- A city worker, uncertified to operate the 62,000-pound fire truck, used it for watering plants at Mayor Jena Sandlin's instruction.
- The mayor allegedly ignored the fire chief's instructions and left the firehouse unsecured without notifying dispatch.
- Watch the video for full details of the impeachment process.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The tension stems from an incident on April 29th—when Mayor Sandlin allegedly ordered a city maintenance worker to use a fire department tanker to water plants in the highway median... despite being told not to.
"Couple hours later I get a text message that my truck is in the median with the mayor's car following behind it with a city employee driving it."
The problem?
That employee wasn't certified to operate the 62,000-pound vehicle—meant for fire emergencies, not landscaping.
Councilman Oscar Griffith says no notice was given to dispatch, the firehouse was left unsecured, and the city was put at risk for a major liability.
"This water truck holds about 6000 gallons of water... if he had had an accident... now we got safety. What's next? Somebody's going to get killed then what we're going to say? 'Ohh I'm sorry'?"
A council meeting was called, and Councilman Carl Spano led the charge to impeach Mayor Sandlin, but confusion over the removal process stalled the vote.
Councilman Busby Courson, the swing vote, hesitated without a public hearing—sinking the motion by a single vote as the vote requires more than two-third majority.
Only Spano and Griffith, a longtime critic of the mayor, voted in favor.
Griffith, who previously called for the mayor to resign over a different controversy, says this isn't just a mistake—it's a pattern.
"She just feels like she can do what she wanna do. And, and, and it's just a shame... It's just a hostile environment."
I reached out to Mayor Sandlin to request a comment on the situation on May 20th and 21st. Those requests have gone unanswered. I'm Malia Thomas, reporting for ABC27.
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