One of the two people under consideration to fill an interim position on the Signal Mountain Town Council has formally withdrawn her name.
Annie Hall told readers of League of Signal Mountain Voters, a blog maintained by former Signal Mayor Paul Hendricks, that she sent the following email message to council members:
"I appreciate Don Strickland nominating me to serve as an interim council member through the November 2018 elections.
I am very interested in this position; however, absent the adoption and public announcement of a selection process by the Town Council, I am withdrawing my name from consideration."
The vacancy on the council occurred when widower Councilman Dick Gee recently remarried and moved out of Signal.
Soon after the impending departure was announced, Mayor Chris Howley – without asking for applications from anyone interested in filling the resulting vacancy – announced that he already knew who he wanted to appoint.
That led to a wide variety of protests, including some from Councilman Dan Landrum.
On June 21 on LOSMV, Donald Strickland shared a letter sent by Sandy McCrea to all members of the town council regarding the vacancy and how it should be filled.
“Members of the Town Council and Manager Veal,” the letter began.
“None of you were in your current positions the last time a vacancy occurred on the Town Council, so you will not recall the process used to fill that vacancy. As I was a participant in that process, I recall it very well . . . The vacancy was announced and those wishing to be considered completed a questionnaire giving their reasons for applying and what they felt they had to offer . . . In an open meeting, the council then heard from the candidates, discussed their qualifications, and voted for the person who would fill the vacancy.
“This seems to me,” Ms. Crea’s letter concluded, “a reasonable, democratic and fair way to determine who will fill a vacancy, rather than having one member of the Council solicit a person for the position and then propose only that person for the job.”
Her suggestion was well received on LOSMV.
Councilman Landrum, for example, wrote that he has heard from multiple people who either are interested in filling the vacancy or who wanted to suggest somebody else for the position.
He hasn’t taken any of those names to the full council, he said, because no process has been created for doing so.
“Should it be up to me to decide which single individual is the right fit,” he asked. “This is, without doubt, a political position. This person will be involved in decisions that could impact the town for years to come. I haven’t presented any of those names because I want to see us follow a fair and open process.”
Others, including Ms. Hall, agreed.
“Knowing a council member should not be a reason to be under consideration,” she wrote then.
Ms. Hall said she has been waiting for the council to announce the process it will use to choose a replacement “since I am willing to serve out Dick Gee’s term and not be on the ballot in November. My guess is many others are also interested in applying for the position (i)f only we knew the process for doing so.”