Elsmere City Council called off its public hearing to remove Serena Owen on June 4 after she submitted her resignation earlier in the day. Owen, who hasn’t attended a city council meeting since last year, announced her resignation from her position as councilmember in an email Wednesday morning to the Elsmere City Council that includes […]
Tag: Serena Owen
Posted inNews
Elsmere council woman resigns ahead of removal hearing. How did we get here?
Serena Owen, the Elsmere City Council member who hasn’t been present at a council meeting since June 2024, submitted a letter of resignation to the city Wednesday morning. The letter, sent via email on June 4 at 5:56 a.m., says that she is resigning her position as city councilwoman, effective immediately. “This decision has not […]
Posted inNews
Owen family members petition Elsmere council for virtual meetings
Councilmember Serena Owen’s family members petitioned Elsmere City Council to grant her request for virtual meeting attendance at the city’s April 1 caucus meeting. The council unanimously voted to remove her from her duties in March after voting no in January in response to Owen’s request for virtual meetings. Serena Owen’s husband, Larry Owen, emphasized […]
Posted inNews
Elsmere City Council votes to remove absent member Serena Owen
Elsmere City Council passed a motion to remove Serena Owen from her council position at their March 11 meeting. Councilmember Gloria Grubbs made the motion to begin Owen’s removal due to unlawful neglect of council duties, citing concerns from other council members and Elsmere residents. She insisted the decision is her own and has no […]
Posted inPolitics
Elsmere residents push to remove councilmember over absences
Amid a familiar sight in Elsmere’s council chambers — an empty seat with Councilmember Serena Owen’s name placard in front of it — city residents called on the city to remove the chronically absent Mrs. Owen. An analysis from LINK’s media partner WCPO 9 News of public records, corroborated by the City of Elsmere, shows […]
Posted inNews
Attorney weighs in on Elsmere councilwoman’s virtual meetings request
An Elsmere city councilwoman is closing out 2024 having missed 16 of 23 public meetings — and will likely miss more heading into 2025. Serena Owen, who has said her absenteeism is due to feelings of an unsafe work environment, has been asking the city to grant her accommodations through the Americans with Disabilities Act, […]
Posted inNews
Elsmere council member again absent: ‘The people voted for you. They want you here’
The city of Elsmere’s caucus meeting on Dec. 3 was rife with comments regarding councilmember Serena Owen, who once again was not present. Owen has faced backlash from other city council members and some Elsmere residents after she stopped attending meetings in person in June. She has cited her disability and an unsafe environment in […]
Posted inNews
Elections, guns and money: inside the conflict over an Elsmere Council member’s attendance
Elsmere City Councilmember Serena Owen has not attended a city council meeting in person since June, having missed 13 out of 18 meetings in 2024. Her lack of attendance and votes on city business has led to backlash among some community members and candidates for city council, but there’s more to this story than a […]
Posted inNews
Recently re-elected Elsmere council member has missed 70% of meetings in 2024
An Elsmere city council member who was just re-elected has missed more than 70% of public meetings in 2024, according to publicly available attendance records analyzed by LINK’s media partner WCPO 9 News. Councilmember Serena Owen has missed 13 of the 18 public meetings held this year through Nov. 12, including city council meetings and city caucus […]
Posted inUncategorized
Elsmere City Council
Elsmere City Council (7 candidates, vote for 6) Click on the candidate’s names to learn more about them: Joanne Barnett-Smith Joanne Barnett-Smith has sought more feedback from Elsmere citizens since she became a council member. “There’s a lot of people out there that I want to hear from to see how they’re doing, to make […]