Key players missing in Chambers County

Valley has no city administrator and only an acting police chief; Lanett has been without a city manager since November; and LaFayette until recently had a vacancy on its City Council. But none of the Chambers County municipalites are breaking any laws.

Lori Lein, deputy general counsel with the Alabama League of Municipalities, said Valley and Lanett can function without a ctiy administrator or city manager indefinitely. The rules are different for elected positions, she said.

—The Valley city council ousted city administrator Tim Bryan May 18 when a vote to retain him ended in a 4-4 tie. Attempts to reach Bryan since then have been unsuccessful.

The council could have made the change following the city election last fall, but Valley Mayor Arnold Leak said he wanted to give the new council members six months to work with the city department heads before they were asked to review their contracts. The six-month extension ended May 17.

—Lanett has been without a city manager since the newly-elected council decided at its first meeting in November not to rehire Joel Holley. The council also released fire chief Tim Jennings. City clerk Deborah Daniel has been serving as acting city manager since then. She said the council has yet to make a decision on filling the position permanently. The council hired Johnny Allen as new fire chief in March.

—Under Alabama law, LaFayette Mayor Matt Hurst said the city council had 60 days to find a replacement for District C representative Toney Ben Thomas, who vacated his seat last month as part of a plea agreement in a criminal case.

The council named Stevie Rowe to the seat earlier this month. Rowe lost the August election to Thomas, getting only 21 percent of the vote, but Hurst said he was the only persone who expressed interest inthe council seat.

Consequences

In Valley, the mayor serves part-time and has voting power on the council as an at-large member. But without Bryan, Leak has assumed the full-time responsibility of the city’s day-to-day operations. He also works full-time in Auburn as an IT specialist.

Leak described managing two full-time jobs as “controlled insanity.” He said he’s gotten into a daily routine of handling city business before he goes to work in the morning, during lunch and at home at night. He said he also delegates to city employees.

Some council members, particularly those who voted against Bryan, said the city can survive without an administrator.

District 5 representative Deborah Chambers said Valley flourished without the post before, like when the textile mills were open, andit will again.

“We aren’t going to hell in a handbasket like people think,” she said.

District 7 representative Jimmy Gilson, who voted to keep Bryan, said he was concerned about Valley’s future without what he called “a guard at the gate.”

“Now we don’t know what will happen,” Gilson said.

Leak, Gilson, O’Neal Shaw and Ray Edwards voted for Bryan’s contract. Chambers, Dr. Elizabeth Lyons, Henry Cooper and Jim Jones voted against.

Cooper said he sees a need to have a supervisor for day-to-day duties, but “I think we can operate without one for a few months.

“I feel we do need one, but I feel that will probably be our next step — to search for one.”

Leak said he doesn’t want to initiate a search for a new city administrator anytime soon.

“Tim Bryan was the best we ever had,” he said. “I’m not ready to close the door on him yet. I’m certainly not ready to have someone try to take his place.”

Leak said he is clinging to the possibility that since the vote was so close, one council member could reverse and things could go back to the way they were.

“Since the mayor is part-time, I think we need to have a city administrator full-time,” Gilson said. “And anybody who says we don’t has his head buried in the sand.”

Other openings

Valley’s council decided at the same May 18 meeting not to rehire police chief Michael Taylor.

Lein said cities can operate without a permanent police or fire chief as long as someone assumes the duties in the interim. Bryan had been Valley’s acting police chief when Taylor was put on paid administrative leave April 14, but when both were let go, the council made Lt. Frank Montroy acting chief.

Lanett and LaFayette also have interiims filling key positions.

Soon after Lanett’s police chief Teddy Morris left for personal reasons on May 5, the city began searching for his replacement. Major Tifton Dobbs was put in command in the interim, officials said.

LaFayette had been without a city clerk for several months before naming Louis Davidson to fill the void left by former clerk Peter Gardner, Hurst said.
“It’s a big position for a city the size of LaFayette,” Hurst said. “It had to be well thought out who we hired.”