Sam DeMarco is calling for the censure of fellow Allegheny County Council member Bethany Hallam for her words during a jail oversight board meeting.
In a heated exchange regarding the recent arrest of a corrections officer for allegedly bringing drugs into the Allegheny County Jail, Hallam was heard using an offensive word directed toward Allegheny County Court of Commons Pleas Judge Elliott Howsie.
“With that being done, thank you for your presentations, we’ll now move on,” said Howsie, before Hallam was heard saying, “pr**k.”
“Pardon me, did you just call me a pr**k?” asked Howsie.
“Yes I called you a pr**k,” responded Hallam. “It’s like the nicest word I can say right now, the way you talk to me.”
“Fair enough, hope everyone heard that,” responded Howsie.
Hallam said the focus should be on the issues, not her language.
“There are atrocities going on in the jail and if this is how I need to get people to paid attention to what’s going on in there, I wish I would’ve done it sooner,” Hallam told The Big K Morning Show.
But fellow County councilmember Republican Sam DeMarco is calling for consequences - and says he plans to motion to censure Hallam in Tuesday's meeting.
“I want council to go on record saying that the 14 other members of Allegheny County Council object to her lack of respect and decorum,” said DeMarco.