Elgin mayor censured on accusations of malfeasant leadership
According to multiple sources, the reason for this reprimand is due to Francais allegedly saying he was going to tell Dustin Hilliary to sue the City of Elgin.
Update: Many members of the Elgin community turned out to the February council meeting, curious to hear more about an agenda item meant to censure Mayor JJ Francais. The purpose of a censure doesn’t do much, in this case, other than putting the council’s disapproval of the mayor’s actions on the record. According to the resolution accompanied with this item, the reason for the censure was due to Francais raising his voice at a fellow council member and threatening litigation against the City of Elgin.
Francais started the discussion by giving an apology for “passionately advocating” for the best interest of Elgin. Additionally, he said he didn’t object to the censure. However, council members were quick to clarify that they didn’t mind Francais raising his voice
“In my mind… the leader of a city should not say, ‘I’m going to tell somebody to sue the city’. I think that’s bad business” Ward 4 Councilman Travis Bennett said.
The council went on to unanimously approve the resolution, thus moving forward with the censure.
Original: The Elgin City Council only meets one time a month. When the agenda was released for February’s council meeting, it had many people asking questions. Item 19 on the agenda states that the council will be discussing resolution 26-01 to express disapproval and censure certain conduct by Mayor JJ Francais. While being censured doesn’t actually do much, it puts the council’s disapproval of actions, if approved, on the record.
According to multiple sources, the reason for this reprimand is due to Francais allegedly saying he was going to tell Dustin Hilliary to sue the City of Elgin. This allegation followed the January council meeting regarding a public hearing requested by DMK Holdings and Hilliary Communications. The hearing was for the potential closure of multiple public right-of-ways along E Avenue.
That public hearing ended with the council ultimately denying the Hilliarys’ request. After the meeting is when Francais allegedly made those remarks.
Francais is an employee of Hilliary Communications and has been for nearly nine years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Multiple Hilliary family members also sit on state boards. Dark Roast wrote a story detailing more of the potential conflicts of interest when Hilliary Communications purchased the Lawton Constitution.
Dark Roast staff reached out to Francais for comment, to which he sent the following statement:
“I am happy to work for one of the most philanthropic and civic minded companies in Southwest Oklahoma. I know that not everyone will agree with all of their decisions or mine. That said, like most elected leaders I hold a job in the private sector. but my decisions are my own. I would rather spend my time and energy moving this great city forward and won’t comment further on petty politics.”
The council will be making their decision in the Feb. 10 meeting. Francais will reportedly not be in attendance.
