Only three days removed from a heated meeting at City Hall, the Sharon Board of Mayor and Aldermen met for a second time last week on Thursday night, this time at the Sharon Senior Citizens Center.
However, this time, the hot topic of discussion was not the actions of the city’s police officers. As Mayor James Gary Roberts pointed out as the meeting started, Thursday’s meeting was to deal with personnel matters within the city. The positions that were on the agenda to be discussed were the city recorder and police chief positions – both of which were not rehired at the meeting Monday night as a motion to do so failed to warrant a second.
As the meeting started, Mayor Roberts addressed the crowd of over 50 people. In addition to informing the citizens of the agenda, Mayor Roberts also mentioned the outlines concerning when the board could meet, established by Tennessee’s Sunshine Law (TCA 8-44-101).
“There’s at least one thing that Tennessee law prohibits,” Mayor Roberts said. “That we, as mayor and board, cannot consult with each other and reach conclusions outside and/or before we are in session at a public meeting. To do so is a violation of the Sunshine Law. Board members assemble in public places after proper public notice to conduct the business of the city.”
Mayor Roberts said that while the citizens were there to observe the board doing the business of the city, they could not participate in the meetings themselves. He also said that the citizens would have the opportunity to address the board at the conclusion of the meeting. Each of the aldermen then addressed the board about the city recorder position. Alderman Darrell Miller was the first to address the board.
“I wish that we had this kind of participation in every meeting, most of the time we are by ourselves,” Miller told the crowd.
Miller told the board and the citizens that no one else had any input on his decision. Miller said that he had visitors and calls, and he was fine with that because it was his job to listen to them.
“But, I am an alderman, but first I am a man,” Miller said. “I will not have anybody else’s influence or threat change my decision.”
Miller then motioned that the city not rehire Donna Strickland, the city recorder.
“It’s nothing against Donna and the law says that we have to do this every year,” Miller said. “But it does not say that we have to continue with this city recorder.”
Miller said that he felt if the city wanted to go forward, that changes would have to be made. Miller also said that, unlike in the past, the board was now running the city.
Alderman Jeff Freeman said that the calls and input he had received was split. But, he also said that it was the elected officials that would have to take the heat for their decisions.
“The reason why I feel that I think that it’s time to have a new city recorder is that, as Mr. Darrell says, times are changing and there has been a lot of undermining that goes in our city,” Freeman said.
Freeman said that he had been asked that if it is time for a change, why does it have to happen this way?
“My reasoning and my thinking is my desire has always to handle dirty laundry behind closed doors with the mayor in planning sessions and things,” Freeman said. “And I know of personally, that I have come to Mr. Mayor and expressed my concerns, months ago about the direction the city was going and some of the things I was concerned about. I tried to be honest of upfront as I could be. In my estimation, since these months have passed, those things that I had those thoughts and feelings fell upon deaf ears.”
Freeman said that this caused him to make his stand when the time came on the agenda. Freeman also noted that recently the board had taken similar action with regards to the library and that there was no public outcry then. Freeman also said that his decisions are based on persons or people, they are based solely on what he feels and how they meet the needs of the majority of people.
“So, when the city recorder’s position came up, and I had expressed these concerns, behind closed doors so they wouldn’t get out and be this type of situation, my estimation was that it was not taken care of,” Freeman said.
Freeman said that he was used to not having things go his way, as he had seen the city lose its high school and football team, among other things. Freeman also wanted to make sure the public knew that he had invested a lot of time and thought into his decision.
April Baker was the first member of the board to support Strickland, listing her accomplishments while working for the city. She then asked what the reasoning for this change was, as she felt that Strickland had been doing her job correctly.
Alderwoman Sara Robinson said that she felt while Strickland does a great job, she also tries to do other’s jobs.
“She does a fantastic job as the city recorder, but she needs to let the other guys that we pay do their jobs,” Robinson said. “She doesn’t need to be doing it, they need to be doing it.”
Robinson said that the calls she had gotten were 50/50 and that a compromise needed to be made. The compromise was that the city would keep Strickland as the city recorder for one more year and at the end of that year in June 2006, the board would evaluate her performance based on a set job description.
Mayor Roberts stated that the only way this idea would work is if Strickland was able to continue for another year. He also said that Strickland was held in high regard by her peers. While Mayor Roberts admitted that one comment he had heard was that she was out of the office a lot, the reasoning for that was the amount of training that she has to do annually.
“The most common thing I have heard was the amount of respect that others have for Donna as the city recorder,” Roberts said.
