Municipal elections for most Alabama cities are two months away, but council members in one community don’t want to wait that long.

Members of the Fultondale City Council Tuesday evening unanimously voted to ask Mayor Larry Holcomb to resign.

A resolution by Councilman Josh Bryant stated that an ethics violation by Holcomb had caused “erosion of public trust in city leadership.”

Holcomb, who is also superintendent of the Fultondale Gas Board, was found guilty of violating ethics rules for receiving a vehicle allowance from the utility but still driving a city-issued vehicle to an official gas gathering out of state.

Fultondale is a suburb north of Birmingham with a population of about 9,000.

Bryant, who is also a member of the gas board, said the mayor’s actions warrant his removal.

“We had to let the citizens know we don’t agree with it, we don’t condone it, and we don’t believe he ought to be leading our city,” Bryant told AL.com Wednesday.

The Alabama Ethics Commission in April found that Holcomb had committed a “minor violation” of the Alabama Ethics Act, according to official minutes.

Holcomb said he reimbursed the gas board when he learned of a potential conflict, before a complaint was filed.

“I didn’t do anything intentionally to break the law,” the mayor told AL.com. “I immediately wrote a check right then and paid it to the gas board. I admitted last night in the open council meeting that it wasn’t done intentionally and the city had no loss at all.”

Holcomb also has to pay a $100 fine to the ethics commission and an additional $450 restitution to the city.

Holcomb said the council’s resolution is part a longstanding political feud between him and Bryant and is an election season dirty trick.

“They got a whole of that minor violation. Now they’re trying to make it look like I’m dirty, and I’m not,” Holcomb said. “I’m just trying to do what’s best for the city and make it right.”

Holcomb is currently serving his first term as Mayor of Fultondale and faces an election challenge from former longtime mayor Jim Lowery. Bryant supports Lowery.

Holcomb said Bryant was also angry that he has an election challenger who signed up at the last minute, a move he blames on the mayor.

“It’s just a publicity stunt right now. He filed four different charges of misusing city vehicles,” Holcomb said. “This particular one happened in 20203. They’re trying to use it for political gain.”

Still, Bryant called it a matter of ethics and integrity.

“I believe no matter how minor the person who violated it thinks it is, it is still a violation,” Bryant said. “It was just wrong and that’s the kind of stuff I feel our citizens just would not approve of.”

Bryant said members of the gas board had warned the mayor of his behavior before it went to the state officials. The gas board has changed its policy revoking the superintendent’s $450 monthly allowance. Instead, travel is now reimbursed.