After over a five-month absence, councilmember finally returns

After a long absence, City Councilmember Khalil Refai recently returned to the city and resumed his duties on council.

By Charles Sercombe
After missing nine straight city council meetings since January, Councilmember Khalil Refai has returned.
His absence was never fully explained, but his colleagues on council agreed to excuse his missed meetings in advance, and with no knowledge as to when he would return.
Refai came back a few weeks ago to the council chambers, to what happened be one of the most contentious meetings in the last couple of years.
The issue that meeting was whether to ban the display of pride flags, as well as several other flags, on city property, and it prompted a huge public outpouring and commentary on both sides of the issue.
In-person comments, as well as email comments that were read out loud, went on for about three hours.
Refai voted, along with all of his colleagues, to ban the pride flag, which is a decision that is still causing pushback from the community, as well as largely negative publicity nationally and even internationally.
In response to a recent email from The Review asking why he had been gone, Refai said the reason for his absence was because of “family obligations due to medical issues unfortunately, but everything is well now thanks God.”
However, during the meeting to which he returned, Refai referred to his absence a “great vacation.”
During his absence, Refai still collected his pay, currently set at $3,180 a year.
The council is now seeking voter approval to change the city charter to allow the salaries of councilmembers to be increased by more than double.
Refai was one of three new councilmembers elected in the last city council election.
It hasn’t gone well for those who were elected in that race, with the other two ending up resigning before their first years in office were completed.
Posted July 14, 2023