MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Police had to intervene between Martinsville city councilman Julian Mei and Mayor L.C. Jones Thursday night as tensions erupted during a heated debate over releasing findings from an investigation into the former city manager, Aretha Ferrell-Benavides.
“He wanted to continue to interrupt me. It was political. He didn’t want me to articulate my points across,” Jones said.
While Mei was unavailable for comment, Councilman Aaron Rawls defended his colleague, saying, “Councilman Mei is a professional. Mayor Jones is a coward and a weakling and tries to pick on people who he doesn’t think will stand up to him.”
Investigation Developments
The council ultimately moved into closed session to receive briefings on both a city financial audit and the investigation. Following the closed-door meeting, Rawls suggested the evidence could lead to criminal charges against multiple leaders, including Mayor Jones.
“The depth of the evidence and what we reviewed, I was sick to my stomach,” Rawls said.
The audit and evidence will now be turned over to the Commonwealth’s Attorney and State Police for review.
“The people who are going to get it are the people who matter. They’ll conduct their investigation and do what’s right,” Jones said.
Public Response
Martinsville resident Patti Covington, who is leading an effort to recall Mayor Jones, expressed frustration with the handling of the investigation.
“There’s been a total lack of transparency and a lack of accountability. And that’s the reason for our recall,” Covington said.
While acknowledging public frustration, Rawls emphasized the importance of protecting the investigation’s integrity. The council approved his motion to have the city attorney prepare a public summary of the findings.
“I desperately want to release this. I think the citizens deserve to know what people in their government are doing. I think they deserve to know what happened to their money,” Rawls said.
Though no new documents were released during the meeting, several council members indicated more information would be forthcoming soon.
A full video response from Councilman Mei can be found here.