Warrior council re-appoints Gorham

Published 2:38 pm Wednesday, February 6, 2008

By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



Warrior council members voted Monday night to re-appoint a municipal judge following months of controversy.

After meeting with city attorney James S. Ward in Monday’s pre-council meeting, council members re-appointed Judge Charles Gorham for the remainder of their term. Elections for the next council are in August.

Mayor Rena Hudson and council member James Jett abstained from the vote.

Members of the council have debated in previous meetings on whether to re-appoint Gorham or fire him.

The controversy surrounded an incident in 2006 in which Gorham was accused of improperly dismissing and sealing a court case.

Hudson had filed complaints against Gorham with the Alabama Bar Association and the Judicial Inquiry Commission.

Gorham, a Birmingham attorney, has denied any wrongdoing. He was in court on Tuesday and unavailable for comment.

“I don’t think that what he did is impeachable,” said Ward at Monday’s pre-council meeting. “You’ve got to decide whether you want to renew the appointment.”

Ward advised the council to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

Judge Milton Barker has been serving as Warrior’s temporary municipal judge.

In other business, the council:

• voted to upgrade an accident policy through Colonial Life for the 33 city employees. The previous policy had been in place since 1964 and was antiquated, according to Janice Banks, account coordinator with the company. No employees had been able to purchase the police since 2003. The new policies cost the city $18 a month per employee.

• Adopted an ordinance bringing the city’s hard liquor tax from 10 percent to 5 percent

• voted to attend a Feb. 19 Jefferson County Board of Education advisory committee work session in order to be put on the board’s agenda for an upcoming meeting. The city wants to talk to the board about using Warrior land as a possible site for the new Mortimer Jordan High School

• voted to send a letter to JeffCo BOE superintendent Dr. Phil Hammonds requesting use of the facilities at Warrior Elementary School for a city youth sports league

• agreed to transfer a beer and liquor license from Cane Creek Chevron to In and Out, Inc. because the business has new owners.

• put off until next meeting a vote on increasing the salary for the forthcoming mayor and city council. The current salary for mayor is $6,000 a year and council members are paid $25 for each meeting they attend. It was suggested that the mayor’s salary double and that council members are paid either $50 or $100 for each meeting.

Warrior’s next council meeting is scheduled for Feb. 18, 7 p.m., at City Hall, with a pre-council meeting at 6:30 p.m.