Jane DawkinsSOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. — For the past two weeks, rumors have swirled around South Pittsburg and on social media that Mayor Jane Dawkins intended to resign at this week’s City Commission’s regular monthly meeting.
At that meeting Tuesday, Dawkins squashed that speculation.
“Folks, we don’t quit at our house,” she said to a packed conference room. “I was not raised to quit. I’ve never said that [I planned to resign], and have no inclination to.”
Dawkins said she was puzzled, confused and even a bit mad that the rumor had started, but eventually found some humor in it.
“I’m here,” she said. “I’m here for the rest of this term, and am definitely looking at another term. I have a long bucket list for this city.”
Dawkins became the first female mayor in the city’s history in 2012 after garnering 88 percent of the vote.
She said that gave her “a vote of confidence” and that leaving the position early has “never been on my radar screen.”
The first three years of Dawkins’s term have not been without tough times and controversy, though.
In July 2013, a massive flood brought heavy damage and financial hardship to an already cash-strapped city budget.
City leaders had to nearly double South Pittsburg’s property tax rate in September 2013 to pay back almost $803,000 that the state comptroller’s office said involved illegally transferred funds from the town’s utilities department in 2010 by the previous administration.
Two months later, City Administrator Sammy Burrows was arrested in South Pittsburg and charged with obstruction of officer rights, resisting arrest, speeding and reckless driving. The board later fired the arresting officer, and a lawsuit is pending over his dismissal.
Dawkins and the board made national headlines and were heavily criticized last December after voting to approve a policy that banned negative comments about the town on social media by employees, elected officials, or volunteers connected to the city government.
Dawkins pointed out that there were plenty of good things going on in South Pittsburg, such as the massive restoration project now underway for the city’s historic, but dilapidated, downtown streets.
“I fully intend to carry that flag and continue on a path to insure safety, peace and prosperity for our town,” she said via Facebook on Wednesday. Several South Pittsburg residents commented on the post, applauding the mayor for staying the course.
“Way to go Ms. Mayor,” Stacy Wilson wrote.
Kenneth McCallie, who regularly attends City Commission meetings and has been vocal in his opposition to the mayor’s handling of certain city issues, was disappointed the rumors weren’t true.
“I think it’d be better for the city and for us moving forward if she did resign,” McCallie said. “There’s a lot of negativity in the community with the way she operates around here.”
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.