Benton City Council Decision: Police Chief Kirk Lane

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Permalink Reply by Greg White on January 12, 2009 at 11:05pm

The correct vote was 5 - 4 with one absent. The absent vote is a No vote. It took 7 votes to over-ride the appointment. Let me congratulate Chief Lane to the office of Police Chief. Let's all now work together to make Benton the best City that we could ever live in. Thank you all for your opinions and concerns. This has been an exercise in Democracy. The important lesson here is that you have the opportunity to continue to voice your opinion at the polls in a short 2 years. God bless you all and God Bless the city of Benton.

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Permalink Reply by Bobby Shell on January 12, 2009 at 11:11pm

Greg White said:

The correct vote was 5 - 4 with one absent. The absent vote is a No vote. It took 7 votes to over-ride the appointment. Let me congratulate Chief Lane to the of Police Chief. Let's all now work together to make Benton the best City that we could ever live in. Thank you all for your opinions and concerns. This has been an exercise in Democracy. The important lesson here is that you have the opportunity to continue to voice your opinion at the polls in a short 2 years. God bless you all and God Bless the city of Benton.

Amen Alderman White preach on.

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Permalink Reply by Aardvark on January 12, 2009 at 11:23pm

LOL

Greg White said:

The correct vote was 5 - 4 with one absent. The absent vote is a No vote. It took 7 votes to over-ride the appointment. Let me congratulate Chief Lane to the office of Police Chief. Let's all now work together to make Benton the best City that we could ever live in. Thank you all for your opinions and concerns. This has been an exercise in Democracy. The important lesson here is that you have the opportunity to continue to voice your opinion at the polls in a short 2 years. God bless you all and God Bless the city of Benton.

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Permalink Reply by Aardvark on January 12, 2009 at 11:42pm

Just some good ol' boys....

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Permalink Reply by Shelli Russell on January 12, 2009 at 11:43pm

THV Video posted above now.

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Permalink Reply by Amy Burnett on January 12, 2009 at 11:49pm

Yes Joe Lee was FOR overriding the Mayors decision. I am so glad he insisted on letting the people speak! Thank You Joe Lee Richards!!!!!!!!!!! Whose the bookie around here? Man 3/2 and 5/5 odds are some chancey odds to gamble!!!!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Shelli Russell on January 13, 2009 at 12:01am

To clarify, the aldermen were voting for or against an override of Benton Mayor Rick Holland's hire of Kirk Lane as Police Chief.
A "yes" vote means they are for overriding the Mayor's decision (they are not on the Mayor's side).
A "no" vote means they are against overriding the Mayor's decision (they're on the Mayor's side).

Yes votes / FOR overriding were:
Brad Moore, Ward 4
Doug Stracener, Ward 5
Larry Wolf, Ward 1
Greg White, Ward 1
Joe Lee Richards, Ward 2

No votes / AGAINST overriding were:
Jerry Ponder, Ward 3
David Sparks, Ward 4
Steve Lee, Ward 5
Charles Cunningham, Ward 2
Bill Donnor, Ward 3*

*Donnor was absent, which counts for an "no" vote, or "against overriding" in this situation.

Aldermen, please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this, through email or otherwise.
shellirussell@mysaline.com

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Permalink Reply by Phillip Howell on January 13, 2009 at 12:37am

Mr. White,

I appreciate the opportunity that the council and the mayor granted me and others to express our concerns. I do think that there were some things stated on both sides of the issue that were a bit out of line. I adamantly believe that it is possible for us to disagree and still be civil to each other and respect each others opinions. I stuck around afterward to convey my gratitude for allowing me to speak to the mayor and those council members who were still around. Most people who left might not have had the to opportunity to hear a statement made by Alderman Lee near the very end of the meeting. Although he started out by describing the evening as "weird" he ended by directing a comment at Chief Lane and saying "please do not disappoint us". I spoke to Chief Lane briefly after the meeting was over and I told him that although I disagreed with the decision that I would respect the decision and would support him. From my conversation with Chief Lane I believe that he understands that the spotlight is on him and that he will have to do his absolute best to convince the good citizens of Benton that is trustworthy and worthy of their support. I will be praying for Chief Lane and his family. I pray that he will live up to the expectations of the citizens of Benton and of the city leadership. As was stated by Joe Lee Richards "tomorrow is a new day" and I am ready for us to get back to working together to make the city of Benton the best that it can possibly be. Thanks again Alderman White for your candor and your leadership.

Phillip Howell

Greg White said:

The correct vote was 5 - 4 with one absent. The absent vote is a No vote. It took 7 votes to over-ride the appointment. Let me congratulate Chief Lane to the office of Police Chief. Let's all now work together to make Benton the best City that we could ever live in. Thank you all for your opinions and concerns. This has been an exercise in Democracy. The important lesson here is that you have the opportunity to continue to voice your opinion at the polls in a short 2 years. God bless you all and God Bless the city of Benton.

