Crossville Council Balks At Latest Effort To Expand Members

Crossville City Council members have once again dealt a blow to a proposal expanding the number of city council members.

The council voted last month to reject a measure that would have expanded the number of council members from five to seven. Monday, council members refused to place another measure on next week’s agenda that would let voters decide through a public referendum.

“I’m not interested in seeing it on there. The people that are going to be fighting for this referendum aren’t going to be here when it’s submitted to the legislature,” Vice Mayor J.H. Graham said. “The election is in November, the legislature meets in January, and we will have a new council at that time.”

Councilwoman Pamela Harris proposed the latest attempt to expand the council during a Monday work session. Her term ends in December of this year.

“I’m just putting this out there because a couple said they had no problem with looking at it if it was placed on a referendum,” Harris said. “If there’s enough interested in seeing it placed on a referendum, we could put it on our agenda next week. If not, I’ll drop it all together.”

In order to place the matter on a referendum, the council would need to seek state legislature approval. The state approved a previous proposal to expand the council this year, but the city council voted the measure down last month.