Lauderdale County commissioners say they want clarification on memorandum from two Florence councilmen before moving forward with trying to end a stalemate between the two governmental entities over a joint tourism board appointment.

City and county officials have wrestled over the appointment since September.

Commissioners voted 3-2 to reappoint Florence businessman Bill Hunt to the board. When questions were raised about Hunt's inconsistent attendance record because of business commitments, council members voted 6-0 on Oct. 20 to appoint Jan Ingle to fill the joint board seat instead of Hunt.

In an attempt to find a compromise, a committee of two commissioners and two councilmen was formed.

The four-person committee recommended that Ingle get the appointment, but council members were deadlocked in a 3-3 vote when the issue was brought up for a vote at their Dec. 1 meeting.

Since then, Councilmen Barry Morris and Andy Betterton - who represented Florence on the joint committee - sent a memo to the commission. The memo states since the council tied on its vote Dec. 1, the issue reverts back to the original council vote Oct. 20 and Ingle is Florence's recommendation.

Commissioners discussed the memo at a work session Tuesday.

They asked County Attorney Chris Smith to talk with Florence City Attorney Billy Musgrove to get clarification on what the memo means.

"To me, this is the opinion of two councilmen," Smith said. "We need to know if this is the opinion of the entire council. If that is the case, then we are back to square one."

Commissioners D.C. Thornton and Fay Parker represented the commission on the committee.

Thornton said he has seen nothing to indicate the memo is official.

The memo was not written on city letterhead, and copies were sent to other council members and to commissioners.

Commissioner Rhea Fulmer said the commission won't know how to proceed until Smith reports what he learns from Musgrove.

Smith is scheduled to make a report at the commission's meeting Monday.

Commission chairman Dewey Mitchell, who also serves as the county's probate judge, said Hunt, whose term expires Friday, will continue serving until a successor is named or he is reappointed.

Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.