Vanleer board to discuss filling vacancy following resignation of ‘Bubba’ Tinsley

Just two months into a two-year term, Donald “Bubba” Tinsley has resigned from the Vanleer Board of Aldermen. Mayor Larry Robertson said Tinsley submitted his letter of resignation at the December board meeting, saying he doesn’t feel he can adequately represent the interests of his constituents. Tinsley received the second-highest number of votes in an 11-candidate field in the Nov. 6 election of five aldermen, polling 78 votes behind the 80 received by Jason Weaver. At the new board’s first meeting in November, the board replaced Tinsley as chief of the Vanleer Volunteer Fire Department, a position he had held since 1996. Tinsley said there was no law that would prohibit him from serving as chief and an alderman, since the chief’s position is unpaid. But the board voted 2-1 with one member absent and Tinsley abstaining to name Scotty Ingham as the new chief. Robertson said the board will discuss the process for filling the vacancy at its monthly meeting at 7:00 tonight at Vanleer Town Hall.