NORFOLK, Neb. — Shouts of “shame” were heard from members of the public after director Melissa Temple received sanctions by the board at a special meeting on Thursday.

Prior to the regularly scheduled meeting, the LENRD allowed the public to make comments and discuss action on a report of the alleged violation of the code of decorum by Temple.

The complaint was put forward by director Scott Clausen who did not appear at the special meeting.

Nearly a dozen people made comments to the board about the sanctions proposed towards Temple.

Temple was not present at the meeting due to her traveling outside of the country and was represented by her attorney.

The proposed sanctions included a public reprimand, a one-year removal from sub-committees, a one-year ban from putting motions forward, and no reimbursement for travel with trips associated with the board.

Former LENRD board director Joel Hansen said the claim made against Temple was “ridiculous”.

“I’m ashamed to even say that I was ever associated with this district,” Hansen said. “It’s that bad. It’s disgraceful what’s going on right here and you all have the ability to stop it.”

Following the public comments, the board went into closed session and held an hour-long discussion.

After reconvening, director Chad Korth said the board should give Temple a chance to testify for herself and motioned to table the item until Temple is able to meet with the board.

“We’ve given people the ability to come and testify before the board,” Korth said. “I think we should give her that right.”

The motion failed to pass on a 9-4 vote.

A second motion was put forward by director Mark Hall to remove the ban from motioning items from the list of sanctions. The motion passed on an 8-5 vote.

Following the motion, the board held a vote to impose the sanctions on Temple, which passed 10-3.