Things get tense at Red Springs Town Council meeting

RED SPRINGS – The air conditioning was working fine in the Town Hall Council Board Room on Tuesday evening, but things eventually got just as heated inside as outside the town government building.

The much-criticized dysfunction of the town government – especially its police department and Red Springs Town Council – seemed to come to a head during the regular monthly meeting of the board.

The Local Government Commission has had the town on its watch list for eight years due to its dire financial problems, a reliable source said. It has also been said this is due to a series of bad decisions and bad hiring decisions.

Disparaging comments were made during Tuesday’s meeting.

Voices were raised with emotion.

Tempers flickered and flared, especially during a heated exchange between one of the council members and the town manager.

The mayor asked for cooler heads to prevail, even seeing the need to schedule an upcoming meeting where townspeople could ask questions, raise their concerns and air their grievances.

The date of that planned meeting has not yet been set.

In a prologue of what was to come, resident Renet McQueen addressed the council during an early public comment session.

She implored those who call Red Springs home “to come back together.”

“As a citizen of Red Springs,” she said during her allotted three minutes at the podium, “it saddens me to hear and see what’s going on around town. And it’s time for us as citizens of Red Springs to come back together because we were together at one point in time. And now we’re spreading out, even our board. We all need to come together, you all need to come together because our town is in dire need. We’re in trouble.”

“Most of us know what’s going on. The town needs our help,” she said. “All this foolish talk going around town, you need to stop it. Just stop it. We are in trouble. I’ve been here in this town my whole 60 years of life. Never seen it like this. At first, I was going to let it go, but it’s to the point – I love my town. I love my people.”

McQueen said it’s making other folks who don’t reside in Red Springs ask her, ‘What’s going on in Red Springs?’ I can’t even tell them, because I’m ashamed to tell them. What we’re fighting and fussing about makes absolutely no sense. None. No sense at all. I’m sick of it. I’ve had it up to here. If it’s an individual, go to that individual. Address that individual. Don’t put it out there for everybody (via social media). We can handle this ourselves.”

Mayor Edward Henderson learned that former Red Springs Police Chief Mark Caskey’s scheduled appeal before the board – one of the few items on the agenda – had been postponed due to a schedule conflict involving his lawyer. Caskey, who was in attendance, wanted the town council to consider an official request for a hearing.

Caskey was relinquished of his duties on March 14 after seven months on the job, and former town police Lt. Sarah Purcell was promoted to interim police chief. Caskey, a Red Springs native and former longtime officer with the police department, came aboard as chief in August.

At the time, O’Neal would not specify the reasons behind his dismissal, calling it an in-house personnel matter.

Another longtime police officer in Red Springs, Lt. Chris McManus, also was let go in the wake of the Caskey firing.

Both men have blamed O’Neal as the underlying problem behind their dismissals.

Following a discussion on recent cemetery cleanups in town, Commissioner Caroline Sumpter unloaded on O’Neal, saying O’Neal had told her that she was waiting on another bid before the eventual hire was made for the cleanup.

“I said that $2,100 ended up being picked,” O’Neal said. “The gentleman was willing to perform all of that for $14,000 and not charge us separately for the $2,100.”

“That’s not what you said. That’s not what you said,” Sumpter countered. “Because I specifically asked” about the $2,100.

“That was for only a portion of it,” O’Neal said. ”He’s cleaned multiple cemeteries, multiple parts, multiple entrances and exit signs. Of course, that can’t be done for $2,100.”

“I’m saying what you told me,” Sumpter responded.

Sensing the developing squabble in the public’s eye, Henderson said their discussion should continue at a later time.

O’Neal blurted out, “I want the public to know I have been under constant attack, OK.”

Henderson — operating as a referee in a sense — piped in with his calming voice: “I think we are all adults here. And we should act as adults. And treat each other as adults and be respectful of one another. And, if we have a problem, we need to address it with the one that needs to be addressed. Now if this board wants to have a public forum where they can invite all these citizens (in the room) and all the other citizens in this town to come to it and speak their piece and ask any questions they want, whatever they want. I’m not against that, either.

“All we need to do is schedule it and talk these commissioners into showing up for it,” the mayor said, “and we’ll have it. I see three, four people that are in favor of it. I’ll speak to the manager and see if we can possibly schedule that.”

Things then simmered down until the individual council members spoke during the comments session.

Sumpter said during her spiel, “I have no personal agenda, but I will say this, ‘Something has to give.’ It is not one issue that is wreaking havoc within this town. It’s multiple things. My approach may not be like others, but it is me. It’s honest.

“Many of you have asked, ‘What is the board doing? Are we getting along? Are we addressing the concerns? And I will say that we have talked. ‘We agree to disagree?’ The manager and I are not on the same page … I think she feels that I target her. That’s not the case. If I can take the heat from the citizens on the street, I feel that our manager can do a better job in communicating the information in stopping the confusion. There was lots of confusion with our electric department, in our sanitation department, as to who does what, when, how and where.”

Sumpter acknowledged that she uses social media because there is no newspaper based in the town.

“As far as where we need to be as a town,” she said, “we are not there. Do I feel the manager bears the brunt of this? Yes, I do. I have heard, and I feel we need to part ways and do something different. That is my personal opinion.”

O’Neal cut her eyes in Sumpter’s direction, her beat-down face — showing the stress that she has been through — tight with raw emotion.

“Just cut it,” someone from the audience called out. “We’ve heard enough.”

‘It’s disrespectful,” another audience member said aloud.

“There have been things that have been said about board members. To employees, and that’s not acceptable,” Sumpter continued.

“That’s disrespectful,” another person in the crowd said.

“And I feel our manager should no longer be here,” Sumpter said. “That is my personal stance. Now if the rest of the board feels we need to do that, that’s fine. And that’s all I have to say.”

After a brief pause, O’Neal began her rebuttal.

“Well, that’s quite interesting, Miss Sumpter,” she began. “You opened the gate, and here come the facts. “

She was then urged to end her reply.

“Let her speak. Let her speak,” came from the audience. “Let the manager speak.”

But Henderson interrupted: “This is an official board meeting. You are welcome to be at the (planned community grievance) meeting, but you are not allowed to speak at this time. So, please allow us to continue with our meeting.”

O’Neal responded, “Thank you, Mr. Mayor Henderson. I’m going to remain above board, and I’m going to try to remain professional. No matter what the attacks because that’s the way I was raised and the way I have conducted myself.

“I came here a year ago,” she said: “My husband and I just bought a house. I’ve dedicated myself to this job, trying to clean up what was left here for me to work on. I’ve put together two complete budgets. I won’t go into the financial condition of the town because this is not appropriate at this time.”

In terms of her reputation, O’Neal said, she is 68 years old and has worked in numerous professional positions for 40 years. “I’ve never worked for a place, I’ve never lived in a place that my reputation didn’t supersede my work ethic,” the town manager said. “I’ll leave you with that because I can guarantee you that the truth about what has gone on in that police department in the past, and what is the truth about these agendas for some people who are up here, the truth will prevail. I can guarantee you that, and I have the facts to back up anything.

“Thank you, Miss McQueen,” she added, alluding to the resident who spoke earlier during the public input session. “I would like to echo everything that you said, and you eloquently stated it. And I appreciate the few people who may be here to support me. You don’t know me. I’m not from here. But I can guarantee you one thing: I won’t leave easily. And I will expose the truth if it’s the last thing I do.”

A smattering of applause ensued.

Soon after, the meeting ended.