Town doesn’t act on paying mayor’s legal fees
BLYTHEWOOD – Following a special called meeting Wednesday night to work on the upcoming budget, Blythewood Town Council voted to cancel several Town-sponsored park events for the remainder of the calendar year – Movies in the Park, Juneteenth, and the July 4 Red, White, and Blue fireworks celebration.
The vote comes after teen fighting has disrupted each of these events over the last 10 months resulting in injury and chaos. Over 60 shots were fired on April 5 when more than 200 teens swarmed the downtown area.
“We tried again last weekend to have Movies in the Park and had deputies there, but it was the same thing all over again,” said Councilwoman Erica Page, who said she witnessed the fighting and chaos at three of the events.
“There is definitely a different environment there now and anything is possible. Over prom weekend, we had a shooting [in downtown]. You can throw all the money you want at it, but you aren’t going to be able to control it right now …this is bigger.”
After some discussion about waiting until a May 19 community town hall to make a decision about canceling the events, Page spoke up.
“If we’re talking about protecting our town,” Page said, “this is the night to do that.”
“I agree,” Mayor Pro Tem Donald Brock said, “I can’t authorize any of our staff to be out there at these events and put them in harms way. We can regulate whether we put people in harm’s way.”
Councilman Rich McKenrick made a motion to cancel Movies in the Park, Juneteenth, and the July 4th Red, White, and Blue fireworks for 2025 until further notice.
The vote was 4 – 1 with Mayor Sloan Griffin voting against.
In other business, council voted against Mayor Sloan Griffin’s request that council go into executive session to discuss whether the Town should pay for the cost of legal fees he (Griffin) incurred when he was sued by the Town earlier this year. The Court decided in favor of the Town.
The issue was then discussed in open session as it was in 2024 when Brock asked the Town for his legal fees in the MPA lawsuits to be paid by the Town.
“I don’t believe there is any legal authority that requires the Town to pay those fees,” said the Town’s Attorney Pete Balthazar.
“What we went through should have never happened,” Page said.
No motion was made, except to adjourn the meeting.
For more about the cancellation of the town park events and the Town declining to pay Griffin’s legal fees, see the May 8 edition of The Voice.
Related: Two more arrests made in Blythewood shooting; Three arrested in Blythewood shooting; Female shot, businesses damaged during teen shootout in Blythewood; Teens fire shots in downtown Blythewood; Four teens charged in latest movie night incident; Teens turn Doko Meadows movie night fun into mayhem; What happened at Doko’s fireworks event?
