FAST FACTS:
(Gallaway, TN 8/24/09) A tiny town's turmoil now has its leaders heading to court.
A Fayette County Sheriff's Deputy delivered the stack of summons for the new leaders of the City of Gallaway who are accused of an illegal take-over.
"This city has just been so divided for years. thought we had things back on track," says Don James who says he was fired as the city manager during a hostile city meeting. Accusations of scandal and corruption led to an all-out brawl in City Hall. The police chief, city manager and clerk were all fired, but this political coup didn't end there. Tuesday morning, those embarrassed city employees fought back, sending a court-ordered injunction to their rivals.
"I'm sort of hurt," says James. "They just want to hurt you and I get a little distraught when I have to fight things like this, it's not right."
He says he was fired, illegally, so he and others filed a temporary injunction and want a judge to decide who should run the city.
"We didn't rush to judgment," says James. "We did it legally, we did it by the way it should have been done. We didn't come in and throw people out."
"There was never any intention of anybody on the board to humiliate, degrade anybody that's involved in this," says Pat Brown, the acting City Manager. Brown says she researched and followed the city charter before she dropped the axe on employees. The subpoena was no surprise to her; she says she knew what she was getting into.
"We know that everybody that is going to be unhappy are not going to want the change, they're going to want their jobs back and they're going to do whatever they can to do that," says Brown.
The people in charge now say they will continue to work as normal, until the courts make a decision. Both sides say whatever happens on Monday, they'll accept.
- Strife in Gallaway began during rowdy city meeting
- City employees fired, possibly illegally
- Fired city employees file injunction to regain jobs
(Gallaway, TN 8/24/09) A tiny town's turmoil now has its leaders heading to court.
A Fayette County Sheriff's Deputy delivered the stack of summons for the new leaders of the City of Gallaway who are accused of an illegal take-over.
"This city has just been so divided for years. thought we had things back on track," says Don James who says he was fired as the city manager during a hostile city meeting. Accusations of scandal and corruption led to an all-out brawl in City Hall. The police chief, city manager and clerk were all fired, but this political coup didn't end there. Tuesday morning, those embarrassed city employees fought back, sending a court-ordered injunction to their rivals.
"I'm sort of hurt," says James. "They just want to hurt you and I get a little distraught when I have to fight things like this, it's not right."
He says he was fired, illegally, so he and others filed a temporary injunction and want a judge to decide who should run the city.
"We didn't rush to judgment," says James. "We did it legally, we did it by the way it should have been done. We didn't come in and throw people out."
"There was never any intention of anybody on the board to humiliate, degrade anybody that's involved in this," says Pat Brown, the acting City Manager. Brown says she researched and followed the city charter before she dropped the axe on employees. The subpoena was no surprise to her; she says she knew what she was getting into.
"We know that everybody that is going to be unhappy are not going to want the change, they're going to want their jobs back and they're going to do whatever they can to do that," says Brown.
The people in charge now say they will continue to work as normal, until the courts make a decision. Both sides say whatever happens on Monday, they'll accept.
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