CROWLEY — In Crowley a former city employee is expressing her concerns on how the city council is being ran.
After holding multiple positions with the city for more than 2 decades, the interim city clerk resigned calling the work environment hostile.
This comes after what Sarah Fontenot calls several issues and disagreements among the council members.
In the resignation letter, the former city clerk accuses the council of threats , harassment and lack of leadership. She's calling on change for the sake of the city.
For Fontenot, she says it's an ongoing issue she can't take anymore.
"The constant controversy between the mayor and some council members is making the city government fail," Fontenot said.
In her letter, she tells city leaders they should be working for the city, not against it.
"Right now you all are known for controversy and bitterness," she stated in her letter.
Fontenot specifically accuses Alderman Vernon Martin of making threats towards her in public meetings. She says he even threatened to come to her house.
We reached out to Vernon who told us, "I think it was taken out of context to the people who wanted to take it out of context. If they listen to whole conversation, they would see what was said was everybody is talking. We don't have any problem meeting anybody to talk to about anything. So, therefore, I was telling them I'd meet you wherever you want to talk about it. Whether it's on the streets or at your house."
Martin says a lot of the arguments and disagreements stem from the council not having all of the information needed to do their jobs, including specifics about the budget.
"At the end of the day the City of Crowley deserves better and I'd do whatever it takes to make sure city is solving. Right now, our city isn't even solving. To solve, the money should be in the general fund to make sure it's ran for six months. Every time we ask a question we can't get an answer," Martin said.
"I would just love to see the city of Crowley government get its light back because right now it's just cloudy and gloomy and Crowley deserves much more from their leaders," Fontenot said.
