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Mayor seeks three-member Ripley Power and Light board as council considers resolution
Summary
Mayor Beachall introduced a resolution to reestablish an independent Ripley Power and Light board with staggered three‑year membership and asked the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to appoint nominees; the proposal prompted questions about timing, statutory authority and past litigation between the city and the utility.
Mayor Beachall asked the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to approve a resolution returning Ripley Power and Light to an independent board with a reduced three‑member structure, and said he plans to nominate Dwight Beard and Randy White for two staggered terms and to serve as the city liaison.
The mayor told the council they have been in conflict with the utility for years and said, “we've sued each other … it's time we move on.” He characterized the change as a bid to reduce friction, improve transparency and allow the utility and city to work together on planned projects while the superintendent remains in place for the next two years.
City legal staff told the board the draft resolution largely follows state law and the city's charter language. The city attorney said that, under Tennessee law, membership nominations by the mayor must be acted on before July 1 for members to take office this year; otherwise members would not take office until July 1, 2026. The attorney also confirmed that one sentence in an earlier draft — language referencing costs as grounds for removal — had been removed from the current draft.
Public comment included objections from a resident who said she had applied to serve on the power board and criticized the mayor for making nominations without broader public input. Council members and the mayor debated whether changing the board size and nomination process would improve accountability or simply shift control to the mayor’s office.
Aldermen asked for clarification of statutory timing and for a clean, republished resolution in the council packet. No final recorded vote on this resolution appears in the portion of the transcript provided; council members moved and discussed the item and the mayor said nominations would ultimately come from this board and take effect per state statute timelines.
The discussion continued at length, with repeated references to past lawsuits between city officials and the utility, the need for timely disclosures to ratepayers, and how nominations and confirmations should be handled in the weeks before July 1.
