A petition seeking the removal of New Berlin Mayor Dave Ament was the sole agenda item at a special Common Council meeting Thursday night, Nov. 5. The council ended the meeting without announcing an immediate decision on whether the mayor would be removed from office.
Council members spent most of the meeting in a closed session with legal counsel, discussing how to proceed with the petition. The entire meeting lasted less than an hour, with members offering a brief update before concluding the night's proceedings. Further details are expected at hearings scheduled for Dec. 1 and Dec. 2.
The petition followed the emergence of anti-Muslim and other controversial posts on Ament's personal Facebook page. The posts drew outrage from residents and advocacy groups, prompting many to formally seek his removal. Ament issued a public apology, but people pressing for action said the apology was insufficient.
Attendance at Thursday's meeting was smaller, though people there said their concerns had not faded. They said they continued to follow the matter closely and were watching how the city would respond to the petition. The meeting provided no immediate resolution to their demand that Ament leave office.
Janan Najeeb, executive director of the Muslim Women's Coalition, called for Ament to resign. She said Muslims in the community did not feel safe and argued that he should not continue serving as mayor. Najeeb said Ament should “do the decent thing and resign.”
Before the meeting ended, Alderman John Hopkins presented what he described as a four-part motion. His remarks included providing the mayor with charges and an accompanying letter explaining the process. He also referred to limiting the scope of a hearing and to litigation, without offering a clear explanation of those matters in the quoted remarks.
Asked for additional context about the charges and the removal process, council members said they could not comment. They indicated that more information would become public during the December hearings, leaving the details of the charges and how the proceedings would unfold unexplained at Thursday's meeting.
FOX6 News Milwaukee also sought comment from Ament about the matter. The outlet had not received a response by the time its report was published on Nov. 6.
