The longtime mayor of Martin resigned on Friday afternoon following a state investigation into allegations of misappropriated funds from the northwest Tennessee city that implicated him, his daughter and the city’s head of economic development.
On Nov. 10, a grand jury indicted Randy Brundige – the mayor of the Weakley County city since 2002 – on four counts of official misconduct, five counts of theft and one count of accessory after the fact. Those charges came following an investigation by the Tennessee comptroller’s office that uncovered the alleged misappropriation of over $450,000 in city funds involving Brundige, his daughter Natalie and Martin’s Director of Economic and Community Development Brad Thompson.
Brundige resigned 11 days later, and all three pleaded not guilty on Monday to criminal charges stemming from that investigation.
According to the Weakley County Examiner, Brundige tendered his resignation via email to the city’s aldermen on Friday. That came ahead of a called city board meeting on Tuesday, where one of the agenda items listed was requesting Brundige to resign his longtime post. Martin’s aldermen are also scheduled to discuss Thompson’s employment status.
After Brundige and Thompson were arrested on Nov. 11, the two made bond and returned to work the next day at city hall in Martin.
Under Martin’s city charter, there is little way to remove incumbent elected officials from office. Besides resignations or the death of an officeholder, the mayor or aldermen’s seats can only be declared vacant if they:
- Move out of the city or ward they represent
- Fail to attend board meetings for three consecutive months, barring extenuating circumstances
- Cannot perform their official duties for more than six months
- Violate the city charter
- Violate state election laws
- Are convicted of a felony, or
- Are convicted of malfeasance or misfeasance in office
Thompson still holds the title of Director of Economic and Community Development for Martin. The city’s human resources director Brittany Newton said, typically, city employees who are accused of impropriety or malfeasance would report to their supervisors for reprimand depending on the severity of the accusations and/or criminal charges. However, because Thompson is the head of his department, Newton said, any type of reprimand or disciplinary action has to be handled by the city board.
Natalie Brundige, the former mayor’s daughter whose work as a custodian for the city’s police department was also called into question in the state’s investigation, left her position in June.
Per Martin’s city charter, with Randy Brundige’s resignation, vice mayor David Belote should become the leader of the Weakley County city for the remainder of this term – which is up for election next year.
Martin’s city council is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. at the Martin Police Department’s City Court Room.
