SCOTT CITY TOW SERVICE OPERATOR THREATENS SUIT

SCOTT CITY -- The owner of a wrecker service in Scott City says she plans to sue the city because it won't employ her service.

Betty Jackson, the owner of Twin City Auto Sales, accused the city of discrimination. But city officials said hiring Jackson's service means they likely would be sued by someone else.

The incident stems from a January dispute between residents of the 400 and 500 blocks of Maple street. Some of the residents opposed a new city law prohibiting parking on both sides of the street. The council subsequently agreed to continue to allow parking on one side of the street.

Darrell Coomer, who drives a wrecker for Twin City, attended the January meeting and said that due to the narrow width of Maple Street in the two blocks, curbside parking should be eliminated altogether.

He said he's frequently delayed in his work, because the street is blocked.

Coomer protested the council's final ruling and said that the next time someone blocked his path on Maple Street he would refuse to yield. "I'll just run them over," he said.

Mayor Shirley Young said that Coomer's statement gives the police department no choice but to cease employing the wrecker service to respond to city accidents.

She said the city could be sued if Coomer injured someone on Maple Street while responding to an accident for the city.

On Monday, Jackson and Coomer went before the council. Jackson said Coomer's comment was misconstrued by city officials. She said the city has been calling her wrecker service for more than 30 years, and Coomer's statements should not be taken seriously by the council.

Jackson said she learned of the city's intention not to drop her wrecker service when she found a copy of a city letter from the police department and addressed to the mayor in her car. She said she doesn't know who put it there.

Councilman John Rogers said he wanted to give Coomer a chance to clarify his statement before the council voted not to employ Jackson's business.

Coomer said: "I'm not going to bulldoze the place, tearing things up, but I'm not going to stop if I have the right of way."

"You mean you're not going to stop to keep from hitting them?" Rogers asked.

"No sir I won't," Coomer responded.

The mayor said if the city employs Coomer, they would be liable for his actions.

"If we call you then we are responsible for what you have told us you are going to do," she said. "Just because someone refuses to get out of the way doesn't mean they deserve to be hit."

The Council then voted not to hire Twin City unless a citizen specifically requested it.

Councilman Ron Oller was the only one to vote in favor of hiring the wrecker service.

Councilman Jim McClintock said until the city has the money to widen Maple Street, "everyone's just going to have to live with it."

Police Sgt. Jim Oldham said when someone involved in an accident asks the police department to call a wrecker, they ask which service the person wants to employ. If there is no preference, the department would call either Twin City or Baker's Wrecker Service, also in Scott City.

Now, unless a person specifically requests Twin City, the police will call Baker's or another service, Oldham said.