VAIDEN - Less than two weeks after he was terminated by the town board in a special-call meeting, Vaiden Police Chief William Perry is back on the job. Perry was reinstated at the board's regularly scheduled meeting last week, and the board, again voted on his fate, this time, in a 3-to-2 vote in favor of his reinstatement.

Perry was terminated on Jan. 20 after Vaiden Mayor Mel Hawthorne summoned the board for the special meeting to discuss Perry‘s performance. At that meeting, which was closed to the public, three out of the five aldermen were present. Hawthorne, who said he was not satisfied with Perry's performance during his six months as police chief, brought the matter to a vote to relieve Perry of his duties. Alderwoman Grace Voorhees and Alderman Curtis Meeks voted in favor of Perry's termination, and Alderwoman Lisa Wiliams-Hemphill abstained from the vote. Alderwomen Doris Fluker and Stella Bell were not present for the meeting.

Perry later challenged the board's decision. And the issue of whether or not the special-call meeting was legally correct, was raised. The matter was then put on the agenda for the Feb. 1 regularly scheduled meeting.

During the 30-minute Executive Session, in which the matter was discussed, all five aldermen were present, as well as the board attorney, and Perry's reinstatement was put to a vote. In a 3-to-2 decision, Fluker, Bell and Hemphill voted in favor of the reinstatement and Voorhees and Meeks voted against it.

"It was the board's desire to reinstate Chief Perry," Hawthorne said. "And I executed the decision of the board."

Hawthorne, who was elected as Vaiden's first black mayor in 2009, recommended Perry to the board for the police chief's position. Perry, who is originally from Canton, served as an officer with the Lexington Police Department as well as the Canton Police Department, prior to his position in Vaiden.

Perry was the second police chief in recent years to be terminated by order of the Vaiden town board. In 2003, Terry Peeples was terminated for misconduct and he unsuccessfully challenged the board's decision.

Hawthorne, who since his administration began has initiated driver's ed training and a WINJob Center in Vaiden, said he stands committed to bringing additional resources to the citizens, despite this minor obstacle.

"This job is not about personalities," Hawthorne said. "It's about the business of the town. I have to look at the facts, not the emotions involved. Business will go on in the town of Vaiden and this decision will not hinder my vision for the town, and that's to provide the services that we need so we won't have to go to other places."