Former Salisbury City Council President D'Shawn Doughty abruptly resigned on Friday. Delmarva Public Media's Kevin Diaz talked with him about his decision and the controversy surrounding him.
RUSH: Salisbury City Council President D'Shawn Doughty has abruptly stepped down from his position. This is Don Rush. Friday's announcement notifying the city of his immediate departure caught many by surprise. In his statement, he said he was leaving for a new opportunity, described it in his words, not about walking away, but about walking faithfully, and he thanked those who worked beside and challenged him. We turn to Delmarva Public Media's Kevin Diaz to talk more about what he has learned.
DIAZ: Yeah, he simply sent out a statement on Friday afternoon saying that serving on the council was one of the greatest honors of his life, but that another opportunity arose, which requires him to quote, spend more time outside the city. So it turns out that he's been spending a lot of time outside the city because his legal address is now in Essex, Maryland, outside of Baltimore. It's on the other side of the bridge, and it appears that it has been now for more than two months.
RUSH: So how do we know all about that?
DIAZ: Well, apparently he left behind a medical bill with a local physician who claims he still owes him about $371 and 89 cents. The Doctor, Vel Natesan took the bill of small claims court in Wicomico County back in August, but when the process servers went to Doughty's address to serve 'em with the papers, they couldn't find them. So according to the court documents, they tried at least three times between September 5th and September 18th. Finally, they realized he had moved and the court records have now been updated or adjusted to show a new address in Essex, Maryland. So he appears to have been gone at least two months, which would seem to disqualify him from service on the city council.
RUSH: Now you talked to him, by the way. What did he have to say about all of this?
DIAZ: Yeah, I got ahold of him on Monday and he said his legal case is being resolved and that his resignation is simply about a new opportunity in his life.
DOUGHTY: There's nothing much more than that. In the world that we live in now, we know that jobs are hard, come by as it stands.
DIAZ: He says there's nothing more to the case than that. And he's vague about what this new opportunity is, and when I pressed him on it, he asked for privacy.
DOUGHTY: Just to respect my family's privacy, my privacy, my personal privacy. Again, I'm not ready to, and I know people have tried and have posted, but I would love some small portion of my personal privacy. I hope that that is respected. I mean, my life has been, since I took on and campaigned, for city council and of course been in this seat. I knew that going in that my life has not been as private though, if we would respect that and just leave that private for just a moment.
DIAZ: Significantly, Doughty claims that despite what the court records show, he has not necessarily moved out of Salisbury and that he still considers it home.
DOUGHTY: There are plenty of elected officials, plenty of people who work in another city who have more than one address. And I'll say this is that when this opportunity came up, I consulted many people just to say, okay, "what can I do?" What should I do?" And as I've stated before in my letter of resignation, I consider Salisbury home and Salisbury is a place where my legal documents, where my domicile of my home [are.]
RUSH: So what's then going on behind the scenes?
DIAZ: He acknowledged that there was some maneuvering behind the scenes, and apparently some person or group filed a complaint with the elections board, and that seems to have turned up the heat. And Doughty acknowledges that.
DOUGHTY: Then it got to the point where I realized I need to get in touch with Salisbury, and again, leave my posts and let the council members and administration do what they do best for the citizens of Salisbury and I will step aside. Because now this is becoming a distraction. It never was meant to be that.
RUSH: So does he see a future and public life at all?
DIAZ: Yeah, I asked him about that. And he's a man of faith. He's keeping his options open. He didn't rule it out.
RUSH: Delmarva Public Media's Kevin Diaz on the departure of D'Shawn Doughty as president of the Salisbury City Council. This is Don Rush for Delmarva Public Media.
