By GINA KINSLOW
TOMPKINSVILLE — A special hearing scheduled today in Monroe Circuit Court concerning the city’s vacant mayoral seat has been delayed due to inclement weather.
The hearing was originally scheduled for 1 p.m., has been rescheduled because Special Judge Ron Johnson can’t make the hearing due to receiving six inches of snow Wednesday night, said a city release.
The hearing will determine whether a special mayoral election will be held. The hearing has been rescheduled for Jan. 12, according to the release.
Beverly McClendon, who had previously served as sheriff of Monroe County, won the mayoral race in November 2006 with 325 votes over opponent Jerry Hodges, who had 324 votes.
Hodges challenged the election claiming McClendon conducted campaign activities within 300 feet of polling places and near the Monroe County Courthouse while walk-in absentee voting was occurring.
McClendon had been serving as mayor until the Kentucky Supreme Court denied a petition for modification of an opinion rendered on Oct. 23, 2008 in the case of Beverly McClendon verses Jerry Hodges.
The Supreme Court’s ultimate holding in the case is that the Kentucky Court of Appeals’ decision is reversed and the original judgment of the Monroe Circuit Court entered on March 2, 2007 be reinstated, which means the 2006 mayoral election will be set aside and declared null and void and a new mayoral election will be held, said Rich Alexander, city attorney.
The Monroe Circuit Court also ruled that any and all candidates who were candidates in the 2006 mayoral election may seek election to the office in the next election; and that McClendon shall not act as the mayor, he said.
The Commission was given 30 days to make the appointment. If the Commission fails to appoint someone as mayor within the 30-day time frame, the governor will step in and make the appointment, Alexander said.
McClendon’s attorney, Dan Taylor, said the matter cannot be resolved until parties involved are directed on how to proceed by the Court.
