JOHN COFFELTEditor

As the deadline for the Board of Aldermen to appoint a person to the sixth seat approaches, now is a good time to share my analysis of which of the now-16 applicants will eventually be appointed to fill the vacant Manchester Alderman seat.

I’m writing this prior to the October Board of Mayor and Alderman Meeting on Oct. 1, so I am not sure how that will go. However, there will not likely be a quorum, and that sixth seat will remain vacant until Mayor Joey Hobbs fills it on Oct. 19.

As a refresher on where we are with BOMA, during the Aug. 1 election, then-alderman Hobbs was elected as mayor, while Aldermen Ryan French and Julie Anderson were reelected and Alderman James Threet won a third seat.

Hobbs’ resignation on Aug. 19 as mayor created the vacancy on the board.

The city then accepted applications from citizens who were interested in the position through Aug. 26, and a special call work session was held to discuss the process of filling the position. A vote was to be held on the next night during a special call meeting. But that meeting did not make quorum due to the absence of two aldermen, Ryan French and Mark Messick.

Since then, a second special call meeting also failed to make quorum, and the continued absences effectively halted any vote for the vacant seat.

The situation reached a flash point on Sept. 11 when Mayor Hobbs posted on his public social media account allegations of collusion between aldermen concerning the vote. Since then, French in a letter to all the applicants said he will forgo any meetings with until Oct. 19 when Hobbs, by provisions in the City Charter, will make the appointment.

The important question in all of this is not as much who will be sitting in the sixth chair but how long will the shadow of this ugly situation stain this new board? The optics are bad all around — allegations and denials of collusion to appoint one side’s pick, while the other side blocks that pick by blocking government meetings (which only works if both aldermen are absent).

All this places Mayor Hobbs in a very difficult situation on Oct. 19. Hobbs has said he intends to make it right by interviewing each of the applicants personally and query each alderman for their opinion before making an appointment.

In the face of this division and accusations, will this plan be an olive branch to reunite the board or will it only push the factions on the board into a deeper us versus them mentality?

As it stands here’s the score as I see it. The Manchester Coffee County Conference Center’s continued operation is at the heart of the dispute along with an underlying push to block new developments until the sewers are fixed of overflows and a new school is built.

Aldermen Anderson and Donny Parsley have been outnumbered in that fight before the election.

Now that Threet has joined the board, his support will likely form a three-person coalition facing French and Messick’s often opposing stance.

That sixth seat will either create a supermajority or a three-three split that will call for Mayor Hobbs to step in to cast what will likely amount to several tiebreaker votes.

An ugly situation is looking worse for Mayor Hobbs if he chooses poorly for the appointment.

Perhaps the fairest and simplest way to handle the situation is to go with the voters of Manchester and pick the applicant came in fourth place in the election, Wilma Thomas, who missed her seat by three votes or even find a political outsider that neither side prefers. Two applicants are pastors, safe choices each. Ultimately the biggest mistake would be to go with someone Hobbs has shared a political past with, which would give the appearance of merely appointing a friend.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.