VINEMONT — The town of South Vinemont nominated its second new councilmember in seven days during a called meeting Tuesday, June 18.

Shortly after swearing in Ross Campbell as the replacement to fill Council Place 3 — created by the resignation of former councilmember Charolette Cosper in April — last week, June 11, Mayor Radginal Dodson announced the resignation of Sonya Copeland.

Copeland offered her resignation via a pre-dated letter according to town clerk Kayesea Sasser, but did not provide any further details. When contacted by The Times following the announcement Copeland called upon a quote by rapper Kevin Gates to explain her decision to resign her place on the council.

“Kevin Gates said it best. ‘Go were you are celebrated, not tolerated.’”

The council had a small, preexisting pool of candidates, who previously vied to fill Cosper’s vacancy, to discuss Tuesday, but made quick work of the matter with a unanimous nomination of Grady Malone.

Malone had previously received support from councilmember Chris Thompson who believed his workplace connections as a building inspector with the city of Madison, Alabama, would be an asset to the town’s aspirations for growth. However, Thompson’s attempt to nominate Malone earlier this month was rejected by councilmembers Bonnie Good and Nina Justice.

Following the failed nomination attempt, Malone told Sasser that he did not want his application to be kept on file for future consideration. On Monday, Malone told The Times that he quickly reconsidered his position after being approached by Sasser and Thompson.

“I didn’t know about the circumstances at the time. After I calmed down a little bit, I realized that this was something I still wanted to do,” Malone said. “Passion and anger run hand in hand; sometimes passion gets the best of you.”

As for his future on the council, Malone said he hopes to look for avenues to recruit both businesses and residents into the town

“We’ve got a giant city just to the south of us and we’ve been sitting here watching the grass grow for 20 or 30 years while our population has continued to decrease,” Malone said. “We’ve got to increase our revenue and bring in attractions so that we can generate some of the income from all of the tours and events that the city of Cullman is currently generating.”

One aspect of Malone’s plan to accomplish these goals, he said, will be to address the town’s most visible facade as drivers commute along AL Hwy. 31.

“The town needs to be cleaned up. There’s dilapidated buildings and unsavory appearances off of Hwy. 31 that you can see,” Malone said.

One additional, previously unconsidered candidate, resident Shirley Arnett, tossed her hat into the ring Monday evening.

Arnett has become somewhat of a fixture during town hall meetings and said she has only missed two since she was elected to the currently open position in 2012. She held the position until 2020 when her attempt to unseat Dodson for the mayor’s position was unsuccessful.

Arnett said she felt as though her previous experience made her uniquely advantaged when it came to understanding the ins and outs of Vinemont’s municipal proceedings.

“I have been involved [in the town] since the early 2000’s. I helped campaign for [former Mayor] Melba Patton twice and she won. Since 2012 I’ve missed two meetings in all this time. I’m always here faithfully and I’ve done a lot for this town,” Arnett said.

Arnett also currently serves as vice chairman for the Wellstone Board of Directors as a representative of Vinemont.

None of the councilmembers motioned for Arnett’s nomination.

Malone is scheduled to be sworn into office during the town’s next regular meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 8.