Long-held personal and political animosity between a Birmingham-area mayor and his most visible critic will not be settled at a local restaurant lunch table after all.

Plans for a live-streamed lunch summit between Tarrant Mayor Wayman Newton and activist Chuck Winborn are off just days after the meeting was proposed.

Newton Monday evening surprised many when he invited Winborn to lunch during a council meeting. It would be the first time the longtime rivals ever sat down at a table rather than sparring in the council chamber.

However, Winborn now says he will not meet with Newton.

“I’ve had no less than 15 people contact me, some I didn’t even know, who told me not to do it,” Winborn told AL.com. “There is nothing he can say to change my mind and I’m sure I’m not going to change his.”

Winborn had initially agreed to lunch with Newton’s condition that it be live streamed on social media and Winborn’s stipulation that a third-party witness also be present.

But the deal quickly eroded. Winborn remains adamant on illustrating Newton’s dramatic argument with a councilman in late 2022.

Winborn this week posted unaired video footage of an exchange between Newton and Councilman Tommy Bryant where the mayor used graphic sexual language to insult Bryant’s wife.

That video exchange occurred just before another showdown between the two men outside city hall that ended with Bryant slugging the mayor.

Bryant was later cleared of the assault charge.

On the other side, Newton told AL.com that his lunch invitation was a sincere offer, even if he was skeptical that it would occur.

“I extended the invitation to Mr. Winborn in good faith, with the hope of modeling something different for the city of Tarrant, that even in sharp disagreement, civility and honest conversation are still possible,” he said. “This was never about political points, no matter what some may claim. It was about showing that real leadership means reaching across the aisle, even when you know the hand may not be taken.”

The town of 6,000 is bitterly divided politically. The mayor and council spar regularly and citizens often voice their disapproval during council meetings.

The mayor has called Winborn a racist, while Winborn has described the mayor as disrespectful and vindictive.

Attorney Scott Morro, who represents Winborn and several other critics of the mayor, noted that Winborn is still a party in a lawsuit that seeks to impeach Newton, so he should not meet with him.

“Chuck Winborn, in his zeal to do what is best for the city of Tarrant, had a lapse in judgment in agreeing to meet with Mayor Newton for lunch,” Morro told AL.com. “Nothing good can come out of meeting with an antagonistic narcissist who has a pattern and practice of fabrication. As such, as his attorney, I have instructed him not to do so.”

The citizen-led lawsuit could be moot in about a month following city elections Aug. 26.

Morro also represents Winborn and several current and former employees who have sued Newton and the city on various personnel matters.

Winborn was arrested in April after posting police footage on his social media page. Winborn called the arrest an attempt to silence his activism, and the charges were quickly dropped.

Newton is seeking reelection. Winborn is supporting his opponent, Councilwoman Tracie Threadford in her challenge to the first-term incumbent.