Bluff City Officials Attempt To Block Future Recall Efforts

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.