By Betsy Finklea
At a regular council meeting on April 10th and a special council meeting on April 17th, a majority of the Latta Town Council successfully passed the necessary reading to allow the voters to choose the form of government in Latta.
The town currently has the strong mayor form of government. There is a movement to change this to the strong council form of government.
April 10th Meeting
Councilman Jarett Taylor made a presentation at the April 10th meeting on the subject. He showed some codes from the municipal code book that are not compliant with state law and some that he felt closely relate to the strong council form of government.
Taylor said that changing Latta’s form of government is not a new idea. He said the issue came up in 1996, but it was blocked by the U.S. Department of Justice. At that time, Mayor Earl Bullard, who was then a councilman, was in favor the change.
Taylor said he also conducted a poll on a social media site. He said 63 percent wanted to change the form of government and 26 percent wanted more information. Taylor was asked if there was any way to verify if the people who voted in this poll were within the Town of Latta. Taylor said there was no way to say. Taylor said nobody likes changes, but something has to change. Taylor said if the town goes to the council form they could follow the codes that they have. If they keep the current form, they will have to change some of the codes. Taylor said before they spend $10,000 doing this he wants to know what the people want.
Bullard said they need to have a town meeting to let registered voters speak to the issue. He said he wanted to know what the citizens want versus a blind poll.
Citizen Edith Bryant said there are some people who are not on social media, and posts on this are not getting to all citizens.
Citizen Travis Lewis said he felt they need some type of change. Later in the meeting, Lewis said it is a power struggle.
Town Attorney Glenn Greene said that in Columbia they are going through the opposite, trying to change from strong council to strong mayor.
Citizen Ginni Burden said they needed to do something. She said she wanted to see somebody she elected help get this back together.
Bullard aid a house divided will not stand. Bullard said years ago he was one of the ones who wanted to go to strong council, but he felt that he was wiser now. Bullard said one person has to make the decisions of the every day operations. He said if an emergency comes up, someone needs to make a decision. Bullard said one cannot always get a quorum together at any point in time. He said decisions need to be made on an every day basis, and someone ha to be willing to take the hit.
Citizen Christy Rogers said she agreed that somebody has to be the “heavy.’ Rogers said she sees no leadership direction; and she does not believe what the mayor says, so she has to defer to the people beside him. She said she cannot follow the mayor because she does not know what direction he is going to go. She said this is what is scary to her.
Former Mayor Allan Brigman said when Lonnie Shelley was mayor and Brigman was on council, Shelley said government was changing. Shelley told the council that they would have to select a form of government. He said they thought the most compatible to the one they were using was strong mayor.
Brigman said in 1996, Bullard, who was a councilman, and Councilman Kenny Taylor wanted to change the form of government, but it was blocked by the Department of Justice. He said at the next council election, they got sent home.
Bullard said as much as he and Brigman disagreed, at the end of the night, they would go to Dillon to a fast food restaurant and sit and drink a milkshake.
“We are supposed to agree to disagree,” Bullard said. “It doesn’t have to be the type of disagreement that makes us the laughingstock of this county.”
Mayor Pro-Tem Brian Mason noted that the council is working on some of the things mentioned in an editorial in The Dillon Herald. He said that none of these are things that happen overnight. He said they are agreeing to disagree, and they would have to bite their tongue not to bicker. He said the rest of the town business is not getting ignored. He said they have been getting things done.
The council had the first reading of an ordinance to let the voters choose the form of government. The motion was made by Taylor and seconded by Councilman Trudy Drawhorn.
The vote was as follows: Council members Taylor, Abbott Shelley, Drawhorn, Mason, Lutherine Williams, and James Reaves voted in favor of the motion. Bullard voted against it.
The second reading was scheduled for April 17th.
April 17th Meeting
The April 17th meeting came after the termination of Police Chief Crystal Moore.
Several people gathered at the meeting in support of Moore and/or in interest of the situation.
Town residents were admitted into the council room. The fire marshal had set a limit of 49 people allowed. A microphone was set up so those outside could hear the meeting.
Mayor Bullard stated that they would follow the agenda and order would be maintained. Mayor Pro-Tem Mason also asked that there be order during the meeting.
The second reading of an ordinance to allow the voters to choose the form of government was held. The motion was made by Councilman Drawhorn and seconded by Council member Williams.
Councilman Shelley asked how much it was cost to conduct the election. Bullard estimated that it would cost $2,000-$3,000 minimum.
The ordinance presented had an effective date of September 1. Councilman Taylor asked why this date was chosen. Clerk-Treasurer Joe Powell said this would give 30 days to get the election certified and a 30 day transition period.
Taylor asked if they could back up the date until August 1. Drawhorn said after the certification, he did not see any reason why it could not go into effect. Bullard suggested that they find out from the state and see what the state says.
The motion by Drawhorn was amended to make the effective date within one week of the vote being certified as long as it is within state guidelines.
Mason made the motion to approve the amendment seconded by Taylor. Drawhorn accepted the amendment.
Taylor, Shelley, Drawhorn, Bullard, Mason, Williams, and Reaves all voted to accept the amendment.
On the motion to allow the voters to have the election to change the form of government, there was no further discussion by council.
Citizen Kevin Drawhorn said our country was founded on democracy – not a dictatorship. He said he feels this is more of a dictatorship. He said he thought it should be a voting thing instead of one person making the decisions.
Citizen Lizzie Crawford said the forms of government need to be explained to the citizens. Taylor said he could have someone come and explain this, but people needed to show up.
Williams asked the citizens in attendance to give them a chance to show the citizens this can work. Mason said they want everyone to show up. Taylor said they are not putting this on the ballot to say that they should change the form of government; they are giving the citizens a chance to choose.
Bullard said back in the ‘90s this was tried, but you had to get approval. He said the laws have changed. He said change is in the voters hands.
Bullard said under the council form of government a manager is usually hired. He asked how they will find the money to hire a manager. He said they can leave things they way they are and let the mayor administrate.
Williams said the money was not on the agenda. Bullard said he was talking about it as part of the discussion on the forms of government.
Taylor, Shelley, Drawhorn, Mason, Williams, and Reaves voted in favor of the motion. Shelley said he voted in favor to let the people decide. Bullard voted against the motion saying he thought it would be too costly to the town.
An election will be held June 24th to let voters choose the form of government. At least one community meeting will be held prior to the election.
The Grievance Committee was the next issue on the April 17th agenda. Bullard said he talked to Mason. The committee will stand as is with one person on the committee in that department stepping aside.
The next item on the agenda was an executive session. Bullard said the purpose was to discuss the police chief matter. He asked for a motion to go into executive session. There was no motion made. Bullard said the business on the agenda had been conducted. He asked for a motion to adjourn.
Williams said they needed a special meeting. Bullard asked when did they want a special meeting. No one chose to set a date and time.
Bullard then asked again for a motion to adjourn.
Williams then made several comments.
She said the citizens came to be heard She said she had asked for a change of venue so more could attend but was told they could not do that. She said she called Columbia, and they told her they have never heard of someone having to sign a form to come in and say something. She said this was wrong, not right.
Williams said, “What you see is love” that the Town of Latta has. “We have a love to embrace,” Williams said. This was followed with applause.
Williams said we have a “town hall Burger King.” She said, “It’s have it your way.” Williams said she didn’t live in an “I” town. She lives in a “we” town. She intends to do what is right for the citizens of Latta.
After further discussion, a motion was obtained and seconded. The meeting was adjourned.
