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After two canceled city council meetings due to a lack of quorum, the LaFayette city council came together on Monday night for their September meeting, finally addressing the police committee’s recommendation for the police chief.

All council members unanimously approved a motion to accept Captain Christopher Trice as the city’s official police chief after months of serving as the interim chief. 

“I’m glad they’ve got faith in me to lead,” Trice said to the VTN after the meeting. “I’ve been here for 20 years now, so I just want to continue to learn as I go. I’ve got a lot of support out here … And now it’s time for me to hold up to my end.”

Council members Terry Mangram, Toney Thomas and Michael Ellis each commented during the meeting addressing the delay. Ellis and Thomas both stated that the delay was not personal toward Trice and instead had to do with the interview process itself. 

In a statement to the VTN, Thomas said, “I think he’s going to do an excellent job. He’s not new to the game. He’s familiar with the city, and I wish him the best of luck. And you know, we just wanted to do things right and fair.”

“Again, nothing’s against Chief Trice, it’s just the way the process was done. It wasn’t done the way it’s always been done,” Ellis said during the meeting. “Like I said, I worked with three police chiefs when I was a police officer here in the city of LaFayette, and every time, the police committee did the interview and made a recommendation to the mayor and council.”

Apparently addressing comments from the community, Mangram made the point that he has only missed four meetings throughout his time on the council. 

A special called meeting was scheduled for August 27 but was canceled because of a lack of quorum. Mangram, Thomas and Ellis were not present. The meeting was rescheduled for the following day but the three were not present that night either. Mangram said he only received the notice at midnight the night before. 

According to Mangram, council members are supposed to have at least a 24-hour notice of a meeting. During Monday night’s meeting, City Attorney Mac Tucker confirmed that. 

“If you’ve got something that’s bothering you or something that I’m doing that’s bothering you, I’m open. I’m reachable every day,” Mangram said during the meeting. 

After the meeting, Mangram told the VTN that he supported Trice as a candidate but took issue with the change in the interview process. Mangram added that the council was able to hash out some things during the executive session that they hadn’t been able to discuss before. 

“I’ve been for the Captain all along. It was just a process of how we were trying to do the whole thing,” he said. “… It’s what we all wanted.”

Williams responded by reiterating her reasoning behind the third-party search committee which was to avoid bias from everyone on the council and entrust the search to experienced police chiefs from the area. 

“Y’all can say it wasn’t done right all you want but just because it’s what we’ve been doing 50 years don’t mean we have to continue doing it,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with change.”

Earlier this year, Council member Tammie Williams, who is the police committee chair, made a motion to have the new police chief selected by a three-party committee of police chiefs, Chief Danny Williams, Retired Chief Tommy Weldon and Chief Robert Head, rather than by the committee and council. 

The motion carried, though some council members expressed their concern about it in later meetings. 

Ellis and Mangram sit on the police and fire committee along with Williams. They felt that they should be allowed to participate in the interview process. When the initial recommendation was given, the council members voted it down and requested the search start over including input from the rest of the council. 

Trice will be sworn in as police chief at the next council meeting.