VINEMONT — The months long restructuring of the Vinemont town council nearly came full circle Tuesday, Nov. 12, as former council member Charolette Cosper secured a nomination to fill the most recent vacancy on the council.

Cosper’s sudden departure from the council in April triggered a series of resignations from three of its five members, the most recent of which came from Chris Thompson in October.

Cosper cited concerns for her safety as the cause for her resignation and appeared to address her neighbor and former council member Shirley Arnett as she left Vinemont Town Hall in April.

“I hope you’re happy back there. Enjoy your life, you’ve tortured everyone in our neighborhood,” she said while pointing to Arnett.

Cosper and Arnett were the only two candidates to apply to fill Thompson’s vacancy.

During a follow-up phone call with The Times in April, Cosper said she discovered three wires connected to her steering wheel appeared to have been intentionally cut while she was driving to her mother’s funeral service.

The Times spoke to Cosper’s mechanic in April who verified her statement regarding the condition of her car.

Cosper was not able to provide any evidence about who had been behind the damage.

Cosper also said Arnett had recently started live-streaming council meetings to Facebook. Cosper acknowledged that this was a completely legal activity, but felt as though she had been the focus of the videos which “made [her] nervous.”

In addition to her application, Arnett submitted a list of “examples of what led up to false accusations,” to each of the council members. The list, which was obtained by The Times through a public records request, includes several incidents dating to Feburary 2022 where Arnett accused Cosper of making misleading statements about her on social media and the statutory definition of Defamation found in Section 13A-11-163 of the Code of Alabama.

On Tuesday, Arnett’s husband, Steve, brought up altercations between his wife and Cosper after the council had adjourned its work-session, but prior to the meeting being called to order.

“I believe you have one previous council member that’s going to be on the list of nominees to go back on the council that I believe … I’ve seen the video where she accused my wife of doing something she didn’t do, pointing her finger at her and you guys are going to put her up for a nomination again. What I want you to know is, you’re going to be responsible,” Steve Arnett said.

This statement prompted an outburst from Cosper in which she hinted at the possibility of retaining an attorney before town clerk Kayesea Sasser ended the exchange by threatening to remove the two from the building.

Council member Bonnie Goodwin brought up her own grievances with Arnett, who she said has increasingly incited “drama” in Vinemont.

“We don’t need drama. No matter what we do, or what we say, she is always going somewhere to cause problems with us. We don’t need someone to cause drama in this little town like she does,” Goodwin said. “I know that no matter we do, you [Arnett] are going to have a question and go somewhere else over us to cause us to have problems. You always have.”

Arnett has been involved in several “parental rights” organizations such as Eagle Forum, Moms for Liberty and Clean Up Alabama which pushed for the defunding of Alabama public libraries in 2024 unless books containing LGBTQ+ content and characters were removed from shelves.

Arnett also accused Goodwin of sharing the contents of a letter Arnett had given her after Arnett’s defeat in the 2020 mayoral election against mayor Radginal Dodson.

Among other grievances in the six-page letter, Arnett:

— questioned the mental acuity of a council member and a private citizen in the town.

— accused a town employee of interfering with her campaign for mayor.

— insinuated she had evidence the town had mishandled an undisclosed amount of public funds.

Sasser said the Alabama Department of Public Examiners contacted the town after Arnett had sent the letter to Goodwin and requesting a closer look at some of its financial statements. She said the results of that examination had been a second clean audit.

Arnett did not receive any nominations for an appointment to the council Tuesday.

Cosper received three out four nominations. The newest council member, Grady Malone, was the lone dissenting vote.

After the meeting was adjourned, Cosper confronted Malone regarding his vote. After the brief exchange, Malone told The Times his decision was not personal.

“In my book, if you quit once then you’ll quit again. That’s the same thing I told her. It’s nothing personal. I have no issues with her, I barely even know her, I just have principles that I’m going to follow,” Malone said.

The council had intended to hold a special-called meeting Thursday, Nov. 14, to swear Cosper into her position, but released a statement Wednesday, Nov. 13, which said she would not be accepting the position.

When contacted by The Times, Cosper said she had chosen to go back to the council because she “loved it and missed it,” and believed that her previous grievances with Arnett’s behavior would no longer be an issue. However, she said that based on Steve Arnett’s statements during the Tuesday meeting, she felt as though she had been mistaken.

“The reason I wanted to go back was that I miss it. I loved it. I loved doing for the community. Since I lost my mom, I’ve got some free time and I really was looking forward to going back,” Cosper said. “But she’s [Arnett] not going to quit and I just don’t want to deal with it.”

The town has rescheduled its special-called meeting for Monday, Nov. 25, at 6 p.m. to consider alternative nominations. Sasser said there will be an attempt to have whoever receives that nomination to be sworn in at that time.

If a decision isn’t reached by Friday, Nov. 29, Dodson and each of the council members will be required to supply Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey with their suggestion for who should be nominated. If Ivey does not make an appointment within 30 days, the information will be turned over to Cullman County Probate Judge Tammy Brown who will be required to call for a special election.

Patrick Camp can be reached pcamp@cullmantimes.com or at 256-734-2131 ext. 238.