Alan Long has resigned from the Fayetteville City Council with more than three years remaining on his term and the Council itself must decide at its meeting Tuesday whether to fill the seat itself or call a special election.
The Fayetteville Flyer, in reporting the resignation, said Long cited professional and personal obligations. The article didn’t mention it, but Long’s obligations include responding to a recent lawsuit against him (link amended) by his former domestic partner Steven Kay. Among allegations over financial matters, it also raises questions about his residency in the ward he represents, including at his election in 2016. Long has answered the suit with a denial of the claims, including, specifically, the claim about residency. He said that allegation was indicative of the “nature” of the complaint, which he characterized as an effort to “emotionally lash out” at him as a result of the failure of the relationship.
The dispute has been the topic of some discussion recently in Fayetteville on account of legal controversies in which the City Council is involved, including the challenge of its city civil rights ordinance to protect LGBT citizens. Long supported the ordinance in a 6-2 vote. A petition drive called for a repeal election, but the ordinance survived, unlike an earlier version. A group now is suing to keep the ordinance from being enforced because they support legalized discrimination against LGBT people.