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Thank you, Stickman, for posting the court filing in the case of Vickie Taylor versus the City of Demopolis and its officials.
The case seems to me to have some merit. However, I will leave it to the attorneys and the judge to decide how much merit, if any, is there.
Vickie claims that Mayor Williamson assured her on several occasions that she would continue to be the city clerk during the next term of office. First, the incoming mayor had no authority to promise any such thing, and, secondly, based upon my conversations with Mayor Williamson before the election, I find it difficult to believe that such promises were made. However, I may be wrong in this conclusion, and I will welcome information to the contrary.
I believe that, if the case has any merit, it lies not with any promises made by Mayor Williamson, but with regard to the manner with which Vickie Taylor was dismissed. I understand that the Mayor and council were advised by attorney to have Jeff Manuel escort Vickie from city hall. If that is true, then, I say that Mayor Williamson and the council may have received good legal advice (I will leave the goodness of that advice up to the court), but damn poor political advice!! Perhaps court proceedings will inform us as to why it was necessary for the mayor and/or council to ask Jeff Manuel to take that action, but, so far, no one has presented any reason for such heavy-handed action.
I have a lot of respect for Mayor Williamson, the city council and Vickie Taylor. It is easy for us on the sidelines to criticize what has happened and, as someone who has been in the arena, I know that all of the parties must wish that they could have done things differently. I just hope that the parties involved will reach an equitable settlement, and that the City of Demopolis will soon be removed from the cloud of this controversy.
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