‘Y’all are liars’: Millersville council meeting turns chaotic over distrust of leadership
Mayor Tommy Long took a rash of harsh comments from the citizens in attendance and members of the council.
MILLERSVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - The first city council meeting in Millersville since the recent leadership shakeup turned heated on Tuesday.
Repeatedly during the meeting, councilmember Cristina Templet questioned Mayor Tommy Long about his decisions and other members of the council for allegedly being so secretive and dishonest.
“Why can’t you guys just be honest? That’s a thought,” Templet asked from the bench. “Alisa, I struggle to even look at you. You’re so dishonest (speaking to Alisa Huling). All you have to do is tell the truth. The citizens deserve the truth. And the reason you can’t tell them the truth is because y’all are liars.”
Long tried to temper Templet’s outbursts by calling her “Out of Order,” but the action only fueled Templet and the citizens in attendance more.
Templet demanded to know when newly hired interim city manager Tina Tobin was vetted, and when she could not get a clear answer, she later called for a vote for Tobin to be fired. The vote failed, 3-2.
The heated discussions continued, even after Long called for the room to be cleared, and a failed attempt to call a 10-minute recess. Templet kept grilling the mayor and the new city attorney, Bryant Kroll, about transparency.
The meeting ended with a call for a petition to remove all of the city’s officials.
It is the most recent turmoil for the city of Millersville, which has seen a major shakeup in leadership after a rash of firings in recent months.
Kroll says they have hired an interim fire chief after the city’s former chief was fired last week.
The termination of former chief Brandon Head resulted in 17 volunteer firefighters walking off the job.
Kroll said Wednesday the city hired Matthew Edward Stewart.
Stewart, according to state documents, is a licensed EMT. Kroll also showed us Stewart has multiple certifications.
Sumner County EMS had sent a notice to Millersville on Tuesday, telling them they weren’t compliant with state rules because they didn’t have a licensed medical responder.
Sumner County EMS tells us they will continue helping Millersville with its medical calls.
Millersville is also receiving firefighting help from four nearby cities through a mutual aid agreement, according to Kroll, who said response times have not been delayed.
“We were concerned about that as well, which is why we made sure these mutual aid agreements were in effect before any decisions were made, “Kroll said. “What we’re finding out is that the lag times with any call-outs haven’t changed at all.”
Tobin survived the vote to remove her from her position at a contentious city commission meeting Tuesday night. It was the first city commission meeting since four people in leadership positions were fired by the city.
Tobin said Tuesday night she’s looking to hire more full-time positions in emergency services rather than spend more money on equipment and maintenance.
“We’re looking at even having an EMT staged here, one of the ambulance units staged here, right here at city hall with its central location to make things even better for the citizens here, but these changes we believe are in the best interest of the city and we expect to prove that to the citizens,” Kroll said.
Sumner County EMS also tells WSMV4 they don’t anticipate any response times to be negatively impacted in their county by helping Millersville with medical calls.
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