Gibson board hires attorney, fire chief
by Caleb Revill
The Gibson City Board hired a new city attorney and fire chief at their meeting Monday night, January 10.
Alderman Billy Loflin was not present for this meeting. The board voted unanimously to approve both the November 8 meeting minutes and the December 13 meeting minutes.
No fire report was given. Police Chief Brad Hardin was not present for the meeting, but an officer reported 28 calls for service, 20 traffic stops and 20 citations issued for the month of December.
Alderman Chris Houck said that he has had several people ask him about the condition of a house on South Main Street.
“They asked why it was there, who lived there and were concerned about the condition of the house and the yard,” Houck said. “We either need to send (the homeowner) a letter and get it straightened up, or we need to start some kind of action and get a lawyer to get it condemned.”
Mayor Jimmie Hill agreed, saying that he thought the house met the criteria of being abandoned.
“There’s no power and the water is not going to the house, it’s going to the trailer next door,” Hill said. “It is a messy looking place.”
Welcome aboard
Daniel Rogers, the previous city attorney for Gibson, accepted a position working for the 28th Judicial District as an assistant district attorney in the child support division in late December 2021. Applicants for the open city attorney position Taylor Hughes and Randy Camp introduced themselves at Monday night’s meeting.
After deliberation, the board agreed to hire Hughes, an attorney of 10 years experience recommended by Judge Joe Tubbs.
“I had the chance to learn a lot about the town of Gibson when meeting with Mayor Hill,” Hughes said. “I will put the city of Gibson first. That won’t mean I’ll always agree with everyone sitting at this table, but the city of Gibson will be first and foremost. Smart people can disagree about some things, but that’s good and debate’s good. From what I’ve learned so far and heard from Mayor Hill, most of the time everybody is on the same page, and that’s good, efficient government.”
Mayor Hill announced Jerry Privitt would be promoted to fire chief after the previous fire chief’s retirement in December.
“I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I feel like we needed to get somebody to get the fire department together and get some continuity with them,” Hill said. “As the mayor, I have the responsibility to choose the fire chief and I chose one that I felt could be a good leader. He’s already demonstrated a lot of responsibility to everybody.”
