Cochran City Council holds special meeting, enters executive session on personnel

Cochran Mayor Carla Coley called a special called meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. on March 2, 2026, at the City Auditorium. Council Member Shane Savant led the invocation.

Mayor Coley noted that a quorum was present with the exception of Council Members Rufus Veal and Trecia Gardner; City Attorney Jim Elliott was absent. The council approved the evening’s agenda on a motion by Council Member Gary Ates, seconded by Council Member Lonnie Tedders; the vote was recorded as unanimous.

At 6:02 p.m. the council voted unanimously to enter an executive session to discuss personnel matters. The motion to enter executive session was made by Council Member Gary Ates and seconded by Council Member Dianne Lester. The public record states the session’s subject as “discussion or deliberation on the appointment, employment, compensation, hiring, disciplinary action or dismissal, or periodic evaluation or rating of a public officer or employee.”

The council reconvened into open session at 7:16 p.m.; the motion to exit executive session was made by Council Member Shane Savant and seconded by Council Member Gary Ates and carried unanimously. The minutes note an agenda line for “Action, if any, related to Executive Session” but do not record any public action or vote on personnel matters.

A motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Gary Ates, seconded by Council Member Lonnie Tedders, and approved unanimously; the meeting adjourned at 7:16 p.m. Minutes for the meeting were prepared and submitted by City Clerk Candace Summerall.