In an unprecedented move this fall, four members of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners asked their fifth member, Brian Berger, to resign.
WHQR’s Asia Brown reports that Berger refused and remains on the board. The commissioner’s volatile year as an elected official made it to #8 on our end-of-year story countdown.
Just a few months before the September press conference, Berger was arrested for assault in what police say was a domestic dispute. He spent a night in jail before the charge was later dropped.
Then in August, Berger was admitted to New Hanover Regional Medical Center after sending text messages of self-inflicted wounds. Berger later denied a suicide attempt.
At the press conference, board members said that Berger’s run-ins with the law and continued personal issues were distracting and that the bad publicity has been harmful to the county’s reputation.
Since then, Berger has continued making headlines for violating a domestic violence protection order.
Tune in all this week as we air WHQR’s 2011 Top Ten Countdown of news stories across the Cape Fear region and state.