Columbus councilmen voted Tuesday during a lengthy executive session to suspend two members of the city’s police force without pay for violation of police department policy.
City officials would not release the officers’ names or the reasons for the suspensions, but City Attorney Jeff Turnage said one of the suspended officers is a corporal.
Turnage said the corporal’s suspension is for 20 days. The patrol officer is suspended for three days.
Councilmen also voted during executive session not to discipline a third officer. City officials would not say if that officer’s case was related to the suspensions.
David Armstrong, chief operations officer for Columbus, said the city would not release any further details on the suspensions until it publishes the minutes of Tuesday’s meeting on its website. He said those minutes probably would be available in approximately two weeks.
On a separate matter, councilmen hired a new Trotter Convention Center director to replace longtime director Frank Goodman. Though councilmen interviewed two candidates for the position on Tuesday — Mike Anderson and John McCall — city officials would not release the name of who they hired, saying they needed to complete a background check and then notify the hire. Mayor Robert Smith said he expects to complete that process today.
Anderson, a retired Navy commander, is employed through Mississippi State University Extension Service as an adjunct professor of economics at East Mississippi Community College in Scooba. McCall is an event services consultant in Columbus who Armstrong said has provided event services for the Fed-Ex Forum in Memphis and Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
Whomever gets the job, he will inherit the fruits of a $2.3-million renovation at the convention center, which is expected to be complete by Jan. 20. Goodman, who was hired as the center’s first director six months before its construction began in 1987, has announced his intent to retire after the renovation project was finished.
Armstrong said Goodman would likely remain on staff at the convention center to help train the new director. The Dispatch could not reach Goodman by press time today.
In business during open session Tuesday, the council:
■ enlarged the Central Business District to include the old Columbus Middle School campus, meaning the value of improvements in that district will be eligible for a 10-year ad valorem tax exemption;
■ accepted a low bid from Regions Bank to finance equipment for lease-purchase, mostly in the police and public works department, for 1.99 percent for five years;
■ hired two police officers contingent on their successfully completing pre-employment medical examinations and drug screening;
■ approved a renovation tax exemption for properties at 425 Main St. and 124 5th St. South, both owned by Gale Gwynup.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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