By Jessica Dillon
Residents gathered for a second time on Jan. 3 to collect signatures on a petition seeking the removal of Martinsville Mayor LC Jones. As of Tuesday, organizers estimated they had collected about 300 of the 325 signatures required.
In a Jan. 3 video on social media, Jones called for residents to push for the release of a recently completed forensic audit, praised the city’s efforts in 2025, and said that he would continue to keep citizens updated in 2026.
“With everything going on. One thing I would like to talk about is how the citizens, nonprofit, and some for-profit organizations have stepped up to carry this city and keep this city in good graces and do so much for those who couldn’t do for themselves,” he said.
Jones said the forensic audit has been completed and would be presented to the council on January 8 during a special-called closed session meeting.
“We need to send this audit to the state police and to the special prosecutor because those are the experts. The state police and the special prosecutor are the experts in crime and in crimes. So why wouldn’t we send it to them,” said Jones. “I’m asking for all citizens to reach out to your city council members, your city manager, email, telephone, in person, and say, ‘hey, this audit, this will finally get us past all the negativity we’ve dealt with in 2025.’”
He added that the attorneys hired by the city aren’t criminal attorneys.
Jones said it’s time to stop paying for the legal fees and that the city only started its budget year at the end of June, but has already exhausted its $250,000 attorney budget for the year. “We’ve already exhausted that. We’re crossing half a million dollars,” he said. “Now, by the end of this year, it would be $1.5 million if we continue with this rate.
“Let’s hold each other accountable. Not one individual that we want to point out, but let’s hold us all accountable and let’s raise the bar,” he said.
