Huntington Mayor David Felinton and city council members participated in the fire prevention parade, waving and smiling to the crowd just prior to the regular Monday council meeting. The smiles were few and far between once the meeting started.

Council swiftly tabled Felinton’ s request to fill three open positions after the mayor failed to answer a question from council member Jim Insco to council’s satisfaction. Felinton, still upset that council imposed a hiring freeze, balked at Insco’s inquiry, saying that council was usurping his administration’s hiring prerogatives.

During the Good and Welfare portion, Insco indicted that council would have approved at least two of the mayor’s hiring requests, had he been more forth coming. Council member John Daniels also indicated he was ready to approve the hiring request, but was upset with the lack of communication.

The Mayor reiterated his frustration with the hiring freeze, saying that he was unaware of any other legislative body in America imposing such a freeze on the executive branch.

Council did vote to temporarily revoke the hiring freeze to hire five probationary firefighters. Fire Chief Greg Fuller told council the hiring was necessary to replace the recent loss five firefighters. Fuller said that a deputy chief had passed away, one member was on extended military leave, another member was soon to leave for extended military duty, one officer had retired and one probationary firefighter left for other employment. Fuller also said the department would soon lose another member to retirement.

After a series of parliamentary gamesmanship, Council also approved the reallocation of $150,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds from a stalled project in Guyandotte to the Douglas Project.

Council member Tom McCallister, upset that council member Larry Patterson was speaking to this issue, even though he planned to abstain from the vote, unsuccessfully challenged council chair Mary Neely’s ruling to allow Patterson to speak as a point-of-information.

City Attorney Ted Morgan told the council that Patterson’s right to speak to the issue, like all citizens, was at the discretion of the council chair. McCallister then challenged the chair and received no support from other members.

Council approved the reallocation after an assistant planning director told members that the funds, originally earmarked for historical and commercial refurbishment in Guyandotte, had gone untouched for three years and there was no longer interest from the neighborhood.

Felinton also announced the appointment of Sherry Lewis as the city’s new personnel director. Lewis replaces Rik Bumgardner who was forced out of office by a controversial council veto that resulted in litigation between the administration and council. Judge John Cummings ruled in council’s favors, forcing Felinton to search for a new candidate.

In other council action:

A payroll audit, proposed by John Daniels, was approved with lukewarm support from the administration.

Council heard the first reading of a resolution sponsored by the absent Cal Kent, to create a new department of safety and risk compliance and hiring two people to staff the department. Kent estimates the positions will cost the city between $73,000 and $81,000. Felinton has expressed his support for the new positions of benefits coordinator and department director, saying the city was losing money by not having the positions in