Council to wait 90 days for appointments

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In the first meeting of the newly elected Roanoke City Council, the group agreed on two personnel hires and voted to delay selection on the remaining appointments for 90 days.

The council is responsible for the appointment of six positions – city clerk, police chief, fire chief, city prosecutor, city attorney and city judge.
The only one to receive a permanent appointment Monday was city attorney Clay Tinney, whose appointment was unanimously renewed by the council.

The council also appointed Roanoke police lieutenant Bernard Dean as interim police chief in the wake of the Nov. 1 retirement of former chief Jonathan Caldwell. They also approved a $5-an-hour pay raise for Dean.

The delay on the other appointments came at the request of mayor Adam Melton, who asked and got the 90-day stay in an effort to seek applications and allow the new mayor and council members to evaluate potential applicants and/or the folks who currently hold the positions.

Dean’s role as police chief will be re-evaluated with the others after the 90-day period expires in early February of next year.
“It gives them the opportunity for them to get to know us and for us to get to know them,” Melton said of those currently in those appointed positions.

“And we open up the application process for these positions,” Melton added. “The people that are in it, I encourage them to re-apply, but I just feel like that is fair.”

This process was a point of controversy when the previous administration took office in November of 2020. Melton retired as police chief after he was told he would not be retained. And long-time city clerk Pat Truitt found out that she would not be re-appointed during a council meeting in which she was serving as clerk.

Melton’s move mitigates any potential immediate controversy and gives the new council members a chance to settle into their roles before making those personnel decisions.

In other actions that are customary to a first meeting:

• The council agreed to keep its scheduled meetings on the first and third Monday of every month.
• The council unanimously re-appointed Tammi Holley as mayor pro tem. The mayor pro tem serves in the mayor’s stead should he be absent or unable to attend meetings.
• The council renewed its depositories (bank accounts) with First Bank of Alabama and First Bank and authorized the mayor, the mayor pro tem and the city clerk as signatories for the city’s accounts.