SOUTHPORT, Ind. -- Embattled Southport Mayor Rob Thoman said Monday night that he will not resign, despite an outcry from City Council members and some residents calling for his ouster.

A defiant Thoman lashed out at his critics at the beginning of a City Council meeting, letting them know that he's not budging without a fight.

"Although I certainly feel the seriousness, weight and gravity of their demands, I have no intention of resigning," Thoman said.

Thoman tried to adjourn the meeting without taking questions, eliciting a cacophony of people who insisted that the public get their say.

"All you've done is cause problems here," said one man in the audience.

Many in the small southern Marion County community are still upset with Thoman's decision last year to do away with prayer at council meetings and a move during the summer to get rid of most of the city's police force.

The council has opened a fraud investigation, accusing Thoman of withholding information about the city's finances.

"If it keeps going the way that it is, I'm pretty sure that Southport will end up back in Indianapolis," said resident Charles Lynch. "We won't have a town no more."

"Folks don't like what's going on. Folks don't like change, some decisions the mayor made, and they don't like uncertainty," said resident Rick Petrecca.

Some have also raised concerns about an embezzlement charge Thoman faced while in college in 1981 that he pleaded no contest to.

"I'm not proud of those mistakes I made almost 30 years ago," Thoman said. "As with many life experiences, good and bad, I learned from them and vowed that I would not make them again."