See a helpful list of local county services and agencies. The Council holds special meetings whennecessary; notice of the meeting must begiven to the public and media 48 hoursbefore that meeting. You can also pay your bill on-line. Incumbent Councilman Jerry Nichols will attempt to retain his position on the council in Ward Five, as he is challenged by political newcomer Garrett N. Rainey. That creates the opportunity for minority representation on the council roughly equal to minority representation within thecity'spopulation. After upending a racial norm in the rural South, a Black councilwoman contends with defiance from a community she wants to serve, The Fayette City Council with members Tommy Williams and Virettia Whiteside meets at City Hall in the small Alabama town in January with Mayor Rod Northam in attendance. All council members and Mayor Ray Nelson were present for the meeting. She was a full-fledged councilwoman without challenge. When investigators from the district attorneys office showed up at Mayfair Manor three times asking tenants if their absentee ballots had been coerced, she decided not to file a complaint with the NAACP. In the row behind them, Virettia sat with Ericka, a hand on her shoulder, thinking this would not be happening, not in this way, if Ericka were White. Fayette County was founded on December 20, 1824 by an act of the Alabama Legislature and was named in honor of Revolutionary War hero General Marquis de Lafayette. All the White department heads were going to be fired. 32.8% of households were one person and 14.0% were one person aged 65 or older. Local elections were coming up. He needs to go to the hospital.. But now it was the summer of protests after the killing of George Floyd. Besides Virettia, her cousin was running for a seat on the five-member City Council in another mostly White ward. Her first chance to say something came with the first item on the agenda, covid-19. All of the City Council's regular meetings are broadcast live onFayTV, the City of Fayetteville's Government Access Channel. See vital information about voting in our county. No suggestions! Please enable JavaScript in your browser for a better user experience. It is time to become a member. The mayor is avoting member of the Council. Theyd talked previously about what had happened. Learn more about our 15-man engineering crew and view their contact information here. Virettia talks with a resident at the Mayfair Manor apartments in Fayette. Residents sit outside Mayfair Manor. You won, they kept reminding her, as she kept thinking of how she was supposed to handle this moment in a changing America, and now the mayor was moving through the agenda, turning to his left for comment. But.. LaFayettes proximity, transportation options, access to outdoor activities and major sporting events makes it a perfect place to live, raise a family, do business or just visit. I kept my yard up. The Council consists of seven members who are elected on a non-partisan basis in odd-numbered years. Why now?. Design by Tara McCarty. It was like living through Rod Serlings old Twilight Zone episode, The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, over and over again. The mayor acts as theofficial head of City government and presidesat City Council meetings. I love you, but you owe me $77, Virettia said. The City Manager is responsible for managing the Citys employees, and the finances and resources as the chief budget officer. Elections are held separate from state and federal elections. City government works closely with the local community college to provide employee training and programs for several companies that supply the region, nation and world with products in a variety of fields. RIGHT: Aliska Hughes-Monroe, Virettia's best friend, was elected in November to represent Ward 4. We are fans because she goes out and finds those small stories in small places that nevertheless teach us big lessons about what kind of country we actually are, a question that has stumped us pretty badly so far in 2021. She needed his advice deciphering Fayettes zoning laws, but she also knew that Cedric had barely left his house since losing the election, and she was worried about him. The median age was 42 years. Posted-By: City of LaFayette, Alabama City Council: Meeting-Date: 2/1/2023 Meeting-Time: 4:30PM: Notice History: Meeting-Location: 50 Alabama Avenue West P. O. She had imagined another version of the moment, one where she had turned to the camera and said to the whole town of Fayette, Why are you so frightened? Fayette City Hall Contact Information. So yall ever voted to change the outdated laws? Virettia asked Cedric now. Were you a slave? June 2, 2022 by by Generally, no votes are taken. (Jared Ragland for The Washington Post), Former council member Cedric Wilson, at his home in January, served Fayette's historically Black Ward 4 for more than 20 years before stepping down in an unsuccessful run for mayor. On Election Day, someone called police to report a possible fight outside a polling place, which turned out to be Virettia and the other Black candidates who were outside greeting voters when the sirens came screaming, and through it all, Virettia tried to maintain her composure. What he had told her was that she would learn her own lessons, and so she was trying, going one evening with Aliska to observe a hearing of the zoning board of adjustments. All of that was still in the air as Virettia, preparing for the first full City Council meeting, drove through town one day with her friend Aliska Hughes-Monroe, the new councilwoman from the traditionally Black ward, to see about a zoning issue. She listened as the mayor opened the first regular meeting of the new council. The Fayetteville City Council meets regularlyin formal session on the second and fourthMonday of each month. All meetingsstart at 7 p.m. and are open to the public. Fayette City Council certifies election results. The racial makeup of the