NOTE:  Must be a Fairfield, AL registered voter.  If you signed a paper petition, please do not sign the online petition.

Citizens of Fairfield have banned together and are circulating a petition to gain support for impeaching Mayor Kenneth Coachman and calling for a State Audit of City of Fairfield Finances by the Alabama Department of Examiners of Pubic Records to bring financial records up to date.

The petition itself accuses the mayor of gross mismanagement, willful neglect of duties and incompetence to lead the City of Fairfield.

They say that the city has spiraled into a black hole due to the Mayor’s refusal to support an adequate and appropriate system of checks and balances.  The city’s finances are in dire straits and the most significant items on the City Council agenda month after month has been which bills to pay or not to pay including payroll, garbage pickup, city liability insurance, bus service, employee benefits or pay for gasoline among other things.

The handout being distributed to gain support for signatures states “The citizens of Fairfield deserve a transparent government and it’s hard to understand why the Mayor is fighting every attempt to get a good clean look at the finances of this city.  At each council meeting there is an ongoing battle to get a clear picture of City finances and each attempt has been historically met with hostility and denial to access as if the City Council or the citizens of Fairfield have no right to be interested in the financial health of the city."

We are calling on our legal system and government officials to help save the City of Fairfield.  This is a call to action which is long overdue. Fairfield government operates under unstructured organization practices and the financial health necessary to keep our city viable.

There has long been talk of the need for state intervention and residents are hoping that this will catapult into action the Office of the Alabama State Auditor Jim Ziegler, the   Office of State Attorney General Luther Strange and if necessary, Governor Robert Bentley.