Tensions flared during an intense Tallulah City Council meeting on Thursday, June 12, 2025, as residents, guests, council members and city officials clashed over Magnolia Water, budget changes, and allegations of government overreach.
The meeting, held at the Tallulah City Hall, started with disputes over the city’s curfew ordinance. Councilman Toriano Wells said that the current policy allows Tallulah Police Chief Buster McCoy to impose curfews indefinitely and without council approval, was unconstitutional and lacked proper oversight. Wells introduced an amendment limiting curfews to 30 days with the option for renewal, aligning with Louisiana state emergency law. When residents and guests began debating the issue with the council, Tallulah City Attorney Pamela Netterville Grady advised that public discussion on the ordinance must take place after it’s introduced. According to Robert’s Rules of Order, a parliamentary procedure manual, this is true. This drew immediate backlash from attendees who accused city leadership of using procedural rules to silence public comment.
The previous meetings minutes were then approved in a 4-1 vote, with Wells disapproving and Joseph Scott, Lisa Houston, Carla Turner-Harris and Marjorie Day approving. The Board unanimously approved changing the date of the next regular meeting to Wednesday, June 25, 2025 due to the Louisiana Mayors Association meeting on the original date.
Xiamora Bell gave a presentation, titled “Build an Ally, Build the Vision, Build Tallulah,” and representing the Madison Advisory Coalition. Bell said “We have a core group of people who want to work...we have a vision for a better Tallulah.” Bell shared that she is working with Black Voters Matter and "we have our own individual voices and we have to understand how to use them."
As the agenda transitioned to introducing an ordinance to amend the councils July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 budget and an ordinance to adopt the councils July 1, 2025 to July 30, 2026 budget.
Councilman Wells expressed dissapointment in the amending ordinance. "I said this about four months ago i said with the way things are going and way we spending money and not accounting for it. I said we're going to come back in June and come in and say we want, we need, to amend the budget, which we supposed to do throughout the entire year and no matter how often it's said we continue to keep doing things the same way.
Before a vote could take place to introduce the ordinances, a discussion erupted from councilmembers and the public over the timing of the budget's publication in the newspaper and on the city website. Trying to move along with procedure, Grady advised that public discussion should take place after being introduced.
Both ordinances were introduced.
The remainder of the meeting was basically a public forum. Residents and guests voiced frustration over the state’s takeover of Tallulah’s water system. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency in 2024 and placed Magnolia Water Services in control, hiring all Tallulah water system employees. On the agenda was to approve a contract with Magnolia Water for them to share customer data with the City of Tallulah for usage in sewer billing. Magnolia would charge $200 a month for this. This vote failed 2 to 3, with Houston and Scott voting yes and Harris, Day and Wells voting no. Without the contract, the City of Tallulah will need to hire employees to collect the data, as all water employees in Tallulah now work for Magnolia. The other contract was for the sharing of information and disconnection/reconnection services, which would increase resulting fees for customers. This contract failed to garner a motion for a vote.
During the over one hour of public forum throughout the meeting, Council members criticized the Mayor Charles Finlayson, City Attorney Grady and City Clerk Gerald Odom, for supposedly enabling what they described as an unchecked corporate seizure. Wells called it a shakedown. Others demanded to know why the city had not been reimbursed for the use of its vehicles, diesel fuel, and former employees who were absorbed into Magnolia or its subcontractor, Patterson. A resident added that water company employees left the city payroll to join a private company under state contract, depriving the city of staff and potentially breaching employment agreements.
The conversation was at its boiling point when the issue of water quality was raised. Residents and guests, including a sitting judge, described the water as black, unsafe, and unfit for human use. One resident said she couldn’t even water her plants with it. Judge Jackson questioned why sewer bills were increasing when residents were being forced to flush contaminated water. Several accused the city of lying to the public and manipulating the narrative about improvements. One guest said the entire arrangement with Magnolia resembled the city’s previous receivership crisis, calling it “Receivership 2.0.” Another attendee challenged the mayor to drink the water themselves if they truly believed it was safe.
During the official public comment portion at the end of the agenda, one attendee asked for attorneys in the community to fight for the city’s rights, while another mentioned running for mayor in 2026.
The meeting adjourned after two hours, with the next meeting on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 at 5:30 P.M.
