Winder council members seek more control

The two newest members of Winder’s city council attempted to wrest some of Mayor Chip Thompson's control over the city government Tuesday.

But their effort failed after the mayor turned the tables on them by making the fight personal and also received backing from a third councilman, the city attorney, and a former city administrator who still does some work with the city.

The move by David Maynard and Bob Dixon came during a meeting that was called to talk about a $5 million federal loan application the council didn’t know about until last week.

After opposing that measure, Maynard made a motion to cut the mayor’s spending authority to a maximum of $25,000. He said he was forced to take action because private attempts to convince the mayor to be more open with the council had failed.