By John Brice
Correspondent
The LaFayette City Council met on Monday, September 9th of 2024 at the Chambers County Farmers Federation Agricultural Center at the ALFA building in LaFayette. In attendance were Mayor Kenneth Vines, Councilman Terry G. Mangram, Councilman David Ennis, Councilman Toney B. Thomas, Councilman Michael C. Ellis and Councilwoman Tammie B. Williams. City Clerk Louis T. Davidson, City Attorney Joseph M. Tucker, Fire Chief James Doody, Street, Sanitation and Cemetery Superintendent George Green, Electric Superintendent Chris Sanders, Wastewater Collection Superintendent Kevin Page and LaFayette Police Department Interim Chief Captain Christopher Trice were also present. The meeting began with an invocation led by Mayor Vines and standard procedures such as roll call as well as approval of the minutes from the previous meeting.
First up on the agenda were notices of claim by Ray Hardnett and Geneva Webb for a broken car windshield and water damage to laundry respectively. Hardnett’s claim was denied and Webb’s claim was approved to be paid at which point Mayor Vines announced his Integrea Board Appointment of Jason Kelley and Clerk Davidson provided a 2025 AMEA Scholarship Program announcement.
Davidson also made a Leadership Chambers County announcement which he described as a collaboration between the Chambers County Development Authority and the Greater Valley Area Chamber of Commerce to develop the next generation of local leaders in the area. Next up was the scheduling of a Finance Committee budget meeting for September 11th at 3pm CST in the new city hall. City council meetings for November were rescheduled for November 4th and the 18th due to the need to avoid conflicts with Veterans Day and Thanksgiving for that month.
During the next portion of the meeting, clarification was provided by council members who had been absent from the two meetings last week and their reasons for not attending. Councilman Mangram stated “As far as the way things are going around here, as far as attending meetings and not attending meetings. I think that there is misinformation around that is leading people to think that, me in particular, is ducking out on meetings for reasons of not hiring a police chief. The first thing I want to say is that, to anybody that thinks so, I am not a coward about anything that is going on. I am one of the most active council members here as far as attending meetings, trying to make sure things are going in order, reaching out, talking to and talking with. I have just found it hard to deal with it the last few weeks as far as what people have had to say. Citizens who are thinking those things, everybody has their own opinion, you are more than welcome to think that.”
He went on to continue “One of the things I always say is, if you have got something that is bothering you or something that I am doing that is bothering you or not doing. I am open, I am reachable every day. Since this council has been seated, I haven’t missed but four meetings. We have had people miss as many as twenty-nine meetings. That is one of the things that has really bothered me. Everybody is talking about what should happen to us for missing a meeting, take our pay and all that kind of stuff. Nobody is talking about taking pay from anybody else that has missed a whole bunch of meetings.”
Summing up his thoughts, Mangram concluded “The meeting I missed on the 27th, yes, I did miss that meeting. The meeting on the next night, on Wednesday, that was an illegal meeting. The notification time frame was not set. I don’t have to attend a meeting that was not given twenty-four hours notice. So that meeting was, to me, an illegal meeting.”.
Next, Councilman Thomas remarked “First of all I would like for the record quote; ain’t never been nobody’s coward, period. You got a problem with me, or you want to talk to me. I don’t facebook fight, but if you want to talk to me, I’m a man. Come talk to me, never been afraid of nobody. Second thing I would like to say, this thing with hiring a police chief is nothing personal against Captain Trice. Captain Trice and I have talked several times, personally I think he would make a good police chief. But, we have got to follow the rules and procedures on hiring. Because we don’t want to put the city in a lawsuit. So, we got to do things right.”
Councilman Ellis spoke next, noting “Myself and Councilman Mangram, we serve on the police and fire committee with Councilwoman Williams. I have been involved with the City of LaFayette, I started policing here in 1993. Total time police about thirteen years and I have been on the council about twelve years. So, about twenty-five years. When I was a police officer, I served under three police chiefs. Those chiefs were selected by a process that has been in place as long as I can remember, probably as long as the city has been a city. Where committees appointed by the mayor take the applications, resumes and all that. They do the interviewing and all that.”
He went on to continue “The way this process that we are talking about here was done, myself and Councilman Mangram, committee members appointed by the mayor were told that we cannot be a part of the interview process. None of that, which wasn’t right. I objected to that at a council meeting, I think in April, my disapproval of that. I asked the mayor to be a part of that. Councilwoman Williams did not want to participate, that is her right to not do so.”
Ellis finished up by commenting “I have known Captain Interim Chief Trice as long as he has been here. I have nothing against him, Chief Trice. My objection is to the way this was done. I feel that myself and Councilman Mangram should not have been disallowed to be a part of the selection process and interviewing. The three that Councilwoman Williams selected to do the interviewing, I had no problem if they joined myself and Councilman Mangram to be a part of the interview and selection process. That would have been fine, I have no problem with that. If Captain Trice was the best person, I would have supported that. But to be told that we could not be a part of the process with the way it has always been done, it was wrong in my opinion.”
Councilwoman Williams explained that her reasons for intentionally pursuing an unorthodox selection process for the new chief was to remove council members from imposing any of their personal feelings on potential candidates so as to achieve the highest standards of professionalism.
Moving on, the council approved Ordinance No 483 for a Severe Weather Preparedness Tax Holiday February 21 st – 23rd , 2025 with a roll call vote and then approved three cemetery deeds with a single motion. Members of the public then exited the building while the council went into executive Session to discuss with the attorney the legal ramifications of and legal options for controversies not yet being litigated but imminently likely to be litigated or imminently likely to be litigated if the governmental body pursues a proposed course of action.
Once that executive session was completed the public was invited back into the building where the council voted unanimously to approve the hiring of Interim Chief Captain Trice to be the permanent LPD chief and the meeting was adjourned.
