City Bids Farewell to Councilwoman Batton

McKENZIE (November 14) — During the regular monthly meeting of the City of McKenzie Board of Mayor and Council, Mayor Ryan Griffin recognized outgoing Councilwoman Josefina Batton. After four years on the council, Batton chose not to run for re-election.

Batton joined the council in December 2020 through a mayoral appointment following the death of Debbie Reilly. She was then elected to the seat in 2022.

Also recognized in the meeting was McKenzie Police Investigator Labe Ezell. Ezell was recently named as the West Tennessee Narcotics Officer of the Year. As part of the 24th Judicial Drug Task Force, he has been instrumental in helping fight McKenzie’s war on drugs. In 2024 year, his arrests have led to 85 felonies, ceased over $500,000 of cash, over 6 pounds of methamphetamines and 2000 fentanyl pills have been taken off the street, and he has been involved in several busts of illegal vaping products.

Ezell praised Police Chief Ryan White along with city officials supporting him.

The Christmas bonuses of $100 for full-time and $50 for part-time employees were granted. The bonuses were already figured into the 2024-25 Fiscal Year Budget.

In department reports, Public Works was thanked for rebuilding the box for left pickup. The rebuild saved the City of McKenzie roughly $16,000. Public Works along with the Parks Department are working together to decorate for the upcoming Christmas Holiday.

Parks and Recreation is also working on improvements to the baseball field which includes tearing down the outfield fence and moving it in. It is being done as there is erosion just outside the fence line. Also noted was the progress on the Mulberry Soccer Complex. According to Mayor Griffin, the National Guard will be on hand in June to start working to smooth out the playing surface. TLM will also be providing a master plan.

For October, the Police Department received 1226 calls; the majority were traffic stops at 516 and security checks at 290.

The Fire Department received 42 calls with 16 classified as medical related. The department was notified that they would receive a grant from the USDA Forestry Service with between $5,000 and $6,000 of equipment. The Fire Department and Police Department are working together for their annual toy drive/shop with a cop event.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the McKenzie City Council is December 12 at 6 p.m.