Town alderman shares his side of the story
Shaun Adams
Robbinsville – It has been nothing short of a contentious stint since Shaun Adams was elected to the Robbinsville Board of Aldermen in 2017.
Adams’ recent absence from town meetings – 18 in total, across a 16-month span – came to an end with his return to the June 2 meeting.
In an exclusive letter submitted to The Graham Star, Adams justifies his actions, including the lengthy absence and much-discussed altercation with Mayor Steve Hooper at the Graham County Recycling Center last year, which led to a lengthy lawsuit that was ultimately dropped by Hooper in April.
“I have faced an extremely hostile work environment since I was elected, and I have had to endure a large amount of bullying by the other elected officials and town officials,” Adams wrote. “They have yelled, screamed (at) and even cussed me.”
Vehicle sparks words
Adams has repeatedly stated his displeasure with Robbinsville providing Hooper a town vehicle at meetings. His research alleges that no other municipality in North Carolina gives its mayor a “take-home vehicle.”
“The reason I questioned the use of the vehicle is that he told the state auditors that ‘he uses it for town business only,’” Adams wrote. “According to the auditor’s report … he is supposed to be logging all personal mileage to be turned in on his taxes.”
Adams pointed out that the car boasted a $702-a-month payment that was paid for out of the water and sewer fund. Now that the vehicle is paid off, fuel and insurance for the vehicle – as well as a cell phone – is still funded by the water and sewer account.
Incident
On June 17, 2020, Adams entered the Graham County Recycling Center and asked Hooper if he was at the center on town business.
“As a member of the governing body of the Town of Robbinsville, I had a right to be there,” Adams wrote. “All I did was walk in and ask if there was some town business going on and why he had the vehicle there, and the mayor started insulting me.”
Adams’ account of what followed was backed up by a video provided to the Star. Hooper – who did not respond to the Star’s request for comment on the incident – gets out of a chair he was seated in and approaches Adams, shouting profanities and threatening physical harm on Adams. Following the verbal confrontation, Adams is asked to leave the premises and does so.
“I did not retaliate in any way,” Adams wrote.
Board dissension
Adams has also clashed with Aldermen Debbie Beasley and Brian “Taco” Johnson over public records.
He asserts that auditors – and aldermen – approved Adams to spearhead a board investigation into a widely-discussed issue with untaxed, fringe benefits. Since then, Adams says he has continually been denied access to more than 100 missing credit card statements and the amount of gift cards that were given out.
“I needed this information to complete my investigation,” Adams wrote. “I spent several hundred hours – over months – compiling this information. It has been almost impossible for me to get anything through, as the other two board members ganged up against me from the beginning, so my hands have been tied since day one.”
He added that the town recently destroyed several boxes of records. “Those records could be potential evidence in criminal proceedings and they should not have been destroyed,” Adams wrote.
Further disagreements over Adams’ opposition to alcohol sales in the county led to his decision to stop attending meetings, beginning in March 2020. Though Adams continued to collect his $800 monthly salary during his absence, he noted that Hooper has missed eight meetings during this term and still collected his $1,200 monthly salary – a figure Adams says makes Hooper the highest-paid mayor of any municipality west of Asheville.
“The bullying became more intense after my opposition to alcohol sales, and after being yelled at and cussed out in the hallway by a town employee at a meeting in the library (which occurred in February 2020), I decided for my safety, I would stop going to meetings for a while,” Adams wrote.
“I have spent several hundred hours researching how the town can operate more efficiently and save the people more money – by reaching out to every single town in the state of North Carolina – but it has been almost impossible for me to get anything through, as the other two board members ganged up against me from the beginning. My hands have been tied since day one.”
Beasley and Johnson approved a motion to put alcohol sales on the town ballot at the July 1, 2020, town meeting. The sale of malt beverages and unfortified wine within the town limits would effectively remove Graham County’s status as the only remaining dry county in the state, which began in 1948.
The board of aldermen and mayor races will also be on the ballot this November.