Disruptive non-meeting at Cleveland

No sooner was Cleveland Town Council’s work session set to begin than it was adjourned. The meeting, scheduled Nov. 17, had again filled the town hall with concerned citizens and members of the Retake Cleveland movement.

Council members present were Kandy Little, Mike Evans, and David Grigsby. Absent were councilmen Glenn Puckett and Doug Hill as well as Mayor Larry Longshore. As those present took their seats, town clerk Debra Millwood announced that Longshore would not be attending and council had elected to adjourn. As the council stood to exit, the stunned crowd began applauding.

The council refused an open letter by Jeremy Smith of Retake Cleveland, stating proper protocol would be first to present the letter to the town clerk, who in turn would distribute copies to the council members. Millwood also refused to take the open letter, telling Smith to come back during regular business hours.

As the crowd’s patience wore thin, the town hall erupted into a mass of angry words. With a video still taping, one of the police officers made an effort to calm the storm by separating those verbally expressing obvious differences as the crowd dispersed.