East Ridge Vice Mayor Larry SewellWHAT’S NEXTThe East Ridge City Council will interview three city manager candidates tonight at City Hall following its council meeting. The candidates are Hamilton County Judicial Commissioner Larry Ables; Hattiesburg, Miss., Director of Federal and State Programs Andrew Allard; and Fairview, Tenn., City Manager Andrew Hyatt. Interviews are expected to start around 7:30 p.m.
In the latest chapter of “dysfunctional” East Ridge politics, the city attorney recently told a councilman to “exhibit the ‘testicular fortitude’” to confront him in person.
On July 26, the morning after a council meeting, Councilman Larry Sewell emailed attorney Hal North, angry. The night before, the elected officials were prepared to vote on an ordinance to amend the city’s 2012-13 budget after the fiscal year ended.
But before they voted, North informed the council members that they couldn’t do that. At the request of Councilman Marc Gravitt, North had asked the state comptroller’s office about the issue and learned such a fiscal maneuver is against the law. He told Gravitt, but not the other councilmen. Gravitt didn’t tell his colleagues either.
Council members voted 3-0 against the amendment after they learned it was illegal. Sewell and Mayor Brent Lambert abstained. Lambert said he wasn’t prepared to vote because he needed to process what he just learned. Sewell didn’t say anything.