Miller then said that he had no personal vendetta against Strickland, but he agreed that she should stick to her duties as the city recorder. Miller also noted that with some of the classes that Strickland was taking, he felt, that the companies conducting the classes could send literature and she could learn at home.
However, Miller agreed with the idea of compromise and rescinded his motion and made another one stating that the city would rehire Strickland for one year and that she would be evaluated at the end of that year when the board would vote again on whether or not to rehire her. Alderwoman April Baker seconded the motion.
After the motion was made, Freeman voiced his opinion on the compromise.
“I think that this motion will be passed and be brushed over in a couple of months and we’ll be back in the same boat,” Freeman said. “So, I hope that if we can draw a conclusion, if we can get anything else out of this, it shows that there is a divide.”
The motion passed 3-1 with the lone vote against coming from Freeman.
The board had little time to rest as the aldermen then had to decide the fate of Police Chief Bob Johnson.
Freeman said that he was under the understanding that Johnson would be with the city until January, when he was scheduled to retire. However, the failure of the same motion that created the situation with Strickland also left the position open.
“I really don’t think that Sharon needs a chief of police making $30,000 a year,” Miller said. “It has been mentioned that, even if he was going to retire Jan. 1, that some people thought that this board would be ignorant enough to rehire him back for $15,000 a year to work two days a week to be PR.”
Miller then made a motion not to rehire the police chief and was seconded by Freeman.
Mayor Roberts told the board that the purpose of the measure was to continue the use of Johnson’s services, whether or not he was retiring in January.
“The reason why I say that Sharon does not need another police chief is that we are going to pay ‘x’ amount of dollars,” Miller said. “One thing, the state does not require us to have a police chief and it actually does not require us to have a police department at all.”
Miller said that if the board keeps putting this off, they will be in the same situation next year with the police chief’s salary.
“What we need to do now is put an ad in the paper for a certified officer not a chief of police,” Miller said.
Alderwoman Robinson took the opportunity to note that the city already had a certified officer working part-time for the city, Bill Pate. Robinson also stated that she was for rehiring Johnson since he had done a good job as an administrator.
After some confusion over the motion not to rehire the chief, the aldermen voted not to rehire Johnson.
Miller then motioned that Pate be raised to full-time status and that he be equal with the higher ranking officers, that the city put ads in the newspapers for a certified officer and that Pate and Officer Gary Wayne Eddings work together to do the duties formerly done by the chief.
“My concern is that I don’t want to put too much strain on our officers,” Freeman said.
Freeman proposed that Mayor Roberts help in the duties along with the two officers.
After some discussion, Miller’s motion was rescinded and the board passed two separate motions – one to hire Pate as a full-time officer and one to allow the Mayor to work with Eddings and Pate in the scheduling and other day-to-day matters of the police department.

Bobby Crocker is mentally competent to stand trial in the October 4 homicide of his wife, Betty. Carroll County General Sessions Judge Larry Logan declared Crocker competent to stand trial after hearing the testimony of psychologists representing the defense and prosecution. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Thursday at the Carroll County Courthouse. Crocker remains incarcerated in the Carroll County Jail in lieu of a $750,000 bond.
Dr. Sidney Moragne of Pathways of Tennessee, an expert witness for the defense, said Crocker is not mentally competent to stand trial. The state’s expert witness, Dr. Nancy Kirby of the Department of Mental Retardation, declared Crocker competent to stand trial. After hearing testimony from both, Logan ruled for the state.
Crocker is accused of multiple stabbings and slashing the throat of his recently divorced wife, Betty Crocker, across from their son’s home in the Christmasville community, near the Carroll County-Weakley County line on October 4, 2004.
Mrs. Crocker’s body was found in a soybean field across Highway 190. Mr. Crocker’s 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity was abandoned and disabled at the scene. He remained at large for several days before surfacing at neighbor Hulon Cooper’s house in a hungry and dehydrated condition. Willie Bush, an acquaintance of Cooper, who was at the home, convinced Crocker to surrender to authorities. He told Bush he had slept in a barn for three days.
During the Monday hearing, Dr. Sidney Moragne of Pathways of Tennessee stated Crocker is not capable of helping his attorney, Steve West, to defend him. In making the determination, Dr. Moragne opined the defendant does not understand the nature of the legal process, that he does not understand the charges pending against him and the consequences that can follow, and cannot advise counsel and participate in his own defense. Moragne relied on a prior evaluation which indicated Crocker had an IQ of 60, in which 70 and below is considered retarded. He also said Crocker is poorly educated, unable to read or write. He also suffers from depression.                                             

(Read the rest of this story in this week's print edition of the Dresden Enterprise.)