In October, the Ozark City Council voted 3-2 to censure Mayor Mark Blankenship for distributing private text messages from citizen Bryant Fontenot on city letterhead before a City Council meeting. It was approved.
Multiple sources familiar with the situation confirmed on Thursday that Blankenship filed harassment charges against Fontenot on Thursday in the latest chapter of their feud.
The charges appear to stem from a series of altercations between Mr. Blankenship and Mr. Fontenot in the weeks following the censure vote.
Fontenot publicly criticized Blankenship's interactions with citizens regarding the Ozarkdale County Public Library controversy multiple times during the public comment section of the Ozark City Council meeting. Specifically, Fontenot accused Blankenship of threatening to sue citizen Adam Kammerer after Kammerer released text messages from Blankenship calling for the removal of the LGBTQ boom. denounced.
After Fontenot first criticized Blankenship, the mayor sent Fontenot a text pointing out Gov. Kay Ivey's stance on libraries, with the message, “You're making a fool of yourself!” Ta.
Fontenot later played a major role in the citizen-led movement to censure Blankenship.
The City Council ultimately cited all of these skirmishes in a censure resolution, but Councilors Stanley Enfinger and Leah Harlow voted against the censure.
City Council President Brenda Simechuk, who cast the deciding vote, said Fontenot's text crossed the line because it was distributed on city letterhead.