The saga of the Alexandria town government took yet another turn last week after embattled Mayor Beth Tripp sent a letter of resignation to the Smithville Review and WJLE Radio. Mayor Tripp told the media that she wanted the newspaper and radio to be the first to know about her decision.
The resignation letter read:
“Dear Town of Alexandria,
“After much discussion with family, friends, and supporters please accept this as my official notice of resignation effective immediately. It has been an honor serving my community. I have always respected the board’s decision and have executed all their decisions without debate. It saddens me, that they now have issues with the decisions they have voted in town meetings and do not want to take responsibility for their actions.
“I appreciate all those who have supported me and continue to support me. I will continue to appreciate every one of you.
“Sincerely, Mayor Beth Tripp”
Jessica Howard, the town recorder, property tax clerk, water clerk, and court clerk, told the Smithville Review, “It’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I have a peaceful work environment now. I think we need to move on and try to do better for the residents.”
Howard had recently run afoul of Mayor Tripp, and was sent home for “saving on budget, not following charter, and not following chain of command.”
According to Howard, on Monday, June 9, the mayor contacted another employee at town hall at 10:15 a.m. and told them to tell Jessica and another employee to go home for the day. Howard alleged that the mayor said, “I’m still the mayor and I can still use my mayor’s powers.”
Howard said she feels that the incident was in retaliation for being a witness in a ticket fixing case against Water Manager Richard Potter. Jessica alleges that Potter contacted her, the court clerk, about getting a ticket ripped up, and she is a witness in the case. She feels the incident is retaliation for that case.
On Wednesday, before Tripp’s resignation, Howard alleged that Mayor Tripp had again cut the fulltime employee’s hours. “She sent us a schedule at 7:45 pm last night (Tuesday) and had me at 20 hours this week, as a fulltime employee. I’ve been here since August and have never seen a schedule.”
Local resident Michelle Keenan, who had organized a petition campaign against Mayor Tripp also had an optimistic view of Alexandria’s future and the resignation. “I think it’s a good thing for the town. I think it will make a big difference for the citizens and change the morale of the town. This has caused a lot of division within the city. I think, with her (Tripp) resigning, it will be back to business as usual, as it should have been from the beginning.”
Tripp’s resignation comes after months of controversy, starting almost from the day she took office. In the race to fill an unexpired term for Alexandria Mayor last August, Tripp won with a total of 88 votes. Her name was the only one to appear on the ballot, though write-in campaigns were held in the race.
Shortly after she took office, the Alexandria Police Chief and his officers resigned after tensions between the police and the new mayor. Since then, the town has seen two more police chiefs, and is currently without a city attorney after two previous attorneys resigned their positions.
On Thursday, June 12, the Alexandria Board of Aldermen held a special meeting where they accepted Mayor Tripp’s resignation and appointed Alderman Jeff Ford as the new Mayor. After the meeting he was sworn into office by the city recorder Howard. Vice Mayor Bobby Simpson had declined to serve as mayor and offered his resignation as interim mayor. Simpson then made a motion to appoint Alderman Ford as mayor, and the aldermen approved the appointment. Simpson still remains on the board as Alderman and said he would consider accepting the reappointment to Vice Mayor.
The Board now consists of Aldermen Simpson, Luke Prichard, Jonathon Tripp, Sherry Tubbs, and David Cripps. Jeff Ford’s alderman seat is now open. Alderman Tripp was absent from the meeting.
The board then voted to authorize Mayor Ford, Aldermen Simpson and Prichard, and Financial Officer Rhonda Conatser to access or sign checks on city bank accounts, and to remove Mayor Tripp’s name from that list.
Police Chief Vincent Turocy and Officer Jon Jenkins were authorized to have access to the city’s drug fund and to remove the name of former Chief K.D. Smith.
The aldermen also restored the hours of city hall employees previously reduced by Mayor Tripp. “What this means is Beth sent some home and manipulated their schedules, and we want to restore that, so they get the paychecks they were expecting to pay their bills. I have Jessica Howard as a 40-hour employee, Rhonda Conatser as a 40-hour employee, Dora Stranathan at 24 hours and Amber Ahlgard at 24 hours”, said Mayor Ford.
