Alexandria City Council calls Fowler’s motion against the city budget a ‘thinly veiled ploy’

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - Five members of the Alexandria City Council have responded to a legal motion filed by District 5 Councilman Chuck Fowler back in October that essentially called for them to forfeit their spots on the council.

This legal battle is all over a city budget dispute back in May that was seemingly resolved in July.

The motion, filed by Councilman Fowler, claims that other council members James Villard, Reddex Washington, Gerber Porter, Cynthia Perry and Catherine Davidson acted to violate the city charter and should be removed from the council. Those five members voted back in April to amend Mayor Jeff Hall’s budget to include extra money for pay and recruiting for the Alexandria Police Department, as well as money for drainage projects. When that amended budget was vetoed by Mayor Hall, those five voted again to override.

The mayor filed a lawsuit over the budget and Fowler was named in it. The purpose of Fowler’s motion is to disassociate him from the original city lawsuit.

On Monday, the five council members listed earlier filed a 63-page response to Fowler’s motion. In that response, attorneys call Fowler’s motion a “hollow contention.”

Their response focuses on the claim that they should be removed from office. The response said Fowler’s motion is a “thinly veiled ploy” because no one other than Fowler has suggested that those five council members committed malfeasance when it comes to the budget.

As to Fowler’s hopes to disassociate him from the original city lawsuit, the response filed Monday says that move is “unnecessary” and “exposes what this motion is really about.”

Below is a full copy of the motion filed by the five council members on Monday:

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