The Signal Mountain Town Council, on a vote of 3-1, appointed Elizabeth Baker as the council person to replace Dan Landrum who stepped down from the position.
She will fill the unexpired term until the next election in November 2022. Mayor Charles Poss opened the process by giving citizens an opportunity to address the council and requesting that there be no negative comments about a candidate, warning that if there are negative comments that speaker would be cut off.
The first citizen to speak, Dan Landrum, asked if it was inappropriate for someone to vote on a new council member if that person had been their campaign manager. “So you’ll know,” said the mayor, “Dan already called and asked me that question.” To find the answer, he said he had looked at the town’s code of ethics and the answer is No. He also asked Town Attorney Harry Cash’s opinion and he said there is nothing in state law prohibiting a vote for someone they campaigned for. “It is not unethical or improper,” that is the legal answer, said the mayor.
Then Mr. Landrum asked for the citizen comments to be moved to the end of the meeting after the candidates had spoken. Vice Mayor Susannah Murdock responded that the agenda had been decided at the last council meeting. Mayor Poss said he was asking for citizen comments at that point of the meeting. "This isn’t how I thought my term would end with vitriol and the shut-down of open ideas,” said Mr. Landrum as he walked away from the podium. “I’ll take care of this on social media,” he said.
“I’m sorry I have to follow that, my only request is that the council considers demographics,” said Anne Haygood. She said the council is currently composed of members with young families and children, and asked for representation by someone that met her demographics.
The agenda was first to cull the list of candidates from five to three. Elizabeth Baker, Tim Cleary, Clay Crumbliss, Jr., Robert Taylor and John Foreman had all filled out applications and answered questions prior to the meeting Tuesday night. They each had the opportunity of addressing the council, introducing themselves and giving a brief overview of their positions on issues of importance to the city.
Elizabeth Baker said that she had followed advice from her father that the way to change is with head, heart and hands. She said you see the need and fill the need with a commitment to your community. She said she had spent her adult life following those principles and for the past 21 years had encouraged meaningful changes at the county and state levels of government advocating for stakeholder engagement and policy making.
She told the council members that she would like to help move Signal Mountain to even a better place and that her qualifications of a background in making public policy, stakeholder engagement, and research and analysis to show impact on public policy would be an asset to the town.
In the first round of voting to narrow the field to three were Elizabeth Baker, Clay Crumbliss and Tim Cleary. In the second round of voting, Ms. Baker received the majority of three votes and Clay Crumbliss received one.
Mayor Poss said he applauded all who applied for the job and their willingness to serve the community. He invited them to participate in other ways such as serving on some of the many boards.