The fight for control of the city of Tarrant remains a legal tennis match as the mayor, city council, a disputed city manager, and teams of lawyers await the ruling from a Jefferson County judge.

At the heart of the case is who has authority to lead the day-to-day operations in the city of about 6,000 people northeast of Birmingham — Wayman Newton, the elected mayor, or John C. Brown, the city manager who was appointed by the council this summer.

Newton, who took office in 2020, is at odds with each of the five city council members. They voted unanimously to hire Brown and pay him $100,000 per year to handle daily activities. Brown would have “all lawful and statutory authority,” according to the ordinance approved by council members in May, effectively stripping the mayor of his duties.

Just before Brown’s first day in June, Newton fired back with a lawsuit claiming the council violated the law by changing the city’s form of government without either holding a citizen referendum or seeking a change in state law.

The city so far has racked up just over $59,000 in legal fees related to the ongoing litigation, according to city records. The council hired law firm Blankenship and Associates LLC to represent them and city manager Brown in the lawsuit. The city of Tarrant jointly is also represented by a law firm separate from the council’s lawyers. Also, the council has its own attorney with Waldrep Stewart & Kendrick LLP, which is participating in the case.

While the lawsuit works its way through the courts, Brown continues to draw his salary but is not at city hall. Circuit Court Judge Pat Ballard granted a restraining order temporarily preventing Brown from taking over until the issue was settled. Ballard’s order also prevents Newton from firing Brown.

The judge has signaled in previous court hearings that he believes the council exceeded its authority in hiring Brown.

“I’ve been known to change my mind from what my initial leaning was,” he said in court on June 20. “You show me the law and I’m going to do my best to follow it.”

The case is complex with several turns since Newton initially filed suit on June 6.

Even before Ballard rules on the legality of hiring Brown, he must first consider whether Newton, a lawyer, can lead the case against the council. In the lawsuit, Newton is suing on behalf of Deanna Ceasor, one of his supporters in the city, rather than naming himself as the plaintiff and hiring a lawyer to represent him.

Lawyers for Brown are calling foul and want Newton disqualified as the attorney, saying he would personally benefit if the judge rules for his client. Brown’s lawyers, hired by the city council, argue that Newton, as a public official, should have asked the council for permission to serve as the attorney. They noted that the council would not have granted the request.

“A lawyer shall not represent a client if the representation will result in violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Mr. Newton is a public official representing a private client after personally and substantially participating in the matter before this Court. Further, the Mayor’s Office does not exist independent of the City of Tarrant, a municipal corporation, and thereby cannot give consent on behalf of the City of Tarrant,” attorney Patrice Blankenship, whose firm was hired to represent Brown, wrote in her argument.

Newton countered, saying the council excluded him from the process of hiring Brown. The mayor said he had little involvement, other than voting ‘no,’ and was excluded in the process. Newton said his role as mayor in the process was purely ceremonial.

“The Tarrant City Council’s lack of confidence in Attorney Newton’s leadership made it impossible for him to have any substantial involvement with the process of creating and appointing a city manager as the very process itself was a protest and act of defiance by the Tarrant City Council,” Newton wrote in his response. “Newton did not participate in the selection and screening process of the city manager candidates as the council had the interviews on the night that he was unable to attend.”

Ballard has yet to rule the request to kick Newton off his lawsuit. He has delayed ruling on the larger case until after deciding that issue.

Even as Ballard deliberates, a closer look at earlier court transcripts reveal his blunt assessment of the case and a tougher plight for the council in the fight to retain its city manager.

Ballard, in a hearing where he temporarily blocked Brown from acting as city manager, sided with the mayor that the council had gone beyond its authority by hiring an executive who answered solely to them.

“For it to become answerable to the City Council, you’re effectively changing the form of government from a mayor-Council form of government to a Council-manager form of government,” Ballard said.

Alabama’s Manager-Council Act of 1982 sets provisions for changing a city’s form of government. That provision requires a petition signed by at least 10 percent of the residents, followed by a referendum vote to change a city’s form of government. Council members counter and cite a nearly century-old provision that allows cities to hire managers and said their action did not change Tarrant’s form of government.

But from the bench, Ballard said the council did not have the right to strip the mayor of his powers, which it did by hiring Brown. Doing things the wrong way has “wound up making a two-headed monster, and I don’t see how that doesn’t create irreparable harm,” he said.

While Ballard gave a preview of his initial opinion on the case, he noted that his view was not yet final.

“I’m more inclined to give people an opportunity to, number one, have the benefit of what my current leaning is and what it’s based upon, but then I’ve been persuaded before that I was wrong,” he said.