Crockett Council To Look Into Woodrow Jones’ Hiring
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – Crockett City Council met Monday, Sept. 9, for what should have been a quick meeting to sign funding documents to lock in good interest rates for the city to fund a new truck for the fire department and several new patrol cruisers for the city police.
Councilman Darrell Jones was absent.
In a familiar pattern, the budget work was straight-forward, while off-agenda items veered into other topics, notably Crockett Economic and Industrial Development Corporation (CEIDC).
Although there were no comments from the public, Crockett Mayor Dr. Ianthia Fisher asked for any comments from the council, leading to Councilwoman NaTrenia Hicks to ask the city to do more to counter what she called misinformation on social and traditional media, concerning the upcoming referendum vote to close CEIDC.
“Something has been on my heart and on my mind, and I wanted to share it with the community,” Hicks said. “In my opinion, there has been a lot of misleading information on social media platforms, in the newspaper and on radio ads, and I would be doing a disservice to the citizens of my precinct, precinct three, by not being transparent or clear about the issues involving CEIDC.”
Hicks requested City Administrator John Angerstein to organize a town hall meeting in her precinct, inviting other council members to join if they liked, to discuss the referendum set for November, on whether to do away with CEIDC and use the tax collected to pay off its debts and then be used to ease the burden on taxpayers.
Interrupted by Fisher and told the comments section was not the place to make a speech, Hicks persisted, going on to request state officials representing both economic development corporations and the state controller’s office.
Hicks said as a parent and grandparent, she was concerned about the future of the city. She also noted many new residents may not be familiar with all the facts and said the city should do more to explain the issues.
Still unclear as to exactly what was being proposed, Fisher explained Hicks could make a motion to discuss such a forum, but could not simply make a motion ordering Angerstein to hold a city forum.
“I was asking him (Angerstein) to set it up,” Hicks said. “I can make the phone calls, that’s not a problem.”
“The main thing is, it would have to be for informational purposes only,” Angerstein explained. “We cannot campaign for or against. Maybe we could bring in an attorney for strict, statutory guidelines, but not the city saying it is for or against. This is citizen-initiated and a citizen election.”
Mayor Fisher said she thought it is more CEIDC’s job to present what it is and what it does.
“No, no, no, no,” Hicks said. “I am asking about the sales tax as well. We need someone who is knowledgable, who is not in the city, and doesn’t have ties to everyone.”
Helping Hicks form a clearer motion, Fisher put the motion to bring in an outside entity to discuss CEIDC and the sales tax proposal.
“Why don’t we just get our city attorney to do it?” asked Councilman Mike Marsh.
“We got our attorney to do it in our meeting, in executive session and I didn’t get anything out of it,” Hicks responded.
Finally forced to bang her gavel to bring order and end the more than 10 minute comment, Marsh seconded the motion saying, “I think everybody needs to know.”
The motion carried unanimously.
The council approved allowing Houston County to run the election for the referendum to close CEIDC, with Angerstein telling the council this is not the first time the county has run a city election, saying it has saved the city money and worked out well. Houston County Election officials will already be holding an election Tuesday, Nov. 5, for local, state and Presidential races, and the city referendum will appear on those ballots. The move also means voters can cast all their votes at one location, and not have to visit several polling places to vote.
Councilman Marsh made a motion, shortly before the meeting ended, regarding CEIDC’s purported new Office Manager, Woodrow Jones.
“I move we place on the next city council and CEIDC agenda an item to discuss our CEIDC Director’s decision to hire, without CEIDC or city approval,” Marsh said. “We should also discuss if Gentry acted in violation of bylaws, policy and state law. This new position was not approved in CEIDC budget. Was it posted? Who interviewed and decided to hire him (Jones)? Who decided his (Jones’) salary and job description? We need answers.”
“That was in the paper, wasn’t it?” Hicks asked. “That was in the paper, in The Messenger.”
Clarifying to Hicks that Marsh had a motion, the mayor cut off any debate.
Dennis Ivey quickly seconded.
Marsh and Ivey voted in favor, Hicks against and Councilman Elbert Johnson did not vote. A non-vote is considered as a vote against, creating a tie. Although it was unclear at the time, the Mayor was also in favor, meaning the item will appear on the next city council and CEIDC agenda.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
