NC: MAYOR ON LEAVE AFTER DRUG CHARGES
Click here for updates on this story
ROBBINSVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — The Robbinsville Board of Aldermen has accepted Mayor Shaun Adams’ decision to take a three-month leave of absence following his arrest on Monday, August 3.
As previously reported, Adams was arrested on six felony drug charges, including trafficking, as well as misdemeanors for carrying a concealed firearm and drug paraphernalia.
On Tuesday, August 4, the Board of Alderman met for a scheduled meeting, adding the discussion regarding the mayor to the meeting agenda.
“The board cannot just automatically remove him,” Town of Robbinsville Attorney Amy Merrill said.
During the Mayor’s update at the meeting, Adams stated that he was innocent.
“I would like to say that I’m not guilty of all accusations against me,” Adams said.
Before deliberating on what would happen with Adams, the board held a nearly 30-minute closed session. Coming back out of the closed session, the board announced that Adams would take a three-month leave of absence, during which the mayor pro-tem, Jackie Ayers, would serve.
“Throughout the discussion, the mayor was being very sensitive to the fact that the town needed to have some accountability to the public and he wanted to be able to allow for there to be a distance between him and the board while he works through some of the issues,” Merrill said.
The board also took action to split up Adams’ day-to-day mayoral responsibilities.
“The board truly feels that we have in place the theory ‘innocent until proven guilty’ and that our judicial system is there and is…should be allowed to do its job and let things play out and see what happens and then make any formal decisions,” Merrill said.
Merrill said that only time and the judicial process could tell what would happen when the three-month leave of absence is over.
“A lot of it will depend on whether he’s found guilty or not and then what the charges are. There would have to be some other type of procedure in place,” Merrill said.
Adams’ leave of absence became effective on Tuesday, Aug. 4. His next court date is set for Monday, Aug. 10.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.