Crossville City Council Friday voted 3-2 to lift the suspension of City Manager Greg Wood, who was relieved of his duties following a narcotics raid last month on the Village Inn.

The council first rejected a motion by Mayor James Mayberry to terminate Wood’s employment, with Mayberry and council member R.J. Crawford voting to terminate and council members Art Gernt, Rob Harrison and Scot Shanks voting no.

Harrison then moved to lift Wood’s suspension and allow him to return to work “as soon as possible,” seconded by Shanks. Harrison, Shanks and Gernt voted to approve the motion to keep Wood, while Mayberry and Crawford voted no.

The council initiated an investigation into the events of July 27, in which a narcotics raid resulted in residents of the Village Inn on North Main Street being evicted then returned to their homes less than 24 hours later, after the city attorney noted “procedural errors” in the evictions.

City Attorney Will Ridley addressed the council and wanted it on record that his advice would be to terminate Wood, saying that city personnel on July 27 acted “without regard to the law” and “without regard to his previous advice.” Ridley was serving his last day as city attorney — he was elected several weeks ago to judge of the 13th Circuit Court.

The council rejected Wood’s resignation last week, a resignation that was subsequently rescinded by Wood. Council members at that time had a preliminary report from the investigation but wanted to see the full report before moving forward. That vote mirrored Friday’s vote, with Gernt, Harrison and Shanks voting to wait and Mayberry and Crawford voting to accept Wood’s resignation.

Mayberry said while making his motion to terminate Wood with cause that the investigation report was “lengthy and detailed” and that Wood, in his letter of resignation, said the events of July 27 “were his responsibility.”

Gernt said that he felt that everyone who participated in the Village Inn evictions acted in “good faith” and that he didn’t think anyone should be fired.

Harrison said that the council’s recent performance review of Wood, in May, returned high marks for the city manager, and that while “not perfect” Wood’s performance was “pretty good.” Harrison suggested three improvements — more training on eviction law, clearer policy on code violations and more notice to property owners to correct deficiencies, and semi-annual inspections of the VIllage Inn. 

Crawford said that he liked Wood personally but that he was concerned about the lack of due process given to management and residents of the Village Inn. He said it was the city attorney’s job to protect the city from liability, and while he didn’t elaborate he said this wasn’t an isolated incident.

“We have to come out strong so we never, never have to go through this again,” Crawford said.

Crawford was ready to accept Wood’s resignation at the Aug. 16 meeting, and said then that maybe the investigation could have been avoided if he’d resigned earlier.

Residents of the Village Inn, on Wednesday, July 27, were given 12 hours to vacate their residences after a narcotics raid revealed what officials said were numerous code violations and unsafe living conditions. Residents were allowed back the next day after the city attorney said there were “procedural errors” with the evictions.

The council on Aug. 16 suspended Wood for three weeks and appropriated up to $10,000 for the Chattanooga law firm of Robinson, Smith and Wells to conduct an investigation into the Village Inn raid and evictions.

— Earlier in the meeting, the council appointed Randy York as city attorney to replace Ridley. York is a native of Cumberland County and former district attorney for the 13th Judicial District, which covers the counties of the Upper Cumberland. He is a partner in the Cookeville firm of Moore, Rader, Fitzpatrick and York.