Fort Walton’s 1941 Council Dismissed Its Marshal and Approved 15 Days of Notice Pay
A one-page special-meeting record names Bascom T. Davis and explains the additional pay, but gives no detailed reason for ending his service.
Fort Walton’s council voted 7–0 on December 14, 1941, to discharge Town Marshal Bascom T. Davis immediately and pay him for 15 additional days because advance notice had not been served. The decision is the only substantive business described in the surviving special-meeting minutes. [1]
The motion and the payment
The meeting began at 8:30 p.m. in the Harbeson Building Supply Company office. William D. Edwins presided as mayor, and Theo Bass acted as town clerk and secretary. Bass made the discharge motion, which George Marler seconded. [1]
The motion stated that Davis’s services were no longer needed and made the discharge effective that day. It separately authorized the additional 15 days of pay to account for notice not having been given beforehand. The minutes record seven affirmative votes and no negative votes. [1]
What the page leaves unanswered
The document gives no salary rate or dollar amount for the additional pay. It also provides no detailed explanation of why Davis’s services were no longer needed, names no replacement and records no allegation of misconduct. Those questions cannot be resolved from this page. [1]
After the vote, the minutes state that there was no further business and the meeting adjourned. Signatures appear beneath labels for the clerk and mayor. The full page is available in the archive, allowing readers to see the payment provision beside the discharge decision rather than as a separate, unexplained expenditure. [1]
Sources & archive records
- Fort Walton Town Council special meeting minutes, December 14, 1941
City Clerk WebLink document 30507; one-page preserved scan, visually reviewed in full. Automated text extraction is garbled; names, motion, payment provision and vote checked directly against the image. Historical municipal action, not a statement of current employment rules.
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