DEBARY, Fla. -- After taking a verbal flogging, beleaguered City Council member Stephen Bacon on Wednesday gained an additional month to defend himself against allegations he violated DeBary’s charter and should be removed from office.

DeBary City Council members voted 4-1, with Council Member Phyllis Butlien dissenting, to move Bacon’s hearing to August 5.

Butlien hammered Bacon, saying the council member has tried to get other jobs after he took office in January 2017, and now he’s fighting to stay despite what she described as clear evidence of a charter violation.

“Just like you decided you didn’t want to be in the city of DeBary, you want to try other things, well, I want to try and get you out of DeBary,” Butlien said. “I’m not for this extension. I think you had plenty of time to hire an attorney and deal with it.”

Bacon’s latest troubles stem from a reportedly explosive interaction with City Clerk Annette Hatch on May 20 after a City Council meeting. 

When he allegedly told her to include a copy of a statement he read earlier into the meeting minutes, he violated the city’s charter ban on elected officials giving orders to staffers, according to a report by DeBary City Manager Carmen Rosamonda.

He also is accused of raising his voice at Hatch.

The council originally set Wednesday for Bacon’s removal hearing. But the city’s legal advisors recommended giving Bacon’s attorney enough time to prepare the council member’s defense.

Prominent Winter Park attorney Jacob V. Stuart Jr. is representing Bacon, according to city records. Stuart didn’t attend Wednesday’s meeting.

When DeBary Mayor Karen Chasez asked Bacon if he wished to comment before voting on delaying his hearing, Bacon described himself as “nonplussed” and declined to elaborate.

“I cannot do so at this point since I have an attorney,” Bacon said. “I would lose him if I made any comments.”

Bacon also took a verbal beating from a longtime city critic, Mort Culligan, on Wednesday.

“He is a problem for city staff. He apparently doesn’t understand that the city manager tells the staff what to do. He doesn’t. He doesn’t understand his job. He never has.”

Bacon tried to interrupt Culligan, saying he objected.

“I mean, I am an elected official,” Bacon said. “I do require a little dignity.”

Chasez and city legal advisors said Culligan had a right to speak because the city council was accepting comments from the public at that point of the meeting.

“Keep your mouth shut when other people are speaking,” Culligan fired back. “Thank you very much, Mr. Bacon.”

Later, Chasez explained that she, too, wanted to resolve the dispute efficiently and effectively.

Chasez said she wants “there to be no question that we have done the best we could to provide due process.”

After Hatch complained about Bacon, Rosamonda investigated, found two possible charter violations against Bacon and accused the council member of fostering a hostile working environment.

As a result, Rosamonda deactivated Bacon’s key fob to City Hall. Bacon is now only allowed in the same common areas as the general public, including restrooms, first-floor hallway, and the city council chambers.

Amid his struggle to stay in office, Bacon is also seeking re-election this fall. He faces one challenger -- William Sell -- for Seat 1 on the city council. Bacon’s current term is set to expire at the end of December.

Bacon has political baggage dating back to his second month in office.

That’s when he allegedly made comments City Finance Director Elizabeth Bauer described as sexual harassment -- an allegation Bacon staunchly denies.

Bacon, according to Bauer, said in her office that she looked too young to have children heading to college. Then he brought up an article he read that morning about how kidnapped women become the property of their captors under ISIS-enforced Sharia law.

Those allegations didn’t surface until Bacon allegedly violated an agreement and talked with Bauer, this time during a break at a city council meeting in November 2018.

As a result, Chasez proposed a resolution when a new majority took office in January 2019. The resolution states “any future confirmed incidents involving inappropriate interaction between” Bacon and city staffers could result in “disciplinary action,” including removal from office.

Bacon and the other four members of the council approved it.

During his tenure in DeBary, Bacon applied for the positions of Volusia County manager and Volusia County schools superintendent. He recently dropped an announced bid for the U.S. House of Representatives.

DeBary ejected an elected official for a charter violation nearly four years ago. Then-Mayor Clint Johnson was removed by a majority vote of the City Council in August 2016 for allegedly giving the former city manager a direct order in violation of the charter.

In DeBary, council members are only supposed to give orders as a group to two employees: The city manager and attorney.