GOULD – Four of six members of the Gould City Council called a special meeting Tuesday evening and appointed Pamela Barley-Gibson as recorder-treasurer.
Two of the four said the meeting was called after Mayor Earnest Nash Jr. canceled the regular monthly meeting just hours earlier.
Mary Prewett resigned as recorder-treasurer recently, contending she was frightened of Nash. Barley-Gibson was unanimously appointed recorder-treasurer.
Aldermen Sonja Farley and Harry Hall said they learned about 5 p.m. that Nash had canceled Tuesday’s regular council session, citing a “special meeting” he had to attend in Little Rock.
Since Nash had locked City Hall, the two said the agreement was made to hold the meeting at the Lions Club Building.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
They said the vote was 4-0 to override Nash’s veto of Barley-Gibson’s appointment made at the Dec. 13 meeting.
Nash maintained she was not a resident of Gould, while she said she has ample proof of meeting residency requirements.
The four council members also voted unanimously to fire the seven members of the municipal Water Commission, Police Chief Talvin Collins and part-time officer Tim Peterson, Barley-Gibson said.
Hall contended Collins “never shows up for work” and no tickets had been issued in the city.
The council repeatedly asked commission members to attend council meetings and explain the large number of leaks in the water system, but the only reply was a notice that water rates were increased 5 percent, aldermen said.
The council also asked Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter to request an investigation into the disappearance of a municipal street roller and Nash driving a city-owned police car in violation of a municipal ordinance.
Hall, Farley, Aldermen Rosieanna Smith-Lee and Veronica Tensley have openly feuded with Nash for months, while Aldermen Essie Mae Cableton and Ermer Preston usually side with Nash.
Nash has routinely vetoed ordinances and resolutions adopted by the four, and following one meeting vetoed items that were not considered, according to a review of council minutes.
Several city employees were furloughed several months ago when the Internal Revenue Service attached municipal bank accounts to collect more than $300,000 in unpaid payroll taxes, penalties and interest dating back to 2003.
A lawsuit has been filed during the feuding. Samuel King and Norvell Dixon, members of the Gould Citizens Advisory Council, and the private citizen’s group, sued to remove Smith-Lee and Hall from the Gould City Council.
The answer to the civil suit seeks to have Nash, Preston and Cableton removed from office and prohibited from holding public office in the Lincoln County town in the future.
Tuesday night, the council addressed the former Simmons Bank building that was turned over to the city that is occupied by the Gould Citizens Advisory Council and others. The parties must vacate the structure within 10 days or the locks will be changed, the aldermen said.
Preston, Cableton and the GCAC are illegally occupying the building without paying rent or utilities and are retaliating against Hall and Smith-Lee, who supported council action to remove them from the structure, they contended.