Censure vote fails against Allegheny County Councilwoman Bethany Hallam

Allegheny County Council voted down Tuesday night an attempt to censure Councilwoman Bethany Hallam over foul language she directed at a fellow board member earlier this month.

Council members voted 3-10 for the censure, with two council members abstaining. Several council members said it was inconsistent to bring a censure vote against Hallam, citing that other members of council have cursed in meetings before and never faced a censure vote.

The censure vote came two weeks after Hallam got into a spat with a fellow member of the county’s Jail Oversight Board.

Hallam, a Democrat from Pittsburgh’s North Side, said the censure attempt was politically motivated. She was pleased the issue was finally put to rest.

“I am glad that we put an end to this political stunt that was this censure motion,” she said.

The feud arose during a Jail Oversight Board meeting on Jan. 5, when Hallam asked Allegheny County Jail Warden Orlando Harper about a corrections officer who allegedly brought contraband into the jail. Harper said that it was a “personnel matter.”

When pressed about why the investigation against the officer wasn’t made public, Harper said investigations that are still being undertaken by law enforcement are not reported to the public.

Oversight board member Judge Elliot Howsie agreed He said Harper had given his answer.

Hallam then questioned why the board was not informed about the investigation into the officer.

A back-and-forth ensued where Howsie said they should move on but Hallam said business was not finished. As Howsie continued to say business should move on, Hallam muttered the word under her breath.

“Did you call me a ‘p——k’ ?” asked Howsie.

“Yes,” Hallam responded. “That is like the nicest word I could say right now, the way you talk to me.”

“Fair enough,” the judge said. “Hope everyone heard that.”

Councilmen Sam DeMarco, R-North Fayette, and Bob Macey, D-West Mifflin, sponsored the censure vote. They both said Hallam’s language directed at Howsie was out of bounds.

DeMarco said Hallam’s behavior is “beneath the dignity of our office.”

Macey said he understands using vulgar language when a discussion is heated, but said that there is difference between that and attacking another elected official.

However, most council members disagreed with DeMarco and Macey.

Council President Pat Catena, D-Carnegie, said he understands what led to Hallam’s frustrations. He said it is difficult to get straight answers out of Allegheny County Jail officials at oversight board meetings, and said that Howsie sometimes makes that more difficult.

Councilman Paul Klein, D-Shadyside, said this censure attempt made an already obscure standard to censure even more meaningless.

Councilwoman Liv Bennett, D-North Side, said other members of council have cursed and not been censured.

“We have seen this happen on our own body, and nothing has happened,” Bennett said.

Councilman DeWitt Walton, D-Hill District, who often clashes with Hallam, abstained from the vote. He admitted he has cursed on council and defended the right to do so.

“People who live in glass houses should not throw rocks,” Walton said.

Additionally, four people spoke during the meeting’s public comment period and defended Hallam.

Tanisha Long, an activist from Crafton, said that the censure attempt against Hallam “looks partisan” and “looks sexist” because other members of council have used foul language before and not faced censures.

“This is trying to silence one of the few people on council who stands up for incarcerated people,” Long said.

Hallam is not the only council member to face a recent censure vote. In April, a censure vote failed against Councilman Tom Duerr, D-Bethel Park. Duerr abstained from the censure vote against Hallam, citing that he thought the vote was rushed and the matter should have been discussed during a committee meeting.

Earlier in January, Joanna Doven, who runs a public relations business, announced a challenge to Hallam’s seat. The race for the Democratic at-large council seat has already attracted considerable attention and contention, particularly on social media.