Greene County Democrat

Tag: Faye Tyree

  • Map of the City of Eutaw voting districts for municipal elections


    The City of Eutaw released the official list of candidates who qualified for the August 26, 2025, municipal elections for Mayor and five City Council positions. The qualifying period, which ran from June 10 to 24, is now closed.
    There are three candidates for Mayor. Incumbent Mayor Latasha Johnson is challenged by Corey Cockrell, a current County Commissioner for District 3 and Tyrone Atkins.
    In each of the five City Council districts the current incumbents qualified, except for District 3, where incumbent Tracey Hunter is unopposed in the election. In District 1, incumbent Valerie Brewer- Watkins is challenged by Ke’Undra Quintz Cox. In District 2, Jonathan Woodruff, Jr., the incumbent, is opposed by Charles Naylor, Jr., and Quentin Maurice Walton. In District 4, incumbent Larrie Coleman is challenged by Sarah Duncan Brewer and Lorenzo French. In District 5, incumbent Suzette Powell, is challenged by Carrie Logan, Director of the Eutaw Area Chamber of Commerce.
    If no candidate wins a majority of the votes for Mayor or in their district for City Council member, there will be a Run-off Election scheduled for September 23, 2025, for the top two vote-getters in each race.
    The election is open to all registered voters who have lived in the city or their respective district for 30 days or more prior to the election. The polls will be open from 7:00 AM until 7:00 PM on election day and for the run-off election, if necessary.
    The last day to register to vote in this election is August 15, 2025, for those who recently moved into the city limits, or never registered to vote or are trying to reclaim their voting rights. The newly elected Mayor and Council will take office in November 2025.

    Council Meetings on June 10 and 24

    The Eutaw City Council held its two regular monthly meetings on June 10 and 24, at the City Hall. Councilman Woodruff was absent for the June 10 meeting. All council members were in attendance for the June 24th meeting.
    In the June 10th meeting the Council approved purchase of materials to repair potholes in streets and other roadway repairs. The Mayor said she had a long list of streets to be repaired, and the city staff would work on these when the materials and time were available.
    The Council tabled requests from the Mayor to purchase a tractor and a bush hog and a truck mounted sewer jet to clean out sewer pumping stations.
    The Council approved travel for the Chief of Police to attend the annual conference of police chiefs in August ; travel for officer Jaleel Powell to attend a training in August; payment for poll workers in the upcoming municipal elections and approved payment of bills.
    At the June 24th meeting, the Eutaw City Council approved a new employee health plan from Colonial Life Insurance Company which includes dental and vision coverage not available in the current plan.
    The Council approved a Memorandum of Agreement with United Way of Alabama to install a ‘story walk’ in the city’s Memorial Park on Mesopotamia Street. The walk will tell stories to children when the walk through and will be an addition to the playground and tennis courts in the park.
    The Council also approved for Attorney Zane Willingham to write a letter to the Mayor concerning employee overtime. The Council approved payment of bills.
    The Council received a report from the Water Department listing $158,000 in delinquent bills to the city from 2017 to June 2025. Sarah Leavelle, Water Clerk, explained that these balances include water, sewer, garbage and connection fees owed. The Water Department has negotiated a payment plan for these overdue accounts.
    Leavelle explained, “Sometimes people honor their agreements and sometimes they don’t. We do have the right to cut off water services if people do not pay their bills and past due balances. We try to work with people to get their bills paid.” The Council took this information under consideration in terms of their planning and budgetary decision making.
    Council member Valerie Watkins raised several concerns. One was about large trucks parked by the place where the old swimming pool was located. Mayor Johnson asked her to get the names of the truck owners and license plates of violators to help in getting this problem resolved. Watkins said she was reporting the problem but could not be responsible for the requested information. Chief of Police Johnson said the police would monitor the situation and advise the truck owners of the laws.
    Watkins said the city staff should check and identify streetlights that are not working and make sure they are replaced. She also said residents were complaining about a ditch that runs between Roebuck and Edwards Streets. The Mayor responded that this ditch is owned by the residents and not the city and therefore cleaning the ditch was their responsibility.
    In the public comments section of the meetings, Faye Tyree complained that the bathrooms in the City Hall need to be repaired for use by the employees and the public. Alfonzo Morton complained about flooding from the rains and asked the city to help in cleaning the ditch behind his house.