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Permalink Reply by Patriot4Equality on January 13, 2009 at 1:02am

Obviously the room was filled with many people who won't be comfortable calling police when they consider the chief to be under a cloud of suspicion for murder. Calling police will be deemed by some to be tantamount to taunting a murderer.
Whether Lane is guilty of anything or not, the position of police chief should not be held by Lane, but rather by a person above reproach. Many citizens of Benton do not and will not have confidence in Lane.
As an outsider, moving into Benton, I've spoken to several people who are very worried about those who've spoken up to voice their concerns. Some feel their lives are at risk if they voice their opinion about Lane. I even heard one person say, "Watch who disappears or gets killed with Lane back in town." It is a sad day for Benton when good-old-boy cronyism overrules citizen concerns about an incoming police chief appointed by the mayor.
And it will be even worse if people disappear or die because of this decision tonight.
I have nothing against Lane personally and knew none of the parties involved in these unsolved murders. But Benton is not the place for Lane because Lane will be unable to gain the full confidence and trust of many law-abiding citizens in Benton. Lane should move his career to another town where a cloud of suspicion over him does not damper the public trust in police.
Tonight, I am truly disappointed by the Benton city council. If Lane is investigated, possibly convicted of wrongdoing, Benton city council should be held accountable by the people of Benton. The council failed to do right by the citizens -- instead the council did the wrong thing for Benton's future.
Going into the future with a cloud of suspicion and doubt from the past is not best for Benton.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Lee on January 13, 2009 at 1:37am

Before tonights meeting, I was pretty sure that there would not be seven votes to over turn Mayor Hollands decision to hire Kirk Lane. First of all this council has a problem with important votes comming together as a body and voting for the people and the rights of the people as I see it. Now i may not always be totally correct, but I vote with my heart and my mind as what my voters and the people tell me they want. I had 4 calls in favor of Lane, and approx 60 calls against him. I had nothing personally against him and anything that happend 20 years ago or 10 years ago played no part in my decision. I advised Rick Holland four years ago when he was at that going to bring lane here that it was a bad decision, and he brought Gary Sipes here as chief. This time I was out of town when I received a phone call from him late one day and was informed he was going to announce the next day the appoitment of lane as the new chief. It came as a very quick and supprising move. Although in June this past year I believed that at that time lane would be the next chief.As it was taking so long for the mayor to make a decision. Anyway, we all have to live with this decision, and you now know what aldermen on the council support the mayor and thoes that support the people. This is the only thing that I can realize from all this. I hope the future we can all learn from this and make a better Benton. I will keep trying to do my part. Will You????...Joe Lee

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Permalink Reply by Linda Ives on January 13, 2009 at 7:58am

Rick Holland and Kirk Lane cannot, by any STRETCH of the imagination, claim victory from last night's vote -- not when more city councilmen voted against Lane than voted for him. I wish to thank Larry Wolf, Greg White, Joe Lee Richards, Brad Moore and Doug Stracener for their votes -- I am so proud of you all! I know the pressure you all were under and I know that there may be a personal price to pay for your integrity. I believe in standing up for what we believe in, even if you are in the minority. Please know that many more citizens than were there last night, are on your side, as I believe they will be on the next election day. They will remember that it was Rick Holland that put us all in the position we are now in and they will remember the sheep.

Joe Lee, it may be a new day in Benton but the same stench filled black cloud of distrust and suspicion of law enforcement in Saline County only intensifies. The city spends thousands of dollars to promote itself as a "comfort zone" and "place of harbor". Dollars down the drain.

I also believe there is a freight train already on the tracks headed straight for Rick Holland come election day as well as anyone standing there with him..

I would like to thank Steve Lee in one capacity -- I believe if it had not been for him, the public would not have been allowed to comment before the vote / and that the vote would not have been taken in public. There were some who wanted to shut out the public and vote behind closed doors.

Larry, Greg, Brad and Doug -- if there is anything I can do for any of you, election or otherwise, I'll be there.

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Permalink Reply by riccoar on January 13, 2009 at 9:03am

Joe Lee Richards was right. When the majority of your voters (60) , versus the minority (4), tell you to not approve a decision that is the way the vote should go. If you choose to ignore that majority, then you are not doing your job as representative of the people. And one more note. If an alderman can't be present, aside from medical emergency or something of that nature, then they have no business running or becoming an alderman. That vote was too important last night for EVERY alderman not to be present. Those aldermen who sided with the mayor should know that Mr. Holland does not have the majority backing to win re-election.

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