Fairfield mayor and city council in civic center standoff

Fairfield, Al.
The Fairfield City Council, in an effort to exert more control over the city's Civic Center, has voted unanimously to rename the building and temporarily close Glory's Restaurant inside it.
The council also voted to put new locks on the building, which the city owns, and book all events through the City Council administrator's office instead of through the civic center's general manager.
Fairfield Mayor Kenneth Coachman, who is chairman of the Civic Center Authority authorized by the Legislature to manage the facility, said he will veto the council's actions and has ordered the Police Department to arrest anyone who tries to re-key the building.
Coachman said the council's actions are an attempt to circumvent the legislative act that created the Civic Center Authority in 1995. "They can't dissolve the authority, so they are trying to get around it," Coachman said.
Councilman Ves Marable said the City Council has spent about $1.1 million from the general fund to carry the Civic Center but has received no money from the building and has had very little oversight in its operation.
The building's new name, though not yet determined, will improve the building's image, Marable said. Closing Glory's Restaurant inside will allow the council an opportunity to explore ways to make it profitable, he said. One consideration may be to lease the restaurant, a move which would allow the city to profit from a lease agreement, he said.
"The only way that restaurant will re-open is if we are receiving money from it," Marable said.
Marable said he contacted other civic centers in the area, such as those in Pelham and Bessemer, and found that proceeds from city-owned buildings go to the city coffers, something that does not happen in Fairfield.
Marable said all previously booked events at the building will be honored. The council will allow the authority to perform whatever services it has promised to parties who have booked the facility, he said.
The changes approved by the council, if implemented, would effectively put civic center manager Johnnie Wyatt's job in limbo, as well as those of other civic center employees.
Calvin Biggers, attorney for the Civic Center Authority, said the council's actions were ill-advised and put the building in a precarious situation. Biggers said he was concerned about the practical application of the council's actions for several reasons.
The restaurant is used to cater events, and closing the kitchen could be problematic, he said. Other issues to consider include promotion of the building and staffing of events, Biggers said. "This has not been well thought out."
Wyatt declined comment about the council's actions.
Glory's and its buffet had been opening only on Sundays since Aug. 28 as part of cost-cutting measures to help the authority pay back taxes on the building. The kitchen was still being used to cater events, Wyatt said.
Councilman F.D. Scott, who had been appointed to the authority, resigned his seat on the board on Friday. Scott said he voted in favor of the recommendations Thursday because the city has had no control over what has been taking place at the building.
Despite serving on the authority, financial information has not been made available to him, Scott said.
"My main focus is this needs to be done right," Scott said. "We're financially strapped as a city. It makes no sense to keep taking money from the general fund -- taxpayer money -- and spending it up there without having any say in how the money is spent."