The Henderson City Council revisited the formation of an opioid settlement advisory board at its Sept. 14 meeting, and Mayor Melissa Elliott cast the tie-breaking vote for a 5-4 decision. The question that remains, however, is what the Council actually voted on – whether to approve the whole list of applicants or just to remove a Ward 2 applicant and replace her with someone who doesn’t reside in the city.
The Council previously had agreed that it wanted to change the way the applicants were to be selected in order to provide equal representation across the city’s four wards. Interim City Manager Kendrick Vann said at that time the application period would be reopened to provide for this change, which would allow for two residents being selected from each of the city’s four wards.
At the regular September monthly meeting, Council Member Geraldine Champion made a motion, seconded by Council Member Michael Venable, to remove Ward 2 resident Natalie Butler from the group and replace her with Danetta McKnight, who is program director at Community Partner of Hope’s Freedom Bridge.
McKnight, however, does not reside in the city.
Council Member Sam Seifert questioned whether there is a residency requirement to be on the city’s opioid advisory board. Council Member Lamont Noel also objected to the idea of replacing a non-city resident on a city committee. Seifert is the Ward 2 Ward representative, and Noel is the Ward 2 At-large representative.
Elliott pointed out McKnight’s professional experience and called for a vote, ending discussion.
“The motion, to be clear, is to remove Natalie Butler and to replace her with Ms. Danetta McKnight,” Elliott said.
The now-familiar 4-4 split had Seifert, Noel and Council Members Garry Daeke and Kenia Gomez-Jimenez vote against and Champion, Venable and Council Members Tami Walker and Catherine “Kitty” Gill voting in favor. Elliott cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the motion, which passed 5-4.
But the motion, as Elliott stated, did not include approval of the list of applicants.
So, did the whole list of applicants get approved or was it just the removal and replacement of the Ward 2 applicant with someone with professional experience who lives outside the city?
WIZS News has contacted City Clerk Tracey Kimbrell for clarification. Kimbrell said she would seek clarification from the city attorney.
We’ll keep you updated.
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