  • Eutaw City Council approves motion to park all city cars, including police cars, among many issues discussed on full meeting agenda

    By: John Zippert, Co-Publisher

    At its October 24, 2023, regular meeting the Eutaw City Council worked through a full agenda with many important issues. The Council also held a working session on October 23, which paved the way for many of its decisions.

    One controversial action taken by the City Council was a 5-0 vote to park all city vehicles at City Hall, when not in use. This includes police cars.
    Since many Eutaw city police officers live out of town, they have been permitted to drive city vehicles home, so that when they are called to a crime scene on an emergency basis, they can get their faster and be fully equipped.

    Councilman LaJeffrey Carpenter has been pushing for this policy change for many months. Carpenter, who is a Greene County Sheriff’s deputy and often comes to council meetings visibly armed with his pistol,
    says this will save money and wear and tear on city vehicles. All five council members voted for this policy change, while Mayor Latasha Johnson and Chief of Police Tommy Johnson were opposed and spoke against the decision.

    In the public comments section of the meeting, several Eutaw residents, including Faye Tyree, Danny Cooper, and Carol Gator, raised concerns about the new policy hampering police response to emergency situations. Concern was also expressed that this decision might result in more police officers quitting their positions to take better paid opportunities in other places.

    At the City Council Work Session, City Financial Adviser Ralph Liverman presented a report which acknowledged receipt of a long promised $371,294.88 check from FEMA for reimbursement of expenses incurred by the City of Eutaw in debris clearing and collection from storms earlier this year. Liverman indicated an additional check for $40,000 is still forthcoming from FEMA for additional expenses. In his report, Liverman indicates the city accounts that have been reimbursed for storm expenses, including $118,544.88 to the General Fund, which improves the City’s overall financial condition and outlook.

    The Council approved an Ordinance No. 2023-4 to grant a right of way agreement WIFI connections to cities in the Yellowhammer Network, which is planning to build a network of fiber to cities and towns in the western Alabama Black Belt, starting in Selma and moving west. Yellowhammer is fully funded for its plans, which reach cities and anchor institutions and cover some of the rural areas in between but not all parts of each county. The right of way agreement will allow running of fiber on and under streets and right of ways, owned by the city, but it is not an exclusive arrangement and other companies may also seek similar permission.

    The Council also approved payment of an invoice for $30,000 as a reimbursement to the Alabama Department of Transportation for work done to improve lighting on the Interstate 20/59 Exit 40. This one of several annual payments owed by the City to ALDOT for the lighting project.

    A credit card, with a maximum of $25,000, to be held by the Mayor, for training and travel expenses for city staff was approved. This single card will replace individual cards assigned to council members and staff department heads.

    The Council approved Resolution No. 2023-16 for Traffic Signal Management between ALDOT and the City to install Econolite Cobalt Controllers at the four city traffic lights at the county square, which will improve traffic flow. This improvement will come at no cost to the city. The
    Council also approved Resolution No 2023-17 to allow for the rehabilitation of the Sanders-Black Apartments with no changes to the zoning approval of the project, which is in place.

    The Council heard a presentation by Leah Banks of Alabama Power Company and representatives of the University of West Alabama’s Connecting Minority Program, to provide broadband in Sumter County and parts of Greene County, especially the Boligee area. They left copies of a broadband survey for residents of Eutaw and Greene County to fill out, showing the limited broadband services available. The Mayor agreed to collect completed surveys at the City Hall. The Council also heard a presentation on the Tree City Program from the Alabama Forestry Commission which encourages the planting of trees in cities and towns across Alabama.

    In other business, the Eutaw City Council:

    • Approved renewal of the business license and gas tax collection agreements with Avenue Insights and Analytics for 2024.
    • Approved repair of three police cars, two for transmissions and one for a motor. Tabled a proposal by the Chief of Police to lease purchase new police cars.
    • Approved request by the Mayor to seek bids to renovate the bathrooms in the National Guard Armory, which must be completed by March 2024 for the facility to be used as a voting poll.
    • Approved an additional $100 rental charge for groups planning to serve alcohol at functions held at the Robert H. Young Community Center (former Carver School) now owned by the city.
    • Approved a contract with Living Waters Association of Alabaster to provide laboratory testing the City Water and Sewer system.
    •Tabled leasing a new 2023 John Deere tractor for grass cutting, for 5 years at $1,926/month (total $97,852), until the city financial adviser can explain how this ad other expenses fit into the city’s budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
    • Agreed to pay bills on hand for the month.

