From unpaid-correspondent reports | Special to the Beacon

At a monthly meeting of Bass Lake Town Council late Monday, the public comment segment turned semi-ugly when resident Jimpson P. Smiths, 59, unleashed a tirade toward the council and the state of the town at large.

“What is going on? The mayor never shows up at these meetings, we have no police chief, our sidewalks are crumbling, and — honest to god — fishing was terrible on the lake this summer, and that part itself isn’t any fault of mine,” said Smiths, 59.

Council vice president Carolyn Shee retorted.

“Calm down, Mr. what’s your name again?” Shee said. “Everything will be fine.”

“That’s what I’m talking about, right there,” Smiths, 59, yelled. “Nothing ever gets done here!”

At that point, Smiths threw a folding chair at a wall. It was the chair in which he had been sitting prior to the incident. No one was injured. The chair has been sent to a furniture store for evaluation.

In an attempt to quell the outbreak, councilman Reggie Jones (I-Out-on-the-Highway) said nothing.

Within minutes after the onset of the outbreak, the 59-year-old Smiths was escorted from the council chambers in handcuffs, which he had taken to the meeting for unknown reasons.

Mayor Guy Soundguy, who did not attend the meeting, could not be reached for comment, and is believed to be missing for the second time in the past 19.5 months.

The meeting continued without incident — and no action was taken on any of the agenda items.