Bluff City Officials Attempt To Block Future Recall Efforts
Published: December 19, 2008
Updated: December 19, 2008
BLUFF CITY, Tenn. – City officials are working to prevent future recall efforts against them through a series of charter changes approved during a special meeting Thursday.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted 4-1 in favor of the changes, which also include a plan to make all city employees at-will employees.
“I don’t think it’s right,” said LonGene Leonard, a former Bluff City Alderman who led an unsuccessful recall effort against four board members in the November election.
Leonard’s effort targeted Malone, Vice Mayor J.C. Gentry, Alderman Don Weaver and Alderwoman Irene Wells. The proposal failed by a 3-to-2 margin when it went before voters Nov. 4.
Gentry, Weaver, Wells and Alderman Mark Weaver voted in favor of the proposed changes. Alderman Melvin Carrier cast the dissenting vote.
To be adopted, the proposed charter changes must pass a vote in both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly and be signed by the state’s governor. Once that happens, two-thirds of the board members must approve the proposed changes at a second meeting before any can go into effect.
“We’ve got a dictatorship and we’re going to have an even worse one if this thing passes the General Assembly,” Leonard said after Thursday’s meeting.
Leonard said he also is troubled by the city’s decision to vote on the changes during a special meeting that did not allow for citizen comments.
The proposed changes also include provisions that would make the city recorder and city police chief at-will employees and do away with their property rights. Those two changes mean the board can hire and fire city employees without a formal cause or public hearing, something the current charter requires. The changes also will allow the board to reappoint each employee when each two-year term starts.
Police Chief David Nelson said neither he nor any of the seven police officers he supervises had any problems with either of these personnel changes.
“They can’t just walk in and fire you,” Nelson said after Thursday’s meeting. “There’s still a policy that they have to follow.”
Bluff City is one of only a few cities in Tennessee that does not operate with an at-will policy, Nelson said, and his officers felt comfortable with their jobs.
While both of these measures will move forward after Thursday’s meeting, one controversial charter change will not see the light of day.
Board members voted 4-1 to remove a section from their proposed changes that would allow the city to charge a hotel-motel tax on any campground, RV Park or bed and breakfast operating within its limits.
Forty-five Tennessee municipalities – including Bristol, Kingsport and Johnson City – charge a hotel tax. The average rate is 5 percent, though some cities charge as much as 7 percent.
Board members last tried to create a city motel tax when they added it to a proposed charter change approved in a February meeting. The General Assembly and Gov. Phil Bredesen signed off on this plan in April. But the proposed hotel tax quickly died when board members failed to ratify it at their May meeting. The hotel tax provision needed support from four board members to go forward, but only garnered three votes.
Carrier voted against the hotel tax in May while Wells abstained. Wells asked the board to pull the hotel tax from Thursday night’s list of proposed changes.
“This is not the time [to add a tax] when all of us are having a problem,” Wells said. “We need to try to work with the few businesses we have.”
The charter changes approved Thursday also include provisions that would: change when and how often board meetings take place; call for a special election if three or more seats on the board are vacated; and remove the mayor and city recorder’s ability to serve as a judge in the city court.
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Reader Reactions
It seems to me that you are the one displaying their ignorance. Perhaps you should read ALL of the post before commenting. Apparently you are having some difficulty with comprehending what is written.
Secret Agent: I have studied Government Law - as well as having spent some time in politics. Just because you know the rules doesn’t mean you will win the game. If you are saying what it appears you are saying - then Bluff City isn’t really a town governed “by the people, for the people”. In order for this to be a guaranteed pass in the Senate and Assembly, then the majority both houses and the governor have been bribed. That would be the only way to GUARANTEE it’s successful ratification. Now, with 33 members in the state Senate and 99 members in the Assembly, that would be overwhelming! Somehow I don’t see too many lobbyists in Bluff City pushing to get this passed - at least not in the sense we understand lobbying. Your statements are being interpreted as defining the politics of Bluff City as crooked and corrupt and that what ever the elected margin wants is what they will get, regardless of the voice of its people.
Norton and Nuff Said….why don’t you
two farts kiss and make up!!!!!!!Then both of you have a beer.
NORTON: You started the comments when you first posted this:
Posted by ( Norton ) on December 19, 2008 at 11:43 pm
BIGGUY————I believe NUFF SAID has been smokin pot again !!!!
Don’t you read your own posts? I had thought not to drop to your level and refute such an asinine statement but it looks as if I will have to. I DON"T SMOKE POT. How can you say that I must be smoking pot AGAIN? I haven’t before and you don’t know me.
