The Fayette city council is still one person short after four of the five remaining alderwomen rejected an appointment by the Mayor last week to fill the empty seat.

The Board of Aldermen has been operating with only five members for the past two months due to the absence and subsequent resignation of Southwest Ward Alderwoman Leanna Shiflett last month.

Mayor Greg Stidham moved to appoint former two-term councilman Grafton Cook to the open seat in the council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, November 12. After an awkward and somewhat embarrassing display, four of the five council women voted to reject the appointment, leaving the council still one member short and those living in the city’s Southwest Ward still underrepresented. Northwest Ward Alderwoman Michelle Ishmael was the lone affirmative vote. 

To this reporter, it appeared the council had someone else in mind when the near-unison vote not to approve the Mayor’s appointment was made. Northwest Ward Alderwoman Peggy O’Connell noted that other candidates were being considered for the appointment. Likewise, East Ward Alderwoman Ronda Gerlt asked if Mr. Cook had a conflict of interest since he is also a member of the CID board.

Mayor Stidham said Mr. Cook had been cleared by both the CID’s attorney and city attorney, Nathan Nickolaus, concerning his seat on the CID board.

The mayor said he had spoken with several people about the appointment and chose to recommend Mr. Cook.

“If there were other people, why did we land on Grafton,” asked Mrs. Gerlt, who attended the meeting over the telephone.

“Because he’s the one I selected, and it’s supposed to be the Mayor’s appointment,” Stidham replied.

During the final section of the meeting reserved for board members’ comments, Mrs. O’Connell asked if pay should be raised for council members and the mayor to attract more people to seek positions on the board. The Mayor earns $250 a month, with board members paid $70. Those amounts have been in place for several years.

Until the mayor appoints a candidate the council will approve, the Board of Aldermen will continue to operate at less than full capacity. Whoever is approved will only serve until the next municipal election in April. That appointee would then need to be approved by voters of the Southwest Ward to stay on the board for the remainder of the term, which expires in April 2026.

Another tense moment occurred later in the meeting when the council made a last-minute addendum to the agenda, which, if approved, would have asked voters to change the manner in which the head of the Fayette Police Department is selected. Currently, the Marshal, commonly referred to as the Chief of Police, is elected every four years by public vote. The proposed resolution would ask voters to approve a new method by which the city council would instead appoint a police chief. If approved, the change would take effect at the end of the City Marshal’s current term in April 2026.

Mr. Nickolaus explained that statutes exist for the city to convert the elected City Marshal to an appointed Chief of Police, which many other towns and cities have done. “Their job responsibilities would be the same. The difference is one is elected, the other is appointed,” he said. “The elected Marshal could only be removed by impeachment. The Chief of Police could only be removed following a hearing process, and only for certain causes.”

Current City Marshal David Ford, whose term expires in 2026, expressed grave concern for the proposed change.

“This has come up numerous times, and every time, I fail to understand why the board would want to take the will of people and replace it with six people. It just makes no sense,” Marshal Ford said to the council. “Is there a huge outcry from the public to switch it over to the appointed position and give the power to you? I mean, that’s basically what you’re going to do.”

The matter received a motion by Mrs. Gerlt to put a proposition on the April ballot but was not seconded. The lack of action effectively killed the matter until the next time the council brings it up.

In other business, the council learned that Angie Malone had resigned from her post as building inspector just four months into her contract. In July, the city contracted the position with REH Solutions, a limited liability corporation owned by Malone. Since then, she has worked to help owners clean up their properties and inspected rental locations.

Mayor Stidham said Malone resigned “due to health reasons.” November 1 was her last day on the job.

“We’re kind of starting over on building inspector,” the Mayor said. 

Malone is well-known here. Before moving away several years ago, she served as both the city’s director of public works and building inspector after a career as a Fayette police officer.

Downtown Fayette Board President Deanna Cooper reported to the council that additional crosswalks could be added to the organization’s project to revitalize North Main Street, on which construction is expected to begin in June. If approved by the Missouri Department of Transportation, which awarded the initial Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) 80/20 grant, all four corners of the square would be transformed with new curbs and crosswalks. If the addition is allowed, the CID would cover the 20% match of the expense, which has not yet been calculated.

Mayor Stidham mentioned that the committee selected to decide the layout of downtown parking has met several times and has decided against any parallel parking. However, the committee is essentially deadlocked on whether to keep two-way traffic or change to one-way traffic around the square. That decision will now be up to the city council.

The council also voted to vacate an old, unused alley parallel to South Park Street in Fayette, and is expected to approve an ordinance to vacate another unused alley behind Community Auto. Board members also gave unanimous approval to a new business license for Hair by Chloe, a new hair salon owned by Chloe Huster that will be located at 107 South Main Street.

The Fayette Board of Aldermen meets regularly at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month in City Hall. Meetings are open, agendas are published in advance, and the public is invited.