Church Hill Mayor Dennis Deal denies accusations of poor leadership

CHURCH HILL — Church Hill Mayor Dennis Deal denied several accusations of poor leadership from an online post and in-person speaker at Tuesday's Mayor and Aldermen meeting. The list of complaints, posted on the Facebook page Scannerfood by an anonymous follower earlier this month, largely criticized the town's response to the winter storms in January. "This winter has been hard but our mayor is making it harder," the post read. It claimed that Deal didn't allow the street department to work enough overtime to properly plow roads. It said this risked lives "to save a few pennies" while the town has $14 million in the bank. Deal said he did not restrict overtime. He said street employees worked several hours over the weekend storms, and Public Works Director Jason Light said overtime "was never mentioned." Deal said there was some equipment failure, but things "are now in place." To conserve salt, Deal said, he directed the public works department to clear one lane of Main Street to Highway 11W and scrape the side streets. He said roads were prioritized; Fire Chief Will Mullins volunteered to shovel the police department's lot after they requested it. "Under the circumstances, if you think Church Hill had a problem, go to other cities. You'll find out they faced the same problems," Deal said. "That was a bad snow." Deal refuted the idea that Church Hill has $14 million available for use. He said most of those reserves are designated for specific projects. The post also said the police department has had two vacant positions for months due to Deal's refusal to increase the starting pay. Police Chief Chad Mosley said they've filled those positions. Mosley said the department does have less part-timers than in the past; it used to get part-timers from the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office, but the HCSO doesn't allow that anymore, Mosley said. Lastly, the post said Deal has refused to pay to fix a fire engine and the senior center bathrooms. Mullins said the fire truck was fixed, with some delay from the mechanic. Deal said there is a leak in the parking lot of the senior center affecting their bathrooms. He didn't want to tear up the $200,000 lot, so the town worked with the First Utility District to move the meter from underneath the lot. The bathrooms at the fitness center next door can be used in the meantime. Other updates Church Hill's board amended the 2025-26 fiscal year budget. The general fund will see $17,000 in revenue from insurance recoveries and $66,676 in expenditures for street repairs, HVAC repairs in the library, payroll and other items and projects. The amendment also concerns the debt service fund. Deal said at the board's January meeting that some of this money will go back into the general fund once the town gets checks from insurance companies. The board also approved, on first reading, an ordinance changing the substance abuse policy to meet Tennessee requirements. Town Attorney Chris Raines said the policy change was prompted by the purchase of a van for the senior center. It is considered a commercial vehicle, so the town must add to the town's policy regarding drivers and drug testing. The state's Department of Transportation provided a template, Town Recorder Kimberly Dobbs said, which has been merged with the town's existing policy. The ordinance was first introduced in the fall, but tabled because Mosley — who will supervise the policy and conduct its tests — said it needed clarifications. At Tuesday's meeting, he said it was still confusing and sometimes fails to differentiate between commercial and non-commercial drivers. Raines suggested the board amend the policy later with the appropriate exceptions for non-commercial drivers. The town will have a workshop to edit the policy, and the board will vote on it again in their March meeting.