapped back, calling on Mayor Frank Quintero to prevent Hammond from making personal comments about him.

After Weaver and Hammond yelled at each other, Weaver stormed out, shouting “No decorum!”

While Weaver may have been wound up after a long, tense meeting, Hammond didn't deserve to be treated like that, said Councilman Ara Najarian.

“Dave definitely should have let it go,” he said by phone Wednesday. “Every person has their own threshold of tolerance and patience. I think Dave's patience ran out.”

Before Hammond came to speak, there was a heated discussion over a controversial issue regarding the city's charter.

A resident said he planned to read excerpts from the charter at future meetings, which Weaver said he didn't want to listen to.

“You have to sit here with the rest of us,” Quintero told him.

Reached by phone Wednesday, Quintero added: “It's never a good idea to leave the dais.”

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