By Nathan Prewett, For The Tribune
CENTER POINT – At a meeting on Thursday, May 5, the Center Point City Council heard from several candidates running for circuit courts, sheriff, and governor before discussing the terms of a public safety consultant agreement.
The first candidate to speak was Wilson Hale, running for Jefferson County Sheriff. He said violent crime in the county is at “a 25-year high” and was ranked 13th in the nation for such crimes.
He said that he was restoring what he described as a low morale in the department and increasing the number of deputies to meet staffing issues. He also said he would improve jail safety and address what he called “unexplained” deaths that have reportedly occurred.
The second was Eric Hamilton, who is running for Circuit Court, Place 14, as a criminal judge. He described his background in the military, followed by law enforcement and criminal defense law practice. He said that he was the first Black district attorney in Walker County. He currently serves as a senior trial attorney.
He said that he would address mental health and drug addiction issues, preferring not to send certain cases to prison but referring them to treatment. He stressed that others who “prey on the weak” and commit other offenses would still be held accountable and prosecuted.
Yolanda Flowers then spoke. She is running for governor and proposed as governor that each school-aged child be given a psychological evaluation to determine any learning disabilities and enable parents to address their educational needs. She also spoke on criminal justice, proposing a rehabilitation plan for certain offenders, particularly those with mental issues.
Other topics she spoke on were insurance affordability and implementing a lottery for the state to stimulate the economy.
Last was Kandice Pickett, who is running for Circuit Court, Place 16, which is also a criminal judge. She said that she has had a number of years of working with criminal law. She echoed the mental health and drug problems addressed by the other candidates. She proposed that, as judge, she would make options available to people who have been convicted on finding employment with those willing to hire them.
Later in the meeting, the council discussed an agreement with a public safety consultant.
Mayor Bobby Scott said that when the council was elected, they considered the possibility of forming a police department and so looked to hire a consultant in order to explore that option.
In the past, the previous administration had come under criticism from the public for the lack of a city police department.
At the meeting last night, Council President D.M. Collins said that the council has been working for some time on the agreement with the consultant, but Councilwoman Tiffany Moore said that there were some concerns about the number of hours and office space for the consultant.
The consultant, Karen Nelson, spoke to the council and said that she was okay with no office space. She said that she and her company had suggested 40 hours per week to work, but the council agreed to propose a maximum of 25 hours, which she accepted.
Nelson suggested to the council that they work with the Sheriff’s Department during the upcoming World Games in July as calls may complicate officers as they respond to incidents. She also mentioned that she has looked into objectives in developing a potential police force and recommendations for sourcing public safety and police equipment.
Moore said that the council would need to look further to make the consultation agreement “cost-effective” and explore other options, suggesting that they delay in approving the agreement until a future meeting.
“I understand that we’ve been working on this for over a year, and I am a firm believer that nothing is going to be done overnight,” Moore said. “But I would rather do this right and take three years than three months, and it’s wrong.”
In other news, the council passed resolution 2022-27 to award a paving bid. Wiregrass Construction Company was unanimously chosen for its bid of $149,474 to pave the road on 9th Street Northwest.
The council also approved items on the consent agenda, namely a $10,000 “new business incentive start-up grant” as well as capital improvement grant process and procedures with the aim of attracting new businesses to the city.
Meetings of the Center Point City Council can be seen on their Facebook page here.