Auditor's complaint and a heated appeal revive the push to fire the county council's attorney
How we attribute this: speaker_84 → Randy Gentry (probable) — raises the point of order at [t=913] defending the council president's rule-based authority to appoint counsel; directly addressed by name by Commissioner Clinkenbeard ("thank you mr gentry") at [t=2324] moments later. Consistent with Gentry's established rules-focused councilmember role from the 2026-08-11 roster (different diarization labels there). The motion's mover is held at `probable` in this meeting's roster and is not named in this highlight; her accusation-bearing remarks about the attorney's conduct are attributed by role only per the §12b hard limit.
Who it touches:
Tracked in the archive
A council member renewed a motion to fire the council's attorney, citing a written complaint from the county auditor — who told the council by email that the attorney doesn't represent all seven members equally and is "argumentative and difficult to reach" — and citing last week's Sunshine meeting, where the attorney packed up and stood to leave before answering a resident's question about a newly formed review committee.
Council President Steve Ellis ruled the motion out of order, saying council rules make the attorney his own appointment rather than a matter the full council votes on; Councilman Randy Gentry raised the point of order backing that reading of the rules (Point of order, 15:13), the member appealed, and Ellis said he would take the question "under advisement" and research it before ruling further. 0:15:13 — open the recording, cued to 15 minutes 13 seconds
This is the second time in a week the council has confronted whether to keep its attorney, after a first motion on Sept.
1 was seconded but never brought to a vote.
More from the record
- Motion cites the auditor's written complaint0:12:09 (12 minutes 9 seconds)
- "Argumentative and difficult to reach," 12:370:12:37 (12 minutes 37 seconds)
- "Packed up her belongings," 13:250:13:25 (13 minutes 25 seconds)
- Motion to terminate the attorney0:14:53 (14 minutes 53 seconds)
- Chair rules the motion out of order0:19:23 (19 minutes 23 seconds)
- Member appeals the ruling0:21:55 (21 minutes 55 seconds)
- Chair: "I will take this under advisement," 22:150:22:15 (22 minutes 15 seconds)
- Prior motion, Sept. 1, 4:10:354:10:35 (4 hours 10 minutes 35 seconds)
Outcome
No vote was taken; President Ellis ruled the motion out of order and took the question under advisement, saying he would look into it before the next meeting.
No vote was taken; President Ellis ruled the motion out of order and took the question under advisement, saying he would look into it before the next meeting.
This summary was drafted with AI assistance and reviewed by an editor against the recording and documents linked above. Nothing publishes without a resolvable source.