The ongoing turmoil in the Town of Alexandria, continued last week after one city meeting canceled before it could get started, then a special-called meeting over the weekend which resulted in a “no confidence” vote against the town’s Mayor.

The drama began on Tuesday, May 27, during what was supposed to be the town’s regular monthly meeting of the board of aldermen. The meeting began with only four aldermen in attendance, with Mayor Beth Tripp and her husband, Alderman Jonathon Tripp absent.

On the agenda for the meeting was the hiring of a full-time police officer, hiring of a street department employee, and the open alderman seat following the resignation of Alderman Tiffany Robinson, but before the meeting could get to any business Alderman and Vice Mayor Bobby Simpson spoke up and raised his concerns about the town not having a city attorney. Longtime city attorney Vester Parsley had resigned earlier in the year, and his replacement, Matt Boss, had announced his resignation in March.

Without a city attorney present, Vice Mayor Simpson made a statement calling for the meeting, saying, “Ever since I have been in town the city has always had a lawyer. As long as I can remember we have always had a lawyer here and I don’t feel comfortable doing any business without an attorney. You could make a mistake here that might come back to haunt you. I want to have a motion to adjourn the meeting.”

Alderman Luke Prichard then made a motion to adjourn, with Alderman Jeff Ford offering a second. The meeting was adjourned after a vote.

Alderman Sherry Tubbs suggested that it was due to the mayor that the city attorneys had resigned and that no attorney contacted so far has expressed interest in taking the city attorney position.

“I can tell you on record that two attorneys have reached out to me, that Beth (Mayor) had reached out to. One said she would not do it because she does not have the time to be a mayor to the city and be an attorney, and that’s what other attorneys told her to be prepared for.”

“The other one, said that she (Mayor Tripp) doesn’t have enough education to be a mayor and that she doesn’t run the office the way our charter is written, and he is afraid that he would get caught up in another lawsuit. The man said the likelihood of getting an attorney in this county or surrounding counties is not very likely. Not many people are going to take on our town right now. I don’t know where we are going to go,” said Aldermen Tubbs.

A special-called meeting was held on Saturday afternoon, where aldermen decided to move forward with some city business, taking up the business of hiring, and filling the empty alderman seat. The Alexandria Mayor and Aldermen Board was made up of Mayor Tripp and Aldermen Jonathon Tripp, Jeff Ford, Tubbs, Simpson, and Luke Prichard.

The aldermen voted to hire Addison Crawford of Cookeville as full time Alexandria police officer and hire Shawn Richardson to assist with garbage pickup and mowing.

As for the vacant alderman seat, former Alexandria Mayor and Alderman David Cripps was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Alderman Robinson.

The packed meeting room then turned to the mayor’s position. Once again, Mayor Tripp and her husband Jonathon were absent from the meeting, where there was growing vocal opposition to Mayor Tripp’s performance as mayor.

“We don’t feel she is doing the job that she was elected to do,” said Alderman Tubbs. “She has failed every citizen in the city, and we need to remove her and get over that hurdle, and even when we get over it, we’ll still have a lot of problems, but with time we will get to where we need to go,” she said.

“Under her, so much has happened. There has been no oversight of bills, bills paid. We’re talking $42,000 bills that we (city) have paid that we (aldermen) knew nothing about. We’re not saying it’s wrong, there is just no transparency and three of us (aldermen) voted for and supported her,” Alderman Tubbs continued.

“We have a business district that would like to flourish better, and they are not being supported by the mayor. We have citizens that go to her, and she is rude and disrespectful. We have aldermen that she won’t pick up the phone and talk to. We want someone to be a fill in mayor until the end of her term, and that’s one year and four months. But the first thing we need to do is get a city attorney and no attorney is going to come here until she (Mayor Tripp) is gone,” Alderman Tubbs continued.

Alderman Ford weighed in saying, “This board does not always agree. We have some big differences, and we have had big differences since day one, but we are all together on this because we all see that the town needs to be governed and managed better.”

Members of the public also spoke up during the meeting, saying their once support for the mayor has come to an end. Some have even started a petition drive in an effort to oust the mayor.

The petition states, “We, the undersigned residents and stakeholders of the Town of Alexandria, Tennessee, formally express our lack of confidence in Mayor Beth Tripp. We believe that Mayor Tripp’s actions and/or inactions are not in the best interest of the Town of Alexandria and that her continued leadership undermines the well-being, integrity, and proper governance of our community”

“We respectfully call for her immediate resignation or appropriate removal by lawful means and urge town leadership and authorities to take action in response to this petition.”

The board would then vote 4-0 “no confidence” for Mayor Tripp. According to Alderman Tubbs, the board is hoping Tripp will simply step down from her position and allow someone to fill her seat until the 2026 election. “If she does not, we are going to get an attorney, take signatures, and we are going to go in front of a judge and ask the state comptroller’s office to help us and have her removed,” said Tubbs.

The drama also comes as the town and the mayor are facing a jury trial over a former employee. A jury trial date has been set in federal court in the case of a former Alexandria city employee against the city and Mayor Beth Tripp.

Patricia Houser, a former town recorder, court clerk, tax collector, and backup water clerk, claims she was wrongfully terminated last fall and has sued the City of Alexandria, and Mayor Tripp in her individual and official capacities, for deprivation of due process under the 14th amendment and for slander, defamation, and defamation by implication, in violation of state law.

According to a court filing last month, “This case is set for a jury trial on October 20, 2026, beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the United States Courthouse, 9 East Broad Street, 2nd Floor, Cookeville, TN. Counsel for the parties shall appear for a pretrial conference in this Court on October 9, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. in Courtroom 5D, at the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse, 719 Church Street, Nashville, TN. All lawyers who will participate in the trial must attend the pretrial conference. If a settlement is reached before two business days of trial the cost of summoning the jury may be assessed against the parties.”

The local media attempted to contact Mayor Tripp for comment, but she did not return our calls.