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City Commission Meeting Turns Ugly
September 19, 2007
By Lois Swoboda
What started as an orderly city meeting erupted into angry words and the two incumbent commissioners, Ray Tyre and Richard Sands left the proceedings early in the face of a tirade from newly elected commissioner Franklin Mathes.
The meeting started with a long list of awards from outgoing mayor, Mel Kelly. Plaques for outstanding community service were presented to Commissioners Tyre and Sands, Keith Mock, Jim Moore, Charley Painter, John King, Deputy Chief Hamm, Courtney Dempsey, Kiesha Smith, Dan Cox, Tamara Allen, Lesly Cox, Carolyn Sparks, Joe Pouncey and John McInnis.
Outgoing Mayor Mel Kelly’s Speech
“These are only a part of the people who work hard to make Carrabelle a better place to live,” said Kelly. “I can’t tell you what your participation and sense of community has meant to us all.”
After the awards, Kelly returned to her seat and produced three sheets of green paper from which she proceeded to read the following speech to Mathes, incoming commissioner Brown and newly elected mayor Wilburn Messer, a silent audience.
“You each used a base of Christianity from which to launch your recent campaigns. You identified yourselves as Christians and as ‘the better Christians’ in the Carrabelle election race. You advertised in the newspapers and on the streets that you were Christians. You bragged to the public that “you were Christians.” You held yourselves up as paragons of Christianity,” said Kelly.
“But it seems to me that you good Christians forgot that important Christian Commandment Number nine. That is the one that warns ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.’
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