June 12, 2025
By: Dwayne Page
Alexandria has a new mayor.
One day after the resignation of Mayor Beth Tripp, the town council met in special session Thursday evening and confirmed the appointment of Alderman Jeff Ford as the new Mayor of Alexandria. After the meeting he was sworn into office by the city recorder Jessica Howard.
The first order of business during the special meeting Thursday was for the aldermen to accept the resignation of Mayor Tripp which they did. With that action Alderman and Vice Mayor Bobby Simpson became mayor but he declined to serve in the role and offered his resignation as mayor which the aldermen accepted. Simpson then made a motion to appoint Alderman Ford as mayor and the aldermen approved the appointment. Simpson still remains on the board as Alderman and said he would consider accepting the reappointment to Vice Mayor.
The board of aldermen consists of Aldermen Bobby Simpson, Luke Prichard, Jonathon Tripp, Sherry Tubbs, and David Cripps. Upon becoming mayor, Jeff Ford stepped down as Alderman. Alderman Tripp was absent at the special meeting Thursday evening.
Alderman Simpson then took a moment to recognize the city hall office staff including Jessica Howard, the town recorder, property tax clerk, water clerk, and court clerk; financial officer Rhonda Conatser; and part time water clerks Dora Stranathan and Amber Ahlgard.
“A lot of people probably don’t realize the job that these girls do and the crap they have to put up with on a daily basis. They are the ones that run this town and ring the cash register in there. They are taking care of the town and about 1100 water customers. I appreciate every one of them,” said Alderman Simpson.
The aldermen then voted to authorize Mayor Ford, Aldermen Simpson and Prichard, and Financial Officer Conatser to access or sign checks on city bank accounts and to remove Mayor Tripp’s name from that list.
Police Chief Vincent Turocy and Officer Jon Jenkins were authorized to have access to the city’s drug fund and to remove the name of former Chief K.D. Smith.
In other business the aldermen restored the hours of city hall employees previously reduced by Mayor Tripp. “What this means is Beth sent some home and manipulated their schedules, and we want to restore that, so they get the paychecks they were expecting to pay their bills. I have Jessica Howard as a 40-hour employee, Rhonda Conatser as a 40-hour employee, Dora Stranathan at 24 hours and Amber Ahlgard at 24 hours”, said Mayor Ford.
According to the aldermen there is now some interest in the vacant city attorney position, and they plan to interview a Cookeville attorney and possibly others soon.
The next Alexandria mayor and aldermen meeting will be Tuesday, June 17 at 5 p.m. at city hall.