Martinsville City Council voted Monday, Aug. 26, against releasing an internal investigation report that led to the removal of former City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides. The decision drew sharp criticism from two council members and from residents who demanded transparency.
Patty Covington reads an email to council from frustrated citizens.
The vote deepened tensions that have divided council for months, and continues after Ferrell-Benavides’ ouster, raising new questions about accountability in city government.
Council members Aaron Rawls and Julian Mei urged their colleagues to make the report public, arguing that citizens deserve to know why the action was taken.
“You deserve to know,” Rawls said. “I’m going to give you my word that you are going to find out anyway.” He warned that the community is “dealing with bad people” and insisted that disclosure is necessary to restore public trust.
Mei said withholding the report further erodes confidence.
“I think a great deal of damage has been done in the community and to specific people, and I think if I was in the public and witnessing this, I would want to know what happened,” he said.
Calling the ongoing turmoil exhausting, Mei added, “This has been the worst eight months of my life. It’s like I’m playing Twister all the time — I don’t even know where my arm is.”
Rawls vowed to continue pressing for the report’s release, saying he would “never” stop raising the issue.
Vice Mayor Kathy Lawson and Council member Rayshaun Gravely voted against disclosure, citing advice from the city attorney. Mayor LC Jones abstained. He later explained that was on advice of legal counsel.
Two residents also pressed council to release the report.
Patty Covington read aloud an email signed by 122 citizens.
“Citizens feel disrespected and taken advantage of,” she said. “Taxpayers deserve to know the good, the bad, and the ugly about what’s been going on in our local government.”
The council approved increasing Interim City Manager Rob Fincher’s pay to $150,000 a year. A formal contract is being prepared.
City employees who assume additional duties are typically entitled to a 5 percent pay increase, but Lawson said council felt that was not enough.
“We didn’t feel it was sufficient,” she said.
Mei defended the higher salary after some residents questioned the move, noting, “It’s substantially less than the former, I might add.”
In other business, council:
*Heard a presentation on increasing the city’s tree canopy over the next 10 years.
*Approved the second reading of budget appropriations for debt services.
*Appointed two new members to the Board of Appeals and one to the Southern Area Agency on Aging Board of Directors.
*Approved a $55,000 grant match for a Lifepak 35 to replace cardiac monitors.
*Adopted a reimbursement resolution for Electric Fund financing, with a maximum possible amount of $3 million, though the city is not obligated to borrow that amount.
*Approved Martinsville’s participation in the national opioid settlement and a resolution on opioid-related crimes against the Sackler family.
