After just three days in office, Williford Mayor, Linda Brock quickly discovered word travels fast in a small town, but not always accurately.
On Jan. 6 a special meeting was called by the council to rehire the fire chief and appoint an individual to council however; Brock said the fire chief hadn’t really been fired.
Brock said after a visit from three of the four standing council members, she had sought another candidate for the position of fire chief, however; after a few conversations, she opted to retain Chris Baskins as chief.
“I did what I thought was the will of the council, I had three separate council members come to me about issues they had with the chief or the department,” Brock said. “At one point, I had looked for someone else and talked to one candidate, but they weren’t certified. I spoke with another but ultimately, I went back to Chris to keep him as chief.”
Brock explained a multitude of factors played into the confusion including the former mayor refusing to provide keys to the facilities once his term had ended.
“I didn’t have a key for the water department, water tower, city hall or fire department and when I asked the previous mayor, he said he’d turn the keys over the Phillip (Allen, City Recorder Treasurer). He called me on the second and offered to call a special meeting so I could meet everyone, but I was being sworn in on the third, so I said I would wait. He told me he wasn’t handing the keys over.”
After being sworn In Jan. 3, Brock said she was anxious to get to work, but without access to facilities, that work was hindered.
“I changed the locks so I could access the buildings. I did not change the pass code to the fire department so it could still be accessed but have not given keys to the chief for the office. I have hired someone to clean the area and make repairs to bring it up to code before I let anyone back in,” Brock said. “It should be ready in about two weeks.”
Council members have expressed their discontent with the events of the first few weeks of the new year.
After somewhat of a rocky start, the Williford City Council held their first regular meeting of the year Jan. 19.
Multiple issues were discussed and citizens were present to ask questions of the mayor and council surrounding the fire department.
Prior to adjournment, Brock told Baskin he would be given a key to enter the office portion of the fire department to gain access to records and other equipment.
Lauren is a an award-winning journalist who decided after 10 years of newspaper experience to venture out. Hallmark Times was born.
