A mother closed out Wednesday night’s Shiawassee County Committee of the Whole meeting by asking Commissioner Jeremy Root to apologize for giving someone the middle finger.
The mother brought her two young children forward and told Root over the microphone that she would ask the same of her children had they done the same thing.
Root reportedly used the gesture before the meeting in front of several people in attendance including the woman’s children.
The woman said with recent talks about elected officials in Shiawassee County doing the right thing, she was prepared to wait her full three minutes for Root to apologize.
Root told the woman he apologized and he overreacted. He said, “It was very inappropriate, and I should not have done it.”
People can see the meeting here.
Root recently resigned as the Shiawassee County Board of Commissioners Chairman over controversy surrounding hazard pay from the American Rescue Plan slated to be used for pandemic recovery efforts.
The board, in a closed session, voted to give county employees, including themselves, pandemic hazard pay. Root gave himself $25,000.
The board’s next meeting on Aug. 12 will discuss reallocating the hazard pay.
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