MOORESVILLE – Commissioner Rhett Dusenbury proposed that the town’s 2013-14 general expense budget not exceed the previous year’s amount of $43,449,007 at the Jan. 7 board meeting.

The motion died when no other commissioners would second it.

The Mooresville Tribune reported Jan. 9 that Dusenbury called his fellow commissioners “gutless” when he could not get a second on his budget motion, causing Mayor Miles Atkins to bang his gavel to restore order. The exchange occurred during a later discussion about allowing Easter Seals/UCP access to Selma Burke Community Center for group therapy sessions, not during the budget conversation.

Dusenbury started to say, “I wish our commissioners would have enough guts,” before the mayor’s gavel silenced him.