Red Bay council confronts mayor

By Staff
Jonathan Willis FCT Staff Writer
A lengthy Red Bay city council meeting broke into a round of personal questions and accusations Monday night, with very little city business accomplished.
At the onset of the meeting, council member Ann Wilkins asked that several new items of business be placed on the agenda, including questions about the purchase and sale of a city vehicle and the salary of Mayor Tommy Nelson, who receives no pay as mayor but receives close to $100,000 as head of several city departments. Nelson argued that the new items could not be placed on the agenda, but city attorney Brian Hamilton stepped in and said that it was legal to do so.
In question was the sale of a 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe that was purchased by the city's equipment fund in 2000, but currently has the Red Bay Water and Gas listed as the holder of the title, not the city.
The vehicle, which was purchased from Page Chevrolet for $28,500 four years ago, was set to be sold Tuesday afternoon; however, council members Jeff Reid and Wilkins asked that the sale of the vehicle be suspended. They argued that they had searched the previous minutes of all meetings for the last four years and never saw any mention of the vehicle being transferred to the Water and Gas department.
Nelson said that he could have provided all paper work concerning the transfer of the vehicle if he had been notified beforehand.
He said that the sale of the vehicle will be up to the gas board.
Also in question was the signing of a resolution that made Nelson superintendent of the sewer department. Wilkins questioned why Nelson was re-appointed to the position by the previous council in July when his term was not set to expire until Oct. 8, which would have been after the new administration took office.
Wilkins replied, "I don't want to hang anybody. We were elected to take care of the city's money and that's what we need to do. This is the city's money and we need to account for all the money that's spent."
Nelson took the position as head of the sewer department in 2000 at a salary of $12,000, but since that time it has increased to $18,000 annually. He said that by not hiring heads of all the city's departments and using the current structure, Red Bay had saved $412,000 over the last four years.
Nelson got no response when he asked the council if they wanted him to step down as superintendent of the sewer department.
Nelson said that he knows that he makes a fairly large salary for the city of Red Bay, but that he keeps a daily log of his hours and he makes approximately $22 an hour based on that.
Nelson responded by saying that he would step down as head of the sewer department.
No official action was taken by the council on the matter, so it was unclear after the meeting as to whether or not Nelson's resignation was official.
In actual city business, the council tabled several items including help with the financing of renovations at the Dixie Youth baseball fields.
The meeting ended when Reid told the audience in the packed auditorium that he has no vendetta against anyone, but that he believes Nelson does. He drew a round of applause when he told the crowd that he can tell when Nelson is lying.