Board dismisses call for removal of administrator

SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. — The South Pittsburg City Commission has put to rest one resident’s ongoing complaint that City Administrator Sammy Burrows should be fired for mismanagement of government funds.

In July, resident Kenneth McCallie criticized the city for allowing workers to mow along routes that the Tennessee Department of Transportation is responsible for maintaining, such as parts of U.S. Highway 72 and other areas that are private property.

That led to a motion by Commissioner Paul Don King to remove Burrows from his position, but the effort failed by a 3-2 vote.

At the board’s August meeting, McCallie said he was back to complete “unfinished business” regarding the town’s mowing practices.

“I’ve heard excuses, and I know people say [not mowing] makes the city look bad,” he said to the board. “I really don’t care about how those places look.”

McCallie said there are other places the town’s money could be better spent considering South Pittsburg’s current financial situation.

“It’s plain to see that [ Burrows] has mismanaged our city funds on things that are not needed,” he said.

Burrows said he has met with TDOT officials to work on a contract that would pay the city for the mowing services, but it hasn’t been sanctioned yet.

“They’re identifying all the acreage,” he said. “I’m working with them to get that defined where we can get a fee from them to mow it.”

McCallie said he has contacted some state officials, too, and encouraged them to examine the town’s budget more closely.

He requested that King attempt again to remove Burrows from office, but this time, King didn’t follow through.

After McCallie’s statements, Vice Mayor Jimmy Wigfall motioned to continue having city workers mow the areas about which McCallie complained with or without a TDOT contract in place.

When King asked for further clarification, Wigfall cut him off and said, “We’ve got a motion, we’ve got a second, and now we need to vote.”

“That’ll be fine then,” King replied. “Yeah, I’ll remember that.”

The board voted 3-1 to continue mowing the disputed areas, with King casting the lone dissenting vote.

Commissioner Jeff Powers abstained from voting because he said he still had “too many unanswered questions” about the mowing issue.

Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.