Wayman Newton

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Wayman Newton

Wayman A. Newton (born c. 1980 in Birmingham) is an attorney and the Mayor of Tarrant, first elected in 2020 to the seat formerly held for four terms by Loxcil Tuck.

Newtwon grew up in Birmingham's Collegeville neighborhood. He graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts in 1998 and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in political science at the University of Pennsylvania in 2002, and a juris doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2007. He was employed as a commercial real estate attorney with Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before returning to Alabama to open his own practice, Community Lawyers USA in 2010. He is also a real estate investor, specializing in rehabilitation and affordable housing.

Newton took 2/3rds of the vote in the 2020 mayoral election. On the day he took office on November 3, he confronted Tarrant Police Department chief Dennis Reno about his alleged practice of hiring only white police officers. The meeting escalated into a shouting match. Reno resigned from the position on January 1. In June 2021 Reno swore out a warrant accusing Newton of 3rd degree assault, claiming that he had slammed a door on his arm during the November argument. Newton surrendered and posted bail. He later posted security camera footage from Tarrant City Hall that appeared to undercut Reno's claims. Newton hired Wendell Major to take over the police department as its first Black chief.

In April 2021 Newton fired Jason Rickels, chief of the Tarrant Fire & Rescue Department, who had been charged with felony assault in Roswell, Georgia in January. The city conducted an independent review of the circumstances before Newton made the decision to terminate him.

Long-time Tarrant City Council member Tommy Bryant has accused Newton of harassing city employees and of trying to instigate a fight with him. Newton denies any such harassment, and stated that he did raise his voice after Bryant addressed him as "boy". Bryant used a racial slur during a Council meeting on July 20, and later claimed he was only repeating a phrase he had heard Newton use to describe fellow council member Veronica Freeman. Newton denied that accusation. In August Bryant swore out a warrant accusing Newton of misdemeanor "harassing communications", alleging that he had made a sexual threat against his wife on June 19. Newton posted bond and denies the allegation.

Newton is married and has two daughters.

References

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