FALMOUTH, Ky. — Falmouth City Council has served impeachment papers to Mayor Sebastian Ernst, accusing him of acting with misconduct and/or willful neglect in his duties in office.
“I'm not going anywhere,” Ernst said.
The impeachment papers lay out three charges against Ernst. Among them, council accuses him 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.
The second charge accuses 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.
“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.”
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 accuses him of attempting to extort council member Robert Pettit into resignation, highlighting a message in which Ernst allegedly demands Pettit resign or he would attend a school board meeting “to present evidence of assault on a minor.”
"If I was going to extort someone, which I never would, I wouldn't do it over text,” Ernst said.
WCPO contacted each city council member for comment. Council member Sabrina Hazen verified the impeachment papers that Ernst provided and issued a statement.
“After an investigation into allegations against Mayor Sebastian Ernst, we served him with three charges,” she wrote. “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.”
A public hearing has been set for Jan. 2 at noon to “allow the Mayor to defend himself against the charges,” according to Hazen.
“After that hearing on the charges, hopefully the city can move forward together for the better of the community and citizens,” Hazen wrote.
Ernst said the hearing was set for the day after his son’s due date.
“They're just trying to make it as inconvenient for me and the public as possible,” he said.
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.
If council votes to impeach him, Ernst said he will 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.”
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