Council meeting takes turn with accusations toward mayor
An El Dorado City Council/Water and Public Works meeting began on a jovial note Wednesday as city officials wished two of their own, Council Members David Hurst and Roy Bullock, happy birthday.
Toward the end of the meeting, the mood shifted drastically after Council Member Willie McGhee broached a topic in which Mayor Paul Choate was accused of asking a local funeral home to pay the costs of beefing up police presence in response to a threat of violence that could potentially arise during the upcoming funeral of a recent homicide victim. Choate vehemently denied the allegation, saying that the matter had been misrepresented.
The Council Chamber of City Hall was jam-packed, with a heightened police presence and a handful of people standing along the walls.
The crowd fully engaged with the contentious discussion that unfolded near the end of the meeting, with reactions ranging from utterances of agreement, expressions of incredulity and calls of, “You won’t get my vote!”
‘A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MONEY’
After the council had completed the business on its agenda, Council Member Willie McGhee touched on several topics, including an issue that dominated the remainder of the meeting.
McGhee began the discussion by saying he had received a call Tuesday from Robert Henderson, owner/ managing funeral director of Sims Mortuary.
Addressing Choate, McGhee said, “When Mr. Henderson called me and told me you had addressed him about paying a certain amount of money (for security), I (knew) nothing about that.”
“And then he said he was going to come up to the city council, where we’re supposed to have the discussion at, and then you told him don’t parade up here,” McGhee continued.
He said the mayor cited a cost of $4,000 - $5,000 — a number that Choate later confirmed — to pay overtime and other costs for the EPD to boost security for public safety durine a funeral over which Sims will be presiding.
The service, which is for the victim of a recent homicide in the city, will be held in the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium. McGhee later called for city officials to meet with Henderson. Council Member Frank Hash chimed in, asserting that if there is “credible knowledge that something bad is going to happen,” then the police department is responsible for “not only protecting the people, but the (municipal) facility.”
Hash also said that if additional funding is needed for such matters, Police Chief Kenny Hickman should present the information to the council for a vote.
Hash’s comments drew rounds of applause and chatter from the audience.
When Choate called for quiet, several audience members expressed displeasure with the mayor’s tone, prompting McGhee to say, “That ain’t the way to talk to people, Mayor.”
‘IT WOULD BE NICE IF SOMEBODY HELPED PAY FOR THIS’
In comments made during and after the council meeting, Choate explained that he had called Henderson to request an itinerary for the funeral, which is scheduled for Saturday.
He acknowledged that he was sitting in Hickman’s office during the call and the conversation was audible to Hickman because the phone had been set to speaker mode.
Choate noted that Henderson was not aware that he was with Hickman at the time or that the conversation was on speaker mode
The mayor said he confirmed with Hickman a potential threat of violence and that the cost of overtime pay
and calling in additional officers could reach $4,000 $5,000.
Choate also noted that a youth sports event is planned for Memorial Stadium on Saturday and is expected to draw children and families to the stadium, which is near the auditorium.
“Spending money for protective service … it’s a hard statement to make but we have got to protect the citizens,” said Choate.
He admitted that he voiced his concerns to Henderson about the anticipated costs of boosting police presence in the city on Saturday due to an elevated threat level.
He and Henderson said that during the phone conversation, Choate commented, “It would be nice if somebody helped pay for this.”
Choate denied “demanding” that the funeral home or victim’s family cover the expenditure.
Choate asked Hickman to the microphone and Hickman admitted that he felt there were credible threats that could result in violence on Saturday.
“There’s a lot of people with animosity toward each other,” Hickman said, choosing his words carefully.
He did not provide additional details and said he did not want to risk publicly divulging security measures the EPD plans to take.
Hash interjected, saying that he was not asking for such information. Rather, he was trying to confirm if a credible threat existed.
HENDERSON ADDRESSES THE COUNCIL
At the persistent urging of McGhee and many audience members city officials later voted to allow Henderson to address the council — a request that was initially denied by Choate.
When the audience expressed disdain for the vote, Council Member Judy Ward referred to the council’s operating rules.
Per the rules, no one in the audience is permitted to address the council, unless they appear on the council’s agenda to do so.
Exceptions are allowed by a majority vote of the council.
Henderson described his conversation with Choate, pointing to the issue regarding the projected cost for police security.
“I asked him, ‘Am I hearing this correctly? Are you asking us to pay that money?’ and he said, ‘Well, it’s got to come from somewhere,” Henderson said.
He said he then told Choate that neither Sims nor the decedent’s family would pay “extra money for security.”
“Unfortunately, it happened like it happened and we’ve just got to take preventative measures moving forward,” said Henderson.
Facing a similar situation last year, Henderson said he called upon the EPD for an escort to the funeral of a homicide victim and he was turned down, due, in part, to threats of violence in response to the homicide.
He said the then reached out to the Union County
Sheriff’s Office for assistance “and they did it, no problem, and did not charge me anything.”
When Henderson asked if the council had any questions, he addressed Choate directly, saying, “That’s not the conversation you and I had?”
“That’s your rendition of it,” Choate replied, drawing raucous expressions of displeasure from the crowd and prompting McGhee to apologize to Henderson.
“Your call to me should have been, ‘What do you need and how can we support this?’” Henderson told Choate.
Choate’s retort caught another round of flak from audience members and a flood of questions about relevancy.
“I guess that’s part of your motivation for moving your business out of town?” Choate asked Henderson.
Sims’ co-owner Natasha Henderson later explained that the venerable local business has outgrown its longtime location on Liberty Street and owners are looking for room to expand — which could take Sims just outside city limits.
“We’re just looking, considering. We have not signed any contracts. I don’t know why that was brought up,” she told the News-Times.
Choate later reiterated that he did not directly ask Henderson to pay the cost for additional police resources and as he did during the council meeting, Choate called McGhee’s comments on the matter “patently untrue.”
“I’m sorry if Mr. Henderson took it the wrong way,” the mayor said.