Southern Torch just received this statement from Rainsville Mayor Nick Jones regarding the Council's battle over the City Clerk position:

Good morning:

The workshop for tonight is cancelled.  The purpose was for interviewing internal applicants who had signed on for consideration for the city clerk position and we only had one applicant: Debbie Lanier.  Debbie has withdrawn her name for consideration for the city clerk job.

Below is my official statement on this matter:

"Debbie, our city treasurer, has worked with outgoing clerk, Judy Lewis for 10 years, and has been a tremendous asset to the city.  Also, she has been a valuable asset to the mayor's office in helping run the day-to-day operations of the city.  She is a certified municipal clerk and therefore is the obvious choice to be our next city clerk.  However, she informed me this morning that with the current climate within Rainsville city government and the behind the scenes, hostile opposition from some members of the city council, she wishes to withdraw her name from consideration.  The elected officials of Rainsville need to put aside their personal agendas in selecting our next city clerk."

Call/email with questions or concerns,

Nick Jones

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