GOULD — Mayor Earnest Nash Jr. decided not to call the Gould City Council into session Tuesday evening when only two members were present at City Hall.
Nash said he was unable to obtain a definitive legal opinion on proceeding with that number to consider declaring two alderman seats vacant and filling the vacancies by appointment.
Aldermen Roseanna Smith-Lee and Harry Hall were removed from office in mid-July by Circuit Judge Robert H. “Rob” Wyatt Jr. of White Hall. Wyatt held that Hall had previously been convicted of a felony and was ineligible to serve and that Smith-Lee does not reside in the ward she was elected to represent.
Aldermen Sonja Farley, Veronica Tensley, Smith-Lee and Hall have conspired to cause problems in the Lincoln County town, Nash told more than a dozen supporters gathered at City Hall.
Aldermen Essie Mae Cableton and Ermer Preston, the two council members present, agreed with Nash.
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“Enough is enough,” Nash said.
Farley, Tensley, Smith-Lee and Hall voted to appoint Pamela Barley-Gibson recorder-treasurer of the municipality to fill a vacancy created by a resignation. Nash vetoed the appointment and the four had the necessary votes to override the vetoes more than once.
The four voted to give Barley-Gibson and Hall authority to write checks on the municipal accounts, curtailing Nash’s control over municipal finances.
As a result, Nash said Tuesday, the town’s bills have not been paid for 10 months and employees have gone without pay since December. Barley-Gibson, who was not present Tuesday, has maintained Nash locked her out of the recorder-treasurer’s City Hall office and she could not conduct needed municipal business.
A bank that financed a municipal fire truck is preparing to repossess the firefighting apparatus, which would leave residents without fire protection, Nash told the group. After the meeting ended, Nash acknowledged bills have not been paid on a second fire truck that was sent off for repairs.
The city will not receive any Act 833 money, an assessment on fire insurance premiums divided among fire departments, Nash added.
With the city not paying its bills, he said telephone and Internet to City Hall has been shut off and electrical power may be shut off at City Hall and to street lights.
“You need to know this … we are on the verge of being cut off … no one to pick up trash,” the mayor said.
“In November, be very careful who you elect to run this city,” Nash said.
He distributed a sheet of paper indicating that Linda Kay Howell, clerk of the Gould Division of Lincoln County District Court, is owed $11,251.69 in pay, mileage, postage and late fees for her utilities since Dec. 23.
Howell said if the court office is closed the town may face loss of state turnback money.
Nash said he was not told that Farley, Tensley and Barley-Gibson would be absent Tuesday. Barley-Gibson and Farley told The Commercial earlier that they were ill and would seek hospital treatment, while Farley said Tensley had to attend a class.
Nash said he is preparing a letter to the council reminding aldermen he is still Gould’s chief executive.
“You can call me a forger, a thief and a crook, but I am prepared to run this city,” Nash added. His comments drew applause from the crowd.
State authorities have charged Nash with forgery, obstructing governmental operations, theft of property, abuse of office and two counts of nonfeasance in office.
Nash was convicted of one count of battery in the third degree and acquitted of two additional misdemeanor charges last month in Lincoln County District Court stemming from a confrontation with Hall and Barley-Gibson.
“We are in trouble,” Preston said, in part because city bills are not being paid.
Cableton accused the absent council members of a “conspiracy,” which she said began Jan. 1, 2011, and was continuing. “That’s too long to be held hostage.”