LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – On Thursday morning, LaFollette City Council attempted to hold a public hearing for comments on the 2019-20 budget and the certified tax rate. All councilmembers were present except for Mark Hoskins.

As the hearing started, Mayor Mike Stanfield asked if the public had any comments. Katie Goins responded quickly wanting to know who scheduled the meeting for 9 am.  Council members then began blaming one another for the time chosen. In an attempt to answer Goins question, City Recorder Stan Foust went to retrieve the tape from last month’s council meeting when the time and date was chosen.

As council waited for Foust return, Mayor Mike Stanfield took the opportunity to tell those present in the room “When I first got involved with politics I told the citizens, I would not vote for a tax increase,” to which Ralph Sharp responded quickly “well what are we doing here”, Stanfield then said “we’re going to find out when Stan finds that tape recorder.”  Sharp then took the opportunity to begin discussing his water drainage issues with council again, stating nothing has been done in three years. He then began questioning Stanfield about how many times the city has been sued and told them they were getting bad advice from their attorney.

After approximately ten minutes, Foust returned with the recorder. The tape revealed that Stanfield suggested June 27 as the date, Councilman Ann Thompson suggested having the meeting early in the day to give enough time for Terry Sweat to complete and submit the budget and Hoskins suggested a 9 am start time.

Council eventually agreed to reschedule the public hearing and meeting. City Administrator Jimmy Jeffries said in order to follow policy, the meeting has to be scheduled three days out to give enough time for public notice. Eventually setting the date as Saturday, June 29 at 5:30 pm. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 06/28/2019-6AM)

Related