Uniontown City Council has new city clerk, but stalls on mayor assistant and police raises

Uniontown has a new city clerk, but a motion to hire an assistant to the mayor failed for lack of a second at the Jan. 21 city council meeting.

City Clerk Alfreda Washington has officially retired. She will train incoming City Clerk Cicely Turner for three months to make sure the transition goes smoothly.

A motion was introduced to approve $300 per week for former Mayor Jamaal Hunter to serve as the mayor’s assistant. The motion was made by Councilmember Kimberly Bell and seconded by Councilmember Theotis Dudley. However, the motion failed for lack of a second when the city clerk said Dudley could not take part in the vote because Hunter is his brother.

In other businesses, Uniontown Police Chief Mike Kiser proposed increasing the pay for full-time police officers to $20 per hour and $17.60 per hour for part-time officers. Kiser said the department no longer has an assistant chief position, which paid $40,000 annually, and he personally took a $10,000 pay cut. He said he hoped the council would use those funds to increase the salaries of current officers.

The council took no action on the matter.

The council also recognized January as Human Trafficking Prevention.

The meeting was moved to Jan. 21 because Martin Luther King Jr. Day was on the council’s regular meeting date.