An Allegheny County councilman facing a possible censure for verbally attacking a colleague following a meeting last month has apologized for his behavior but said he would wear the “censure like a badge of honor.”
Councilman Thomas Duerr, D-Bethel Park, approached council Vice President John Palmiere, D-Pleasant Hills, following a March 22 meeting where a majority of the council voted to reject three proposed board appointments and told him “in a hostile tone of voice” that “I always knew you were a (expletive) coward.”
Council President Pat Catena, D-Carnegie, last week added a motion to censure Duerr to this week’s meeting agenda.
Duerr and other council members said during last month’s meeting that they were surprised by the vote rejecting two appointments to the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority board and an appointment to the Jail Oversight Board, noting there were no objections to the nominees at a committee meeting just five days earlier.
In his motion to censure Duerr, Catena said Duerr’s outburst occurred in front of county employees and fellow council members. Catena said Duerr’s behavior would undermine respect and confidence in the council and, as part of the motion, Catena asked that Duerr be required to issue an apology to Palmiere.
My statement regarding Motion #12263-22 on next Tuesday’s agenda. pic.twitter.com/lhAJKzq4vX
— Allegheny County Councilman Tom Duerr (@CountyDuerr) April 10, 2022
In a statement posted to his Twitter account Sunday evening, Duerr said he reached out to Palmiere that afternoon “to apologize for offending him with the sharpness of the words I chose to use.”
“While I was, and continue to be, extremely upset about the conduct surrounding many of my colleagues’ votes at that meeting, I clearly should have been more selective with my words during our interaction, and for that I am sorry.”
Duerr added: “What I will not apologize for is the sentiment behind my comments.”
He called the actions of Palmiere and the other council members who voted against the appointments “cowardly, non-transparent and not at all worthy of members of this elected body.”
He said that those council members were “neglecting their elected duty and responsibility.”
“I will never apologize for holding our members, regardless of party, accountable for making sure fairness and transparency are a part of each and every vote we take,” he said.
He said censuring him would not change his philosophy on council.
“If those eight members want to punish me for standing up for our constituents and expecting that we conduct our business in an above-board manner, then so be it,” he said. “I’ll wear their censure like a badge of honor.”
Catena said the motion to censure remains on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting.
“For Councilman Duerr to make the statement that he will wear this censure as a badge of honor tells me that he is missing the point, and a sincere apology should never have strings attached,” Catena said. “If we condone this type of behavior and bullying, it will become politically acceptable and that is not what previous, current or future councils ever intended.”
“It’s my sincere hope that we can dial back the hostility and all of us can learn from this lesson and move forward,” Catena said.
Palmiere did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
