T. Scott Boatright, Reporter
11-06-2009
GRAMBLING — Grambling police chief Tommy Clark took on the added duties of interim fire chief Thursday during a contentious City Council meeting at Grambling City Hall.Grambling fire chief Carl McCarter announced during October’s regularly scheduled council meeting that he will step down from his position as of 4 p.m. today. As he gave his final report, McCarter thanked Mayor Martha Andrus and the City Council for allowing him to serve as Grambling’s fire chief.
The City Council passed Clark’s appointment with a unanimous 4-0 vote (alderman Alvin Bradley was absent from the meeting).
The mayor and council personnel committee will meet at 4 p.m. Wednesday to discuss a permanent replacement for McCarter and interviews for a new city clerk.
No pay raise has been allotted to Clark at this time.
It didn’t take long for the usual tension to erupt at this council meeting. Minutes after it began, as Mayor Pro Temp Edward Jones asked to be added to the meeting agenda, he and Andrus started the verbal battle.
Jones had been on the original draft of the meeting agenda but had been stricken from it by Andrus. When he asked to be put back on, Andrus said she needed to know what his report would be about. She also said the agenda would have to be amended if Jones was added. Jones responded by saying others on the agenda didn’t have to give the reasoning for their report to be placed on the agenda.
“We shouldn’t have to amend because my name was already on there and was taken off by the mayor,” Jones said before directing his comments directly to Andrus.
“This is not a classroom, it’s a City Council meeting. Have you asked the others for their info (to which Andrus responded ‘No, I haven’t)? Then why can you ask me?”
The mayor responded she was trying to save time in light of Grambling Council meetings often being three-plus hour affairs.
At that point, alderman Roosevelt Bryant, who said he had planned to “keep my mouth closed tonight,” couldn’t stop himself from speaking up.
“I really don’t believe we’re having this conversation,” Bryant said. “This is total ignorance.”
Andrus responded, “Yes, it is,” before Jones jumped back into the verbal fray.
“All these men sitting here are adults, not students,” Jones said. “This is not a classroom. We respect you, we want you to respect us.”
Jones was finally added to the agenda, and when it came to his report he said he had three issues to discuss and began with the lawsuit against Grambling and Andrus by city attorney James Colvin for non-payment of fees.
Colvin filed a Writ of Mandamus last month against Andrus asking for $39,737.02 in outstanding legal fees owed to him for the past three months’ invoices. Colvin filed his petition after the Grambling City Council twice — on July 27 and Oct. 1 — passed motions to pay the attorney’s invoices.
“I’m asking the council to permit me to enter into the lawsuit as a third party in order to help try to make sure the city would not be liable for court costs incurred in this process,” Jones said. “We have voted and want him to be paid, and it would be unfair for the city to have to pay legal fees incurred by the lawsuit. We ask that all those fees be paid by Mayor Andrus (because she won’t pay Colvin).”
After Colvin told the group it would ultimately be up to the judge as to who pays court costs, the council passed a motion naming Jones as a third-party in the lawsuit by a 3-1 vote (with alderman Roy Jackson being the only dissenting vote).
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