Losing your temper is one thing. But when you are the mayor pro tem and you lose your cool during a city council meeting and it is caught on tape, the outburst goes viral.
Folks in Colfax, a small northern California town, have been debating whether to allow marijuana retail sales within the city boundaries. And the discussion got a little bit out of hand last month when Colfax Mayor pro tem Tony Hesch lost his cool.
Mark Younggren, a citizen who wants to open a dispensary in the town, stood up and began asking questions to council members. Apparently, he interrupted Hesch a few times and the conversation turned into a shouting match.
“I was the one speaking, you idiot!” Hesch shouted as he slammed his fist on the table. “You shut the [expletive] up when somebody’s talking.”
When asked by fellow councilmembers to calm down, Hesch got even more heated. “I’m not going to settle down,” he said. “That’s just plain ridiculous, childish, unbelievable activities by you guys.” Hesch has served on the city council for five years.
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But his tantrum didn’t end there. “All you’re doing is wanting to make money,” Hesch said. “You don’t give a damn about anybody in this community, you just want to make money. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
According to a report in the Sacramento Bee:
Hesch referred to pro-marijuana advocates as “people who have wasted our freaking time” over the last three years. He and Mayor Steve Harvey repeatedly called for order as audience members objected to that characterization. When Younggren continued to question the council, Hesch flew into a rage.
Younggren wasn’t exactly surprised by the outburst. “I was but I kind of wasn’t, because I’ve seen him get mad before,” he told Fox40 News.
Watch the video of the outburst:
