ATWOOD, Tenn. — A crowd of nearly 60 Atwood residents erupted in applause at the conclusion of a special-called meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen Wednesday afternoon, April 29, where attorney Beau Pemberton announced the termination of two city employees and said there will be a top-down review of the town’s finances.
“For those of y’all that may not officially know, city recorder Mrs. [Amanda] Browning has been officially relieved of all responsibility, and that was notified to her in writing Monday evening,” Pemberton told the audience. “Mayor [Fridie Algee] signed a letter terminating both her and Mr. Michael Hills, unconditionally effective as of noon on Monday of this week. Those letters have been served.”
He went on to recognize that since Rita Galloway had already been filling in as interim recorder through Browning’s suspension, she should be given the title of interim recorder.
“I’ve been through the situation before, and I know that it’s always good to have someone appointed on an interim basis, not just stabilize city government, but to also make sure to have somebody who knows where paper clips are kept, who knows how to get the water bills out, how to receive the money, knows the people in town, knows the board, knows the mayor, who can handle helping the day to day government operation,” Pemberton explained.
He then read a resolution that both recognized the vacancy of the recorder’s position and said that Rita Galloway “as interim recorder, shall be vested with all powers, rights, and privileges appertaining to a city recorder.”
The board passed the resolution unanimously.
Pemberton also addressed a financial housekeeping matter that had left the town unable to process payments in the days following Browning’s suspension.
He explained that only two individuals had been authorized to sign checks on behalf of the town: the mayor and the city recorder. With Browning’s termination, that left only one signatory.
“If you only have two people, and one of those individuals is unable to sign checks, city government comes to a grinding halt,” Pemberton said.
He recommended adding Vice Mayor Ricky Long as a third authorized signatory, reasoning that the vice mayor will assume the role of mayor should something happen.
“For better or for worse, members of the board, your vice mayor is one heartbeat away from becoming the mayor of this town,” Pemberton explained. “We hope nobody ends up exercising that right.”
The board passed the resolution unanimously to designate Mayor Algee, Galloway and Long as authorized signatories for all of the town’s financial accounts. The resolution also revoked access for all other individuals not named.
The change also resolved a more immediate problem.
Alderman Randy Long brought up the issue of Galloway not receiving her paycheck last Friday.
Pemberton said the lack of a second signatory had been the reason for the delay.
“Now that we have appropriate signatories on checks, we should be able to go ahead and get a check issued and make sure Miss Rita gets paid,” he said.
Pemberton then addressed members of the public during his report, acknowledging the volume of correspondence he had received since taking the job.
“I’ve had a chance to review a lot of information sent to me by various members of the town,” he said. “For those of y’all who have wrote, called, or emailed me, I’m working through the emails as fast as I am able.”
Pemberton quipped, “But, for better or for worse, the good Lord gave me two hands, and didn’t see fit for me to grow a third one.”
He told the board that with an interim recorder in place and the banking situation stabilized, he would begin working with Mayor Algee and Galloway to inventory the town’s books and records. He said he would also reach out to the Comptroller’s office in Nashville for guidance.
“Just to make sure everything that was done beforehand with the previous administration and city recorder, was done kosher,” Pemberton said. “It’s not going to hurt to have a top to bottom review of everything that’s been done at this point.”
The Aldermen gave him their blessing to proceed.
“I don’t have all the answers,” Pemberton told the crowd, “but we’re going to figure them out, day by day, folks.”
