Tom Berg:
@Mug -- chatter1:The Honolulu City Council member denies he was drunk on Nov. 12
in an encounter with Secret Service
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City Councilman Tom Berg has been stripped of two committee assignments by Council Chairman Ernie Martin because of his outburst during a Transportation Committee meeting July 26.
Berg will no longer serve on the Transportation and Public Works Committee and the Sustainability Committee as "a straightforward reminder that all members are obliged to observe simple rules of conduct and professional decorum when engaged in Council business," Martin said in a written release.
During the July 26 meeting, Berg "reportedly created tension and anxiety among his colleagues" when he ignored Transportation Chairman Breene Harimoto’s calls for order, Martin said.
Video of the meeting showed Berg became upset when city transit officials declared some information confidential. He then refused to yield when Harimoto declared him out of order.
Berg, the Council’s most vocal opponent to the city’s $5.26 billion rail project, said in a news release that Harimoto "should be reprimanded for his perpetuating lies about this rail project and promoting the propaganda for it."
Berg will continue to head the Parks and Cultural Affairs Committee, serve as vice chairman of a second committee and be a member of two others.