Prichard city employees lost dental and vision insurance coverage for at least two days in June after the city failed to pay its bill, according to testimony from the city clerk in an escalating legal fight between Mayor Carletta Davis and the Prichard City Council over control of municipal spending.
The lapse in benefits surfaced during a court hearing in which Mayor Davis asked a judge to rule that the council cannot limit her spending authority. Council members, in turn, are trying to convince the court that the mayor has not been transparent about how city money is being managed.
Prichard’s city clerk testified that a $120,000 contract between the city and engineering firm Volkert was signed by the mayor but never brought before the council for approval. Mayor Davis defended the arrangement, saying she appointed a Volkert employee as the city’s public works director as part of her authority to make appointments. “I appointed a person from Volkert as our public works director,” Davis said. “And so as a mayor, I have the right and duty to be able to appoint.”
Council Attorney Moshae Donald Walker pushed back, telling the court, “The City Council has not approved any contracts that the City of Prichard is expanding taxpayer dollars for.” District 1 Councilwoman Annie Williams testified she is uncertain whether the city can currently pay all of its bills, pointing to the insurance lapse as evidence of deeper financial strain.
Mayor Davis disputed any suggestion the city is falling behind on its obligations. “There has not been a light bill that’s not been paid. A water bill has not been paid. Payroll does not not pay. We pay our bills,” Davis said, adding that the city’s projected revenues are higher this year than last fiscal year.
The legal battle began after the council approved a temporary ban on non-emergency city purchases over $10,000, a measure Davis vetoed, along with a separate council resolution authorizing an investigation into her handling of city finances. That standoff has since escalated into the ongoing court fight, with the city’s insurance coverage for its own workforce now caught in the middle of the dispute over who ultimately controls Prichard’s spending.