Plans underway for special elections
BY MELISSA PYLE
Special to the Telegraph
There was an empty chair on the board at Lawtey’s first council meeting of 2025. Council member Emily Hoffman resigned her seat as of Dec. 20, 2024.
Hoffman cited personal circumstances and life changes that led to her resignation.
Hoffman, while not in attendance at the meeting, did issue a statement to the Telegraph expressing her gratitude to the citizens of Lawtey and to the Bradford County Fire Department for their service, especially those serving at the Lawtey station.
Hoffman had been assigned to be department head of the fire department by Mayor Jimmie Scott. Although the city technically had no fire department to oversee because the county now operates the station, Hoffman continued to be a liaison for the department and tried to make sure needs were met during her time in office.
The county is still awaiting a new memorandum of understanding agreement with the city of Lawtey.
Special election needed
The vacant seat on the council has prompted a special election to fill the seat temporarily until the January 2026 city election. Tentatively, the city will hold qualifying from noon on Jan. 27 through noon Jan. 31. The special election would be on April 1.
The city is awaiting approval from the state before finalizing those dates.
City maintenance and changes
Personnel changes were also part of a discussion regarding the maintenance department, which led to some questions about city funds.
Vice Mayor Virginia Warner proposed a raise for the city’s new maintenance man. Warner explained that the new hire has fulfilled his 90-day probationary period and has done an excellent job, without the need for any oversight. Warner and others praised the excellent work he has been doing for the city.
Warner told fellow council members that if they want to retain such a good worker, they need to pay him a little more. She proposed raising the hourly wage to $20, an increase of $3 an hour.
There was some pushback from the public about where the city would get the funds, and there was concern raised that the current maintenance person might already be planning to leave in March.
Warner used the possibility of him leaving as a reason to offer a higher hourly wage. Warner and Councilwoman Debra Norman argued that it’s hard to find and retain a good maintenance person, and the city needs to offer competitive pay if they want to keep someone.
The motion to raise the rate was approved by a vote of three to one, Councilwoman Amy Blom being the only no vote.
A citizen addressed maintenance issues as well regarding potholes on Fifth Street and asked a follow up question about lighting at Middleburg Park. Blom said she will be putting in a maintenance request to have the holes patched with lime rock the city has on hand.
Norman said the new recreation department will have to discuss lighting concerns. The citizen told the council she thought they had already decided to fix the lights. No one on council had a definitive answer about when they would be repaired.
Norman did give an update about city park maintenance that had previously been approved. The city finished putting up fencing the park on Lake Street. The extra fencing was needed to prevent people from driving into areas that are off limits to vehicles.
Norman also stated that due to low turnout at the monthly Community Health and Wellness Resource Hubs, the hubs will be held quarterly in Lawtey. Upcoming dates are Feb. 13, May 8, Aug. 14 and Nov. 13.
Department heads questioned and ordinance approved
The new year brought another discussion about making changes to existing city procedures. Councilwoman Blom said the city’s charter does not say the mayor has to assign each board member a city department to oversee. Blom expressed her frustration with what she feels is an outdated way to run the city.
“This isn’t 1900, it’s 2025,” she said.
Mayor Scott pushed back on the request and said it was in the charter, but attorney Dan Sikes said Blom was correct in her assessment of the rules; it is just a city tradition to appoint departments for each council member to oversee.
The complaint from Blom and others is that, ultimately, they can’t make decisions about the departments they are assigned outside of council meetings, and most of the things they are tasked to oversee get passed on to the city clerk and the mayor.
Blom and Norman each said the role of department heads also seems to keep them out of the loop of information regarding other city business. All members agreed there needs to be better communication moving forward so all council members stay informed.
Sikes recommended the council set up a workshop to discuss the city’s charter in order to make changes, if any, to the mayor appointing departments to council members.
The workshop is scheduled for Jan. 27 at 6 p.m.
A much-awaited update to the Lawtey Recreation Board was finalized with the second reading and approval of an ordinance reducing the number of recreation board members from seven to five. A smaller board means fewer members are needed for quorum at a meeting to conduct business and plan activities.
Council officers appointed
The first meeting was adjourned, and a second meeting was immediately started to appoint the 2025 mayor and vice mayor for the city. The board held a unanimous vote to retain Scott as mayor, but the vice mayor position changed when the board voted to appoint Norman to the office.
New recreation board members were also appointed for 2025 with a total of four members nominated and appointed — Sheri Wilson, Nathan Blom, Kevin Taylor and Isaac Williams. The fifth recreation member will be appointed once the vacant council seat is filled.
Department heads were not appointed for 2025 because of the pending workshop. Sikes was unanimously voted to be retained as city attorney.
New city website
The city now has a website at CityofLawtey.org where users can find information about city departments, events and make utility payments.
