MARTIN, Tenn. — The City of Martin’s Finance Committee — a group of community members and aldermen responsible for overseeing the taxpayer dollars that keep the city running — met Monday for the first time in several months.
They had a lot to talk about.
Martin’s former mayor Randy Brundige and former economic development director Brad Thompson were indicted on felony charges on Nov. 12 after a Tennessee Comptroller investigation found they misused hundreds of thousands of dollars of public funds. The Martin Board of Aldermen accepted their resignations on Nov. 25.
During the last three years of Brundige’s administration, the finance committee met about once per year in May to review the city’s proposed budget. Meeting minutes are not available on the city’s website from 2023 through present day.
Now, Martin’s finances are “under watch,” recently-appointed Mayor David Belote, a long-time alderman who previously served as vice mayor, said Monday.
The state’s comptroller instructed the city to build its cash reserves and retire more debt over the next five years. Martin had $257,000 in its cash fund at the end of the 2025 fiscal year. By 2030, that cash fund should hold more than $2.7 million, according to the comptroller’s plan.
That means the city should have $465,000 in the fund by the end of fiscal year 2026.
Those goals have Martin officials shaking the proverbial couch cushions for savings, however large or small.
“It’s going to take some hard work for a lot of people in the next few years,” Belote told the Lookout following Monday’s meeting.
Searching for savings
Belote presented the committee with a list of savings possibilities totaling $111,250. It includes shifting the $48,750 mayor’s salary from the general fund to other sources, freeing up general fund dollars. Savings possibilities include trimming administrative expenses, cutting $10,000 from the legislative out of town travel budget and saving a remaining $6,000 intended for legislative board-approved projects. Closing out the Community Development director’s salary, travel, and other line items could save another $34,500.
These suggestions are not final and would need approval from the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
Martin will retire around $800,000 of debt in the next five years, Belote said.
“This is a call to be creative. No stone unturned, here. That’s what we’ve got to do,” he said.
The committee also discussed exploring the potential sale of the Weldon Building, a historic building that once served as the city’s post office and later the city library. A series of leaks and air conditioning problems has left the building with extensive damage that will not be covered by insurance.
The committee agreed that the city should begin researching renovation costs and the building’s value in its current state.
Committee members voted unanimously to recommend that the Board of Mayor and Aldermen sell two city-owned vehicles previously used by Brundige and Thompson — together worth an estimated $80,000 that would be returned to the city’s sewer and gas fund for public works equipment needs.
The committee also voted to recommend halting three ongoing grant-funded projects that require city contributions to move forward, including:
- Two sidewalk renovation and street beautification projects on Elm Street that would cost a combined $695,000 to complete (already-completed engineering work can be revisited in the future)
- A multimodal project on N. Lindell street from Brian Brown Memorial Greenway to Palace Street, connecting to Park Place Apartments that would cost $113,800 to complete, and is not expected to start this fiscal year
‘Moving forward’
City officials are still in the early stages of sorting through the fallout from Brundige and Thompson’s indictments.
In late November, when Belote took the reins as mayor, he too said he would consider resigning after several community members voiced their concerns about an overall lack of oversight from the Board of Aldermen during Brundige’s tenure.
But Belote led the city’s next Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting on Dec. 8, where the board selected Ward 1 Alderwoman Celeste Taylor to serve as vice mayor.
“We’re moving forward,” Belote said Monday, reiterating that he plans to retire after the city elects a new mayor in 10 months.
Belote’s former Ward 2 seat is now vacant, and is expected to be filled by an alderman selected by the board from a pool of applicants in January.
Ward 3 Alderman Jacob Crowe in November called for the resignations of Belote and Aldermen Danny Nanney and Terry Hankins, as the trio served on the Finance Committee during the period when the former mayor and finance director allegedly misused city funds. Hankins said he will not seek reelection in 2026.
Belote announced on Dec. 8 that Crowe, who has a background in finance, will now serve on the Finance Committee after his seat is confirmed in January. Crowe attended Monday’s meeting and was invited to be part of committee discussions, though he cannot yet vote. Another community member seat on the committee is vacant and is expected to be filled in January.
The Finance Committee on Monday voted to recommend that the Board of Mayor and Aldermen further expand the committee, adding an additional two community seats. The committee also decided to meet regularly on the third Thursday of each month.
The mayor is responsible for calling finance committee meetings, Belote said. At the beginning of Brundige’s 20-plus-year tenure as mayor, the committee met every month. Belote said three aldermen can together force the mayor to call a finance committee meeting. Though Belote said he did personally ask the mayor to hold more committee meetings over the last three years, it does not appear that the board took action to force Brundige’s hand.
“It got very lax,” Belote said Monday. “But we are back, and we’re going to talk about things.”
This article was originally published by the Tennessee Lookout.
