He told CNN he ran for office in 2020 to serve the fewer than 300 residents of Newbern, to connect them to help if they didn’t have enough food or to spread information on staying healthy in the Covid pandemic.
But within weeks of his win, and before he got to take his oath of office, Braxton says he was dethroned in a secret scheme orchestrated by the former leadership, who he says did not want to hand over power to a Black mayor who was planning to appoint new council members.
Auburn University’s School of Architecture set up an off-campus studio years ago and its design-build program is evident in an airy library created in a former bank building, a fire station and a community town hall.
Late last month, cobwebs covered the door of the town hall, built from cypress and steel to give what the architects called a “physical and psychological weight to the civic building.”
“To prevent Braxton from appointing a majority black Town council, the Defendants … agreed to hold a secret meeting and adopt resolutions to conduct a special election,” the lawsuit alleges.
He says he still tried to do the job of mayor, though he claimed he was not allowed in to assist setting up voting machines for the November 2022 midterm elections – a point disputed by his opponents.