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Last night’s Chillicothe City Hall meeting was definitely different.
Let me explain. You couldn’t find a place to park, which usually means there are residents there to talk to the council about something. (And it’s usually not a nice discussion.)
That was not the case: the building was probably the most secure spot in all of town, maybe for even miles around.
With all nine of Chillicothe police officers in attendance, as well as other chiefs of police and officers, it was a crowd to support Scott Mettille.
The council chambers looked different too.
Along the side where reporters normally sit at a table, the Chillicothe officers sat along the wall, watching Mettille become their boss.
On the other side of the room normally is a table for the city supervisors to sit at, which was also taken out to create more room for seating.
Of course, that meant it was hard to locate some city officials. We had a chuckle when Mayor Troy Childers Sr. tried to ask City Engineer Ken Coulter a question, and couldn’t find him until Ken stood up and spoke.
I’m not sure of the head count, but there had to be at least 50 people in the audience.
I couldn’t help myself in remarking that you never see all the Chillicothe officers in one place. (Hey, they do work their shifts 24/7.) OK, maybe once I saw them all together, possibly the year after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack at a remembrance ceremony.
It was nice to see all the support for Chillicothe’s new police chief.
Marianne Gillespie began as an intern with the Chillicothe Times-Bulletin in the summer of 1998 and after finishing her last semester of college, returned as editor in December 1998. Chilli Soup is a mix of items either found in her notebook that didn’t make their way into the newspaper, tidbits of information passed along by others, or even links to Chillicotheans or former residents making news. Drop an email to mgillespie@timestoday.com to add your ingredients to Chilli Soup.
