What is usually a routine action to approve department heads for another year changed Monday night when councilman C.D. Kidd asked that the council vote on the department heads one at a time instead of approving them all together. The council then voted on each department head individually with two getting no votes from two members of the council.
Councilman Kidd and Bosie Griffith voted against the reappointment of Jeff Killip, public works director, and Beth Laughinghouse, Main Street manager. The three other councilmen, Roy Plott, David Varnedoe and Steve Kinney, voted in favor of the two department heads.
Other department heads approved in a unanimous vote of the council were: Amie Vaughan, finance director; Bobby Gooch, fire chief; Amy Carlan, library director; Joe Wirthman, police chief; Colt Green, recreation director; and Elizabeth McDonald, city clerk.
The council also met in closed session for just over 30 minutes to discuss the annual evaluation of city manager John Ward. No action was taken when the meeting was opened to the public.
I was also surprised to see Beth voted against. I respect Bosie but don't understand his vote on these 2 individuals at all?
The department needs to take a serious look at their enforcement priorities. Yes I agree speed enforcement on the 129 bypass needs to remain. However, every officer spending their entire shift out there day in and day out is stupid.
I can't tell you the last time I saw a JPD car patrolling in my neighborhood. With our economy it is current condition people steal every thing thats not tied down. My point is why can't we get other police services from JPD other than speeding tickets.
This is a direct reflection of the Chief and his failure to deploy his people properly. He either has no clue what his officers are doing or he has the wrong people in leadership positions. The council needs to take action and make some changes while they still have control.