BOSSIER CITY, Louisiana — Three weeks have passed since the Bossier City Charter Commission last met. The meeting ended in chaos, with two members walking out.
Since then, there has been much discussion about disbanding the commission entirely. Ultimately, the Bossier City Council voted against the effort.
At the last meeting of the Charter Commission, it was discussed that two resigned members would need to be replaced. Now two more members have submitted their resignations.
The Bossier Charter Commission originally consisted of nine members nominated by each city council and two by the mayor. Following the resignation of four members, the commission now consists of only five members.
“With five members, the quorum is there, but they are limited in their freedom to act. So you might think the first order of business would be to appoint four more members to fill the vacancies left by the four members who resigned,” said Bossier City spokesman Louis Johnson.
According to City Councilman Chris Smith, the two who resigned are Shane Cheatham and David Johnson. Both walked out of the last Charter Commission meeting.
“I will excuse myself from this meeting and recommend that everyone else do the same. There are currently complaints of ethics violations against numerous members of this board. Any business we are embarking on now is not good for the future of Bossier City,” Cheatham said at the meeting.
The attempt to fill the vacant seats is one of the reasons why the last meeting was so heated. It is also the reason why David Johnson walked out of the meeting.
“I think we need to adjourn, figure out what we need to do to appoint two people, and then nominate them. Come here as a committee and represent the citizens as we should,” David Johnson said before leaving.
Smith told KTBS that another commission member was considering resigning, but declined to name him.
Louis Johnson said the Charter Commission could not meet with only four members.
“If someone else wanted to resign, then of course we would have four people who would not have a quorum. So we would have to have enough members to call and hold a meeting,” said Louis Johnson.
He said the charter commission meeting is scheduled for Monday.
KTBS reached out to Cheatham and David Johnson for comment but did not receive a response.
