Falmouth mayor removed from office after city council vote

FALMOUTH, Ky. — Falmouth city council has voted to remove the city’s mayor from office. The vote follows a tumultuous few months between the mayor and council that, at times, resulted in explosive disputes during city meetings.

Council members unanimously voted to remove Sebastian Ernst during a special hearing on Tuesday after an investigation into allegations of misconduct and/or willful neglect in office.

The council members unanimously found Ernst guilty of the three charges they served him with last month.

The first charge accused Ernst of prohibiting a civic organization from using city property, “because he deemed that the group fails to meet his ‘conservative Christian values.’”

Ernst told WCPO that the group was the county Republican Party. He said the previous administration had allowed the party to hold meetings in council chambers, which he disagreed with because the building is intended to be nonpartisan.

“They had used that before, for some long period of time, have used City Hall as a meeting place,” said Luke Morgan, the attorney retained by the city council. “That is a First Amendment right to assemble.”

The second charge accused Ernst of using his personal Facebook page as the official account for the office of the Falmouth mayor. Council alleges he then used the same account “to market property he and/or his mother own for sale or lease.” According to the council, these actions violate a Falmouth ordinance.

“No officer or mayor shall intentionally use or attempt to use his or her official position with the city to secure unwarranted privileges or advantages for himself,” Morgan said.

“I've been using my Facebook page the way I've been using it for the last eight to 10 years,” Ernst told WCPO. “They're only using it now as a reason to remove me.”

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Falmouth said he discusses city business on his social media as a “citizen.”

“I'm not just a mayor, I’m a citizen of the city too,” he said. “I have a right to speak on matters, whether they disagree with what I'm saying or not.”

The third charge accused Ernst of attempting to extort council member Robert Pettit into resignation, highlighting a message in which Ernst allegedly demanded Pettit resign or he would attend a school board meeting “to present evidence of assault on a minor.”

“The mayor goes on to say that it's only going to get worse otherwise,” Morgan said.

“If I was going to extort someone, which I never would, I wouldn't do it over text,” Ernst said.

WCPO attempted to speak with city council members after Tuesday’s hearing for comment, but members declined to speak further.

Council member Sabrina Hazen issued a statement in late December after the impeachment papers were served.

“Sometimes people use poor judgment, but these crossed the line from poor judgment to misconduct by Mayor Sebastian Ernst and as a City Council we made the tough decision to move forward and bring charges against him,” she wrote.

Ernst was not in attendance at Tuesday’s hearing following the Monday birth of his son. He told WPCO he thought the hearing was set for this date intentionally.

“They're just trying to make it as inconvenient for me and the public as possible,” he said.

Morgan said Ernst had never made any official attempt to move or continue the hearing, which Ernst denied.

Tensions have been heating up between Ernst and the council over the last few weeks. Ernst has accused the council of corruption and inactivity. Hazen said Ernst has verbally attacked her, and said council has been moving forward on some of his ideas.

The council now has 30 days to appoint a new mayor, according to a representative from the city attorney’s office.

Prior to Tuesday’s hearing, Ernst told WCPO that if removed from office, he would appeal the decision in circuit court.

“If that doesn't work out, I’ll just get reelected next November,” said Ernst. “They think they’re getting rid of me but they’re not.”