Dothan City Manager loses fight to renew his contract despite resounding community support

DOTHAN, Ala (WDHN) — The Dothan City Commission has voted not to renew the contract of Dothan City Manager Kevin Cowper.

The 4-3 vote was made during the commission meeting on April 16. Commissioners David Crutchfield (District 6) and Bradley Bedwell (District 3) voted to renew Cowper’s contract, while Commissioners Kevin Dorsey (District 1), Aristotle Kirkland (District 2), John Ferguson (District 4), and Gnatt Pierce (District 5) voted against Cowper.

Despite his vote not counting in this matter, Mayor Mark Saliba voted to keep Cowper as city manager.

Cowper’s contract expires on April 30.

Once the decision was made, many in the crowd stood up and left, seemingly upset with the commission’s decision.

“You’ll be up for a vote one day,” one woman said while pointing at the commissioners.

Sources tell WDHN that several commissioners have been unhappy with Cowper since his hiring in 2019.

Community members attended the meeting to support Cowper, some even standing up to defend him, including local businessman Bob Woodall, former Houston County Commissioner Mark Culver, and Dothan city employee Lisa Matheny.

Woodall said that the city has seen significant financial growth under Cowper, and it is not the time to move away from the current city manager.

“There have been some mistakes made, but God help me, we’ve all made mistakes,” said Woodall. “There is vibrant economic development, not only in downtown Dothan but this whole city.”

During Cowper’s tenure, he spearheaded the ambitious City Center Project, a successful $200 million plan to revitalize Dothan’s downtown area.

When Culver took the podium, he thanked the commission for voting to hire Cowper five years ago, and both he and Matheny spoke about Cowper’s creation of the “Love Dothan” movement.

“Love Dothan is not just all the projects; it’s a feeling. It’s a feeling we have as a community that we haven’t had until the Love Dothan program was brought to our attention,” said Culver.

Once the community comments were heard, the commissioners spoke up, some for Cowper and some against.

“I don’t think you should fire your coach when you’re winning,” said Commissioner Bedwell.

Commissioners Ferguson and Pierce spoke against Cowper, saying that while he has many good ideas, he has not brought many to fruition or executed those ideas.

Mayor Saliba spoke last before the voting, saying he thought it was a mistake to dismiss Cowper in the middle of the major changes going on in the city and discussed how the many projects would be put on pause during the search for a new city manager.

Despite Cowper’s success, the Dothan government came under fire after a scandal involving the city’s after-school feeding program was revealed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com.