  • Complaints about vicious and stray dogs dominate Eutaw City Council

    dogsBy: John Zippert,
    Co-Publisher

    Much of the discussion at the January 24, 2017 Eutaw City Council was devoted to complaints about vicious and stray dogs in the city.
    Part of the concern was with pit bulls owned by Lonnie and Channel Glenn who live at 122 Harris Avenue. Glenn is a police officer with the Eutaw Police Department. Channel Glenn, his wife, is an outspoken city resident who often attends City Council meeting and raises various grievances.
    This time the shoe was on the other foot, as several audience members questioned the Council about ordinances governing vicious dogs and stray dogs that are roaming the city.
    Blondie Means who was bitten by one of the Glenn’s pit bulls on Thanksgiving Day -2016 was at the Council meeting questioning the Mayor and Council about enforcing the ordinances against “vicious dogs” like the Glenn’s pit bulls. Means said she suffered lacerations on her hands, face and breast from the dog. The dog was shot by a passerby and later euthanized by the police. Means lives two doors down from the Glenn’s on Harris Avenue and says she is afraid to come out of her house because of the dogs.
    Mattie Roscoe, mother of George Roscoe, said her son was attacked by the same dogs on Thanksgiving and had to go to the hospital for treatment. The second dog was placed in quarantine for ten days because of the attack.
    Channel Glenn told this reporter “You at the Democrat have the story all wrong. Someone was trying to steal my dogs and that is why the dogs attacked them. You better get the story right!”

    At the January 10 City Council meeting, Ms. Glenn testified that,
    “I love my dogs like they are my children. They are locked up and never out. Someone was trying to hurt my dogs that is why they were bitten.”
    Residents asked Mayor Steele what he was going to do about enforcing city ordinances on vicious and stray dogs. Steele said he and the city’s attorney, Ken Aycock were studying the laws and would take appropriate action soon. The Mayor seemed in a difficult spot caught between angry citizens and a set of dog owners who are on the police force and who gave him political support in the last election.
    Eutaw Police Chief Derrick Coleman said, “ I was out of town at the last City Council meeting. I have heard about the problem with the dogs. One dog was put down and the other dog was cleared by a veterinarian in Greensboro, after the ten day quarantine and returned to the owners.”
    Coleman said that the Glenn’s may have as many as 7 or 8 pit bulls living in their house but they are very careful in taking care of them and supervise them when they let them out. Coleman said he was waiting on the Mayor to give him additional instructions on the dogs and enforcement of relevant ordinances against vicious dogs.
    Other complaints were raised at the City Council about packs of stray dogs running around in Eutaw and the need for an animal control officer to catch the dogs and take them away.
    Ms. Yvonne Smith of 324 Kirksey Avenue and her daughter Sabrina Smith came by the Democrat to complain of a pack of stray dogs in their neighborhood. They brought a photograph of the dogs camping out on their porch. Yvonne Smith said, “ I have to use a walker and I cannot chase the dogs away. They smell and leave behind bad odors. What is the city doing about these problems?”
    In the public comment period other citizens raised questions about flooding on Ann Street, due to clogged drains; lighting problems on Springfield Avenue; a sinkhole that needs to be corrected on Prairie Avenue; and a school bus driver raised concerns about a roadway at Hook Avenue off Mesopotamia.
    Faye Tyree complained that she was appointed to the Eutaw Housing Authority on October 25, 2016, based on a letter from former Mayor Hattie Edwards. Mayor Steele sent her a letter to vacate her board position because there was no record in the minutes of her appointment. Tyree said two other persons were appointed at the same time and they have not received letters from the Mayor.
    The Council approved a request by the National Wild Turkey Federation to use the National Guard Armory for a dinner and approved the city attorney to develop a resolution on clearing an abandoned house on Tuscaloosa Street adjacent to the Eutaw Elderly Village.
    Many citizens left the meeting shaking their heads about the need for action on the problem of the pit bulls and stray dogs. These citizens will be waiting to see what Mayor Steele and the City Council do to deal with these problems at future meetings.