DeBARY, Fla. – It was a bizarre city council meeting Wednesday night in DeBary as the mayor placed a vote of no confidence -- in himself.
DeBary Mayor Clint Johnson was under fire for calling city residents "trolls" and other members of the council "jerks."
The council called on Johnson to apologize for the remarks and filed a motion for a vote of no confidence against the mayor.
"You know what, in a vote of of solidarity, let's vote 5-0 on it," Johnson said at the meeting. "It's going to go that way anyway, so let's just send the message that we're going to start working together. I vote yes. Unbelievable."
The vote was only symbolic, but Johnson said he hopes it will put the council in the right direction. If not, Johnson said it would be the council members' fault.
"All these things are inappropriate, and I believe he owes the citizens and the council an apology for that. But an equal concern is what this is going to do with those who might want to move to DeBary or businesses that might have been thinking about coming to DeBary," council member Rick Dwyer said before the meeting.
Prior to the meeting, Johnson posted on his website, "Never apologize for fake controversies whipped up by perpetually offended people" and "It's not your job to parent me. ...Do whatever you have to do to move past this silly generational divide and focus on city business," referring to Dwyer.
"I'm 65 years old, I got 40 years in the business world. I've learned how to get what I want and getting what I want or what anybody else wants, doesn't happen by calling them bad names," Dwyer said.
Residents were mixed about whether Johnson should formally apologize.