city was 73.4% White, 24.3% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races. Our history of is one of people with the vision and daring to achieve outsized goals for a town our size. Fayette operates under the Mayor-Council form of government. Hed run for the wards City Council seat against her best friend Aliska, losing 244 to 51. The cameraman who live-streamed all the council meetings swung the lens toward Virettia, who cleared her throat. No, said Jerriolyn Lacey. Its me. Virettia asked him who was on the abatement board. Location of Fayette in Fayette County, Alabama. wind speeds 261-318 mph) tornado 19.6 miles away from the Fayette city center killed 28 people and injured 272 people.. On 3/3/1966, a category F5 tornado 32.6 miles away from the city center killed 58 people and . She sat down and tried not to cry. Mayor Hinges on Voter Rolls, Preventing a Repeat of WWII-Era Imprisonment, Fox News Told Viewers What They Wanted to Hear. How White colleagues hed come to consider friends after 24 years on the council had backed off supporting him after the rumors started that he had recruited all the Black candidates to run at once, which was not true. [9] Take the high road, people kept advising. We are also the home of the Sipsey Arts Alliance. [5], According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.6 square miles (22.4km2), of which 8.5 square miles (22.1km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2km2), or 0.95%, is water.[2]. The Lafayette City Council serves as the community's legislative body, enacting ordinances, appropriating funds to conduct city business, and providing policy direction for city governance through the city administrator. Every day, the woman said. Like spitting on the sidewalk. The same dreams and enthusiasm are still alive today in companies founded in Fayette. All nine Council members are elected from individual districts, and only citizens within the city limits can vote for those seats on the Council. Were hustling backwards, Virettia said. (McCrummen won a Pulitzer in 2018 for her coverage of Judge Roy Moore, the Gadsden Mall Creeper, in Alabama.) Lord give me the strength, Virettia thought to herself. I believe it with all my heart.. There are may things we can do together to continue providing the environment of opportunity Fayette has always enjoyed. FAYETTE, Ala. The men in ties stood in the corridor of City Hall, talking with a kind of familiarity that the newest council member did not yet feel. The Fayette City Council met in a special called meeting at noon on Tuesday Sept. 1 to add the legitimate provisional ballots cast during the Aug. 25 primary and to certify the election results. Copy editing by Wayne Lockwood. The population density was 575.1 inhabitants per square mile (222.0/km2). Growing up in Fayette during a time of growth and initiative I know the citizens of our town have the heart to continue the progressive actions that have always characterized our town. Pictured is the Fayette Civic Center, where the Fayette municipal elections will take place from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 25. Virettia had always thought of her town as a nice place to live but a hard place to be anybody unless your granddaddys uncles cousins a somebody. For a while, her father had been somebody the citys first Black councilman but that was long ago, and she had always wondered what to make of his silence about the experience. What mattered about her election what had spawned a lawsuit aimed at unseating her and nervous rumors about what her victory could mean was that she was the first to win outside the traditionally Black ward, breaking through what had seemed to her and other Black residents of Fayette to be the informal Rule of One. Eddie Williams is on it, Cedric said. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Census Summary File 1 (G001): Fayette city, Alabama", "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990", "NOAA NCEI U.S. Gas: 205-932-5269 After Hours: 205-270-0088. One percent of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. . Copyright 2015 City of LaFayette Website Development by Red Sage Communications, Inc. Click Here to watch the latest City Council Meetings. At the 2010 census there were 4,619 people, 1,924 households, and 1,206 families living in the city. FayTV is available on Spectrum Cable on Channel 7 and video content is also available for viewingonline. Ward One Councilwoman Linda McCraw is not seeking re-election. Fayette is organized in a mayor-council form of city government, with a mayor elected citywide and five council members elected from districts. City Council March 8, 2016 @ 5:00 pm Add to calendar Details Date: March 8, 2016 Time: 5:00 pm Venue City Hall 203 Temple Avenue North Fayette, AL 35555 United States + Google Map Phone: 205-932-5367 View Venue Website The Fayette City Council with members Tommy Williams and Virettia Whiteside meets at City Hall in the small Alabama town in January with Mayor Rod Northam in attendance. All right, well call the meeting to order, the mayor said. Scottie Porter had responded to the post. Mailing Address: 103 First Avenue NW, Suite 4, Fayette, Alabama, 35555-2627 Third party advertisements support hosting, listing verification, updates, and site maintenance. Our area has an abundance of natural resources and outdoor recreational opportunities for anglers and outdoorsmen, as well as having a major portion of the Sipsey River running through the center of the county. Not that Virettia, who had never been in Scotties store and had never been one of the people he sometimes invited in for afternoon tea and conversations amid the antiques, had heard him say any of this; she only had the lawsuit, along with her own knowledge that it was precisely because of what had happened in Aliceville and places like it that in 1988, Black voters in Fayette were able to elect the towns first Black councilperson, who happened to be her father.