Church Hill votes against moving to a city manager form of government

CHURCH HILL — The Church Hill Board of Mayor and Aldermen got into a heated discussion about a resolution proposing the city move toward a city manager form of government.The BMA met for its scheduled meeting on Tuesday and discussed several resolutions, including one that pertained to shifting to a city manager form of government.The resolution, which was read by City Attorney Chris Raines, stipulated many responsibilities that would be given to the possible city manager.As the discussion began, Alderman Michael Walker brought up the fact that he didn't know about the resolution until two days before the meeting and explained that without further research, he couldn't determine whether it is a good idea.Alderman Kathy Christian brought up that by having a city manager, someone working at city hall full-time, they can possibly prevent deficiencies that were noted in a recent report by the Tennessee Comptroller's Office, like not properly securing the cash drawer.Walker also spoke about the city's difficulties in hiring a city recorder.Christian also mentioned that she knew of individuals who are qualified for that position but don't want to work for Church Hill."So, I'm just going to be blunt: The people that I know that are qualified to do the job ... do not want to come into this chaos," Christian said. "I've talked to two people that are qualified that could come in as city recorder and hold this position, and they don't want to be a part of the chaos that's going on in this city."This brought along a brief discussion of the comptroller's report. Mayor Dennis Deal informed the aldermen that they have made changes such as not allowing people to use city tools or the city garage for non-city business.Deal also mentioned that while the city has lost several employees, he does not feel that he is the reason why."I might add that, you know, we've lost several employees," Deal said. "I choose not to bring up the word chaos to this city. I know why we've lost them. Is it because of me? Nope, but that's OK. I choose not to drag this city in the dirt for that, and I'm not going to."The board voted on the resolution, which failed with three yes votes and four no votes.At the conclusion of the vote, Raines mentioned that in the future, the board may want to institute a policy about how far in advance resolutions should be submitted for the BMA to review before the next meeting.