The Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) cabinet voted last night not to remove Harvetta E. Nero '96 as the secretary of its board of directors.

During the four-hour emergency cabinet session, which was closed to The Crimson, PBHA members listened to arguments from Nero and other members regarding her alleged violations of the association's vehicles policy over the summer.

Nero was accused of driving a PBHA vehicle after having had three accidents and being told not to drive except in an emergency.

The assistant director of Phillips Brooks House, Kenneth G. Smith, also alleged that Nero authorized uncertified drivers to take children around the streets of Boston.

PBHA parliamentarian Christopher J. Davidson '95, who chaired the emergency session, said after the meeting that 56 cabinet members voted against Nero's removal and 21 voted in favor. There were nine abstentions.

President John B. King '96-'95 and Vice President Christina Ho '95 scheduled last night's meeting after Nero refused to accept an August 10 board of directors' recommendation that she resign.

Nero said last night that she was delighted with the meeting's outcome and felt vindicated by the cabinet's vote.

"I think all in all the board lost control of the situation," Nero said last night. "The strength of the structure is that when we lose control, the cabinet can step in."

As last night's meeting dragged on, the tone of the debate over Nero's vehicles violations grew heated and more personal. Those who attended said some cabinet members questioned the board's motivation in pushing for Nero's removal.

"First of all I thought that from the beginning this has been a witch hunt," said Iliana G. Tavera '96, a volunteer at Academy Homes Summer Youth Enrichment Program [AHSYEP], which Nero directed.

Tavera said she believes the proceedings against Nero were the result of personality conflicts among the PBHA Board of Directors.

"This all started because of personal things in my opinion," she said.

But James White '95, summer director for Cambridge Youth Enrichment Program at Jefferson Park, said he thought Nero should definitely be removed.

"If her actions put the rest of the PBHA programs in jeopardy and if she blatantly lied to the board, then she should be impeached," he said.

Nero, who has said previously that she is being made a scapegoat in the affair, said last night's meeting degenerated into personal attacks between board members who accused each other of vehicles violations and other improprieties.

"People were going after each other tooth and nail," Nero said.