A Durham resident has been barred from entering city hall for two years following her disruption of a new council member’s swearing-in ceremony on December 1.
Both the disruption of an oath of office and the ban may be unprecedented; neither has happened in at least 20 years, according to a longtime city employee who works closely with the city council.
The disruption occurred when Amanda Wallace, an activist known for using direct, sometimes abrasive tactics to advocate for child protective services reform, stood from her seat while council member Matt Kopac was being sworn into office, and loudly criticized the amount of money Kopac raised and spent during his campaign. (Kopac raised $76,100 and spent $64,500—the largest sums of any Durham candidate this cycle, though not an outlier for municipal races.)…