Aldermen Discuss Public Works Director Opening, Charter Changes
Henderson County Director of Election Robin Powers suggested the city combine three precincts into one saving the city money on election day voting in the 2023 city election. The board took no action on the request.
Photo by: Steve Corlew / Lexington Progress
Article by Steve Corlew-
The Lexington Board of Mayor and Aldermen will hold a special called meeting November 22nd at noon, to discuss city charter changes after aldermen could not agree on a hiring procedure for a Director of Public Works.
The special called session will also take up the fire chief vacancy.
Meeting in a special session, November 9, 2022, the board debated the procedures for filling that position.
Currently Lexington Police Chief Roger Loftin is set to retire January 5, 2023. He is also acting as the Director of Public Works.
The position became open September 1st when Robbie McCready stepped down after his election as Henderson County Mayor.
The city charter calls for the Public Works Director and other city employees to live within the city limits. Aldermen had discussed changes that would allow them to live outside the city limits, but within Henderson County.
The city has six current employees that have expressed interest in the position. Two motions to set up interviews with those employees failed, before aldermen decided they needed to tackle a proposed charter change first.
“I think we are getting the cart before the horse,” Alderman Gordon Wildridge said. “We need to settle what we are going to do.”
Mayor Jeff Griggs said that the University of Tennessee, Municipal Technical Assistance Service (MTAS) recommended the board approve the charter change before they make a hire.
“The charter says they must reside in the city,” Griggs said. “MTAS does not recommend hiring anybody before we send those changes to…
For complete coverage, see the November 16th edition of The Lexington Progress.
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