A former council member filed a lawsuit first, alleging that thefour council members had held what constituted a council meeting in aprivate setting. That suit was dropped Friday when the men said theywouldn't meet in that manner again. But a second lawsuit filed byWRAL-TV5 and other media outlets still stands.
At issue is whether or not official city business was discussed at theinformal gathering held at Councilman Paul Coble's home on January 19.
Councilman John Odom, who attended the gathering, told WRAL-TV5'sMark Robertshe thinks thisissue should be put to rest.
An attempt to serve civil papers on Councilman Kieran Shanahan wasapparently not successful. Carlyle Poindexter, who owns the company hiredto serve the papers claims Shanahan used profanity and avoided acceptingthe summons for several days.
Shanahan and a family friend say the company did notrepresent itself professionally and that Shanahan never used profanity. Hesays he feared for the safety of his family and suspects a conspiracy.
Councilman Shanahan also said he had received threatening telephonecalls a few days before the server arrived. Police, he said, advised himnot to respond any strangers who came to his door.
Shanahan was charged last year on two counts of assault fin connectionwith an altercation with two teens in his neighborhood.
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