Mark Millican
VARNELL — Despite a family tragedy on Monday, City Councilman Carlus Mosier was in court and pleaded not guilty to charges against him related to a haunted house on Cedar Street that was shut down by city officials in October during a heated political campaign.
Mosier was defeated for re-election for the Post 1 seat by James Caldwell in the Nov. 3 election.
Mosier appeared in court on the same day his sister died of “a massive heart attack” in Athens, Tenn., he said. Judge Philip Woodward told Mosier he had heard of the “unfortunate news” of her death and appreciated him being in court.
Woodward asked Mosier how he pleaded to two charges, that he did not comply with the city’s occupational tax requirements and a zoning violation. After hearing the pleas, Woodward told Mosier that since Mosier had voted for him to be city judge he was going to recuse himself and ask another judge to hear the charges. He did not mention the other judge’s name. He said he had tried to contact the judge, unsuccessfully.
Mosier is set to appear in court again on Dec. 7. Afterward, he said he did not believe he had broken any ordinances.
“They did not have an ordinance and couldn’t find an ordinance,” he said of the occupational tax charge. Mosier’s daughter, Waydean Bradley, produced minutes of an Oct. 13 City Council meeting — Mosier was absent — showing that an “Occupational Tax and Administration Fee” ordinance was passed.
Mosier said he was notified by city manager Mark Gibson on Oct. 7 that if he didn’t have a business license the haunted house would be shut down. On Oct. 16 he was given a citation for not purchasing a business license, he said.
As to the zoning violation, Mosier said his property is in an R-1 residential zone and he wouldn’t be able to get a business license anyway. He produced a receipt from the Boy Scouts showing he had donated $75 to the organization when he learned he could not be designated a nonprofit organization since the “spook house” was not open year-round.
“That’s all we made,” he said. “The kids (in the neighborhood) work on it all summer (for the Halloween season). We could have made more, but they shut us down.”
