Demorest Council Approves Brad Day Contract on Tie-Breaking Mayoral Vote

Demorest City Council approved a contract for Brad Day on Aug. 6, 2024, in a 3–2 vote decided by Mayor Harkness. Council members Allen and Bennett joined Harkness in support, while Davis and Ferguson opposed the agreement, according to signed regular-session minutes.

The vote settles the central question left open during an earlier discussion that day: the council did authorize the proposed arrangement. But the record’s lack of contract language, compensation and implementation details means residents still cannot see from these minutes what services Brad Day was to provide, what the city agreed to pay, or whether the agreement later took effect as contemplated.

Before the regular-session decision, council members, the mayor and others discussed a proposed one-year Brad Day contract during the Aug. 6 work session. Mayor Harkness said the matter would be brought forward for a vote in regular session. It returned later that day, when the council split evenly and the mayor’s tie-breaking vote produced approval.

The recorded vote shows a divided council rather than a unanimous endorsement. Allen, Bennett and Harkness supported the contract; Davis and Ferguson opposed it. The work-session minutes document an extended discussion involving council members, the mayor and others, but the account provided does not state the participants’ reasons for supporting or opposing the proposal.

Approval of the Brad Day contract is established by the signed regular-session minutes, and the earlier workshop record establishes that officials had been considering it as a one-year proposal. What remains unresolved in the documented account is the agreement’s exact terms and compensation, along with any later implementation, amendment or completion. The minutes do not answer those questions.

The next useful public record would be a later council agenda, minutes or contract document showing how Demorest carried out the Aug. 6 authorization. Until such a record identifies the agreement’s terms or subsequent action, residents can know that the council approved the contract but not the details of the one-year arrangement or its later course.