ATWOOD, Tenn. — Nearly 40 residents filled the basement of Cornerstone Church on Saturday evening, April 25, to discuss the state of their town’s government and what steps citizens can take to hold local leaders accountable.
The meeting was organized by Marian Herndon and Joann Long, and came on the heels of the suspension of City Recorder Amanda Browning and maintenance employee Michael Hills earlier in the week.
A special called board meeting has since been scheduled for Wednesday, April 29 at 6 p.m. at Atwood City Hall. Among the items on the agenda are the discussion and appointment of an interim city recorder and a report from City Attorney Beau Pemberton with discussion of board action on his recommendations.
Herndon opened Saturday’s meeting by urging residents to become more engaged in local government, starting with regular attendance at board meetings.
“We need to speak up,” she said. “We need to make our voices heard at each and every board meeting.”
She said that city attorney Beau Pemberton had advised Mayor Fridie Algee to terminate both suspended employees.
Herndon added that Pemberton had made his expectations clear to the town regarding heeding his legal advice.
“He said in the meeting on Monday that if they don’t follow my advice, I will not continue to be the attorney,” She said.
Residents raised a number of concerns throughout the evening:
Meeting minutes.
Residents said they believe recent meeting minutes contained inaccurate information and called for minutes to be read aloud at each board meeting before a vote to approve, so that errors can be caught and corrected in real time.
They also called for printed copies of the minutes to be made available to citizens at meetings.
Financial transparency.
Terry Herndon said that aldermen had been given financial statements that did not include enough detail to be useful. He said when an alderman asked for bank statements to better understand the town’s finances, he was told the summary was all he would receive. Residents said they want full financial records, including bank statements, to be accessible to both aldermen and citizens.
Public comment.
Multiple residents said they had experienced difficulty being heard at board meetings, including at least one who said she signed up for public comment but was never called on. Residents called for the two-minute public comment limit to be extended and said citizens should not be turned away when they come to speak.
Water billing and maintenance.
Several residents described problems with meter reading and water leak response. At least two said they believed their meters had been read incorrectly, resulting in inflated bills, and that when they raised the issue it was never satisfactorily resolved. Others described water leaks that went unaddressed for extended periods before being repaired.
Access to city hall.
Residents said the town’s community building, which was built for public use, had become difficult for citizens to access for events and gatherings. Several said they had been turned away or given an unwelcoming response when attempting to use or inquire about the facility.
Communication between aldermen and citizens.
Residents described being told they were not permitted to speak directly to aldermen or the mayor about concerns and instead had to go through city hall staff. Herndon said there is nothing in the town’s charter that requires such a chain of command for general citizen concerns.
Additionally, residents expressed frustration with Mayor Algee’s oversight of city operations, with some calling for him to resign. Others urged the crowd to focus on the November election as the clearest path to change.
“If no other time does it get changed, it’s not that many months,” Marian Herndon said. “We’ve got to hang in there. We’ve got to work together, and we can change it in November.”
She encouraged attendees to contact their aldermen ahead of board meetings to raise concerns, register to vote, and attend the next regular board meeting scheduled for May 14 at 7 p.m.
Wednesday’s special called board meeting at 6 p.m. is open to the public and will be the first opportunity for citizens to see how the board responds to the attorney’s recommendations.