Few stones were left unturned during Tuesday’s council meeting in Orange Beach, as the mayor, elected officials, city staff and citizens blasted Councilman Brett Holk for a letter he had published in a local newspaper on Sunday, calling into question the city’s financial standing and the recent purchase of The Wharf Conference Center.

On March 25, the council voted 4-2 to purchase 27,000-square-foot building for $1.6 million dollars from Solution Capital Investments, Inc. Plans are to use the facility as a civic center.

Despite overwhelming support in favor of the purchase from the public, as well as recommendations from Linda Whitlock, CEO of the Alabama Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce, and Herb Malone, who heads up the Convention and Visitors Bureau, Holk, along with councilwoman Pattiesue Carranza, voted against the purchase.

During the special called meeting when the building was purchased, Holk said “with the way the city is with our $40 million debt right now, and a $23.5 million loan that we are paying interest only on, there are just a lot of issues.”

In his letter to the paper, however, Holk suggested that the city needed to “get our financial house in order first,” and said that the city was “$94 million in debt.”

Mayor Tony Kennon, who has dealt with opposition from Holk and Carranza on numerous issues, was livid.

“I’ve got enough going on without having to deal with an elected official calling our administration essentially inept, incompetent and insinuating that we are upside down in debt,” Kennon said. “That is the farthest thing from the truth.”

Kennon told Holk that his letter had done damage to the city going forward.

Councilman Jeff Silvers and councilwoman Joni Blalock both said they were very disappointed with the letter as well.

“What your letter has done, Mr. Holk, is publicly called into question this administration, the financial order of this city, and that’s not good for potential investors, potential home buyers, new residents that might come to town, my property values and my decision to start a new business here,” Kennon said.

Kennon went on to call Holk’s facts “fraudulent and absolutely incorrect.”

City finance committee chairman Al Bradley, who brought up the issue of Holk’s letter to the council, told Holk that he had painted an incorrect picture of city finances.

“Since this administration took over, we have paid down approximately $7 million dollars in debt, and we have increased our natural disaster reserve fund by $1.4 million. I don’t think that is being financially irresponsible,” said Bradley. “I think this administration has done a wonderful job of controlling expenses and doing what is in the best interest of the citizens. If you disagree with buying the civic center, that’s fine. But I take exception to the verbiage in your letter that calls into questions the city’s handling of the city’s finances.”

Fire chief Forney Howard said he had been fuming for 48 hours.

“A lot of the city staff that have worked their rear ends off to make this city what it is right now took offense to that letter,” Howard said. “They took it as a slam to the department heads and to those people that supplied information so that y’all could make decisions. It seemed that the fourth paragraph of your letter was filled with rumors and hysteria, trying to create the image that this fire department didn’t give you the correct information. That paragraph indicated that the employees of this city did not do their job, the due diligence, to give you information, but they did.”

Citizens also addressed Holk and were equally unhappy.

“As a citizen, I am very disappointed,” said resident Bill Jefferies. “I think that when you wrote that article, you undercut everyone that is sitting in front of you and everyone that is sitting beside you. I don’t think it was a good thing to do for my city, to your fellow council people, to the mayor or to any of the employees of the city. I hope you will consider what you have done to the city and act accordingly.”

Carranza was the only person who came to Holk’s defense, saying that he had a right to express his opinion in the newspaper. Council members and citizens were shocked however, when she suggested that if the figures Holk quoted were wrong, it was possibly the fault of the finance department.

“The numbers that he quoted were the numbers that were provided to him through emails from the finance department, so if those numbers aren’t correct, then maybe the finance committee isn’t giving us the correct numbers,” Carranza said.

Kennon responded to Carranza by saying, “If you can justify a letter to the editor with incorrect facts, in my opinion, that was destructive to the image of this city just because five percent of the people agreed with you, and you didn’t like what we were doing, then I don’t understand how you are serving our best interest. That is my problem. I don’t want people damaging our image because of their own self-interest or selfish agenda.

“We have had a tough time. We have just been through 11 months of absolute hell. The last thing we need are divisive comments that are not factual from a council member.”