DA Still Reviewing Sausalito City Council Slap Case
SAUSALITO (CBS SF) -- The Marin County District Attorney's Office is still deciding whether Sausalito City Councilman and Vice-Mayor Michael Kelly will be charged with assaulting Councilwoman Carolyn Ford at a Sept. 13 Council meeting.
A decision is expected "in the near future," a spokesperson for District Attorney Ed Berberian said Thursday afternoon.
Ford said she was asking the city's Public Works Director Jonathon Goldman a question at the meeting but Kelly and Mayor Herb Weiner started talking and she couldn't hear Goldman's response.
"I held up my hand and said 'shush' while still focusing on the PW Director," she said in a written statement.
"I put my hand back down and Mike Kelly hit it hard. I was shocked," Ford said.
"He said, 'Don't shush me for Christ's sake.' I said, 'Don't hit me.' He said, 'Don't put your hand on my side of the table.' I told him he had sunk to a new low," Ford said.
Ford said she reluctantly decided to file a charge against Kelly and there has been verbal abuse on the Council for more than a year.
Kelly apologized to Ford at Tuesday's meeting but Ford changed her seat at the meeting. She now sits between Councilwoman Linda Pfeifer and Mayor Herb Weiner.
Ford said she accepted the apology, but still wants to pursue filing an assault charge against Kelly and plans to meet with the district attorney's office.
"We need to be assured there is a change of behavior on the council. I didn't get that feeling last night," Ford said regarding Tuesday's meeting.
Kelly has not return emails or phone calls for comment this week.
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