Your posting encouraged others of your ‘friends’ to post this:
Posted by ( MOONLIGHT ) on December 19, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Nuff Said is either smoking pot or drank too many beers !!!!!!!
and:
Posted by ( SECRET AGENT ) on December 20, 2008 at 12:06 am
NUFF SAID could be doing both. Sounds fuzzy minded to me.
Not that it is any of your business, but I don’t smoke pot and rarely drink beer. If I want to drink a beer then I will drink one. Perhaps you can send someone out to watch me so you can report it here? I do believe it is still legal to drink a beer in your own home. It seems to me that all of you are so involved with the lives of others that you don’t have one yourselves. With ‘friends’ like you guys, Mayor Malone is made to look bad, as is the whole BMA. And since you started this, I will finish it. It seems the only way you people can exist is by name calling of others. If you disagree with others, then state that. If you disagree with what is going on in city hall, then state that. You can do that without name calling. You can do that without mud slinging. You can do that without making yourself look so childish and pitiful. You can do that without pretending you know someone and maligning their character with lies as you tried to do with me. I don’t play those games. I have chosen at this time to point out how childish you behave. People will judge you by what you say-write. I don’t know if I might know any of you or not, but I would be ashamed to say I did if I do. That said, now let me state once again that I do support what the BMA is trying to do, I don’t personally know any of the members but they seem like fine people to me. I hope that the changes they make will be beneficial to all in this fine little city that I have lived in for over 50 years. I know what went on in this town in the 70’s. Now, call me an old ‘fogey’ and post some more derogatory remarks about me if that makes you happier with yourself, if that gives you pleasure. I and God know me and I don’t care for your unknowledgeable opinions about me, don’t need them. If you want to have decent conversations here without being so immature, then let’s do it. Otherwise, I have lost all respect for you, not that it matters to you I am sure, and this is Nuff Said.
PS—I know I have used some bigger words here, if you have a problem with understanding them, let me know, I will be glad to give you a dictionary look up!
itsappropriate—don’t you know that you are not allowed to agree, or disagree, with some of the posters here? You would be fighting a sane battle with unarmed persons! Ah well, if they are talking about you then they can leave me alone for a while (since it appears that I am a pot smoking beer drinking person who doesn’t know what I am talking about!)
Secret Agent: “To be adopted, the proposed charter changes must pass a vote in both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly and be signed by the state’s governor. Once that happens, two-thirds of the board members must approve the proposed changes at a second meeting before any can go into effect.“ So, are you telling us that you have control over both houses and the governor???
Additionally - I am not hiding - I’m right here! I’m a resident of Bluff City and I doubt you have any idea who I am. I very seldom voice my opinion, but when I do, its generally in a very polite manner. I don’t see any reason to get ugly - my views are my own and I only voice them when there’s something that bothers me, and THIS bothers me.
Secret Agent - do you know something the rest of us don’t? “The new charter being put in place by City Attorney Paul Frye and the BMA is going through the legal process at this time and will be ratified in the near future.“ Again - there are no guarantees in life. I’m not saying that this charter won’t be ratified - but how do you know that it will? And my question to all of you who seem to be so sure that this is gonna pass is: What happens if it doesn’t? And again - are you really sure that this is what you want? I sincerely hope that somewhere down the road this charter doesn’t come back to bite Bluff City in its proverbial behind. Just look at the “mud slinging” going on on this blogspot! You all sound like a bunch of stubborn 5 year olds! “I want what I want and I want it now and you aren’t going to change my mind because I’m right!“ Where’s the love here? You know - for your fellow man/woman? No one is perfect, except for one - and he died for our imperfections!!! Tis the seasons, folks - give it a rest already!
If you are not able to manage your business, why should you be entrusted to run the City business without question? Filing bankruptcy and leaving UNIDEN, Motorola, and others with over $ 500,000.00 worth of debt to eat is a fair question when you are dealing with City funds.
This is no time to smear anyone on this web-site, all of us should be celebrating the lastest happening with our city. This board is trying their best to get city busines in order. Let’s commend and suport this board and wish them the best. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you including (evangingstar Dulaney)
BTW Luke—I was using sarcasm in trying to educate you to the fact that personal lives have no bearing on job performance. This site is for the posting of opinions, for a decent discussion of facts and thoughts. Not for cutting down people by trying to make them look bad, with false accusations about one’s personal life, or character assassination of someone you don’t even know. At least, I don’t think I know you. I honestly don’t know how you people justify the posts you have made here! Still LMAO!!
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