CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Clarksville Ajax Turner 50+ Center non-profit filed a lawsuit against the City of Clarksville, Mayor Joe Pitts, as well as four former members of the community’s Senior Citizens Board on Tuesday.
According to the complaint, the action arises from the City of Clarksville’s attempt to “seize a 60-year-old charitable senior center – and the building it occupies – that the city neither owns nor lawfully controls.” In the complaint, it further argues the property is on record of belonging to Montgomery County, and the city holds no deed to it.
Attorney Pete Olson told Clarksville Now on Tuesday that lawsuit has been taken to court for filing.
Senior Citizens Board of Directors Jimmy Parker and Jill Turner Crow were also listed as plaintiffs, as Beverely Guynn, Otis Sanders, Maureen Potter and Rose Bennett were also listed as defendants.
Statement from plaintiffs: ‘For this we sue, stand our guard’
On Tuesday, Clarksville Now received this statement from the plaintiffs who filed the complaint.
“For 60 years the Ajax Turner Senior Citizens Center has provided special services for our community, particularly for our at risk and vulnerable elderly citizens. Jill Turner Crow, the family of the Center’s namesake Ajax Turner, and the legitimate board of directors intend for the Center to continue its commitment to the community, and to provide and even expand the services for our at-risk and vulnerable elderly community members,” said the lawsuit.
“We cannot explain why, but the named defendants, including the City of Clarksville, have dedicated their efforts to end this needed charitable institution. The defendants have violated numerous laws and basic community values doing so. They have done so under color of title as the government. The Center never had problems until government got involved in its management. For this we sue, stand our ground, and instruct the defendants to cease and desist its unlawful course of conduct. We intend for the Defendant’s to follow the law and protect our community’s elderly.”
Clarksville Now reached out to the City of Clarksville for comment, who declined at this time.
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Argument of invalid vote behind July 16th eviction
In addition to saying the City of Clarksville doesn’t own or lawfully control the property at 953 Clark Street, the lawsuit argues against actions previously taken by Guynn, Sanders, Potter and Bennett when they voted to relinquish the Clark Street facility on July 16 to the city.
According to the lawsuit, the city’s efforts relied on the July 16 board vote from Senior Center Board members who had already been removed. “That surrender vote was a nullity,” the filing states. “It was cast by four individuals — Beverly Guynn, Maureen Potter, Otis Sanders, and Rose Bennett (the Former Directors) — who had already been removed from the board effective June 30, 2026, and who resigned moments after the vote.”
The complaint says the lawful board reversed the action later that same day and declared the center is “not leaving.” It also went into detail about how Tennessee non-profit public benefit corporations cannot hand over assets to a city without following a strict “statutory process,” which includes at least 45 days advance written notice to the Tennessee Attorney General.
It further states that a city attorney told the center it must vacate the building on Clark Street by Monday, July 27.
Alleged Sunshine Law violations
The complaint accuses the city through “information and belief” of violating Tennessee’s Sunshine Law, arguing that through City Council and its committees, discussion about terminating the center’s lease took place in “closed, non-public sessions and informal assemblages, without the adequate public notice the Tennessee Open Meetings Act requires.”
The lawsuit references two June meetings allegedly held in a first-floor City Hall hallway. It says the city withheld “unredacted video and records of its meetings on the subject.” Under the statute, the filing notes, “Any action taken at a meeting in violation of the Act shall be void and of no effect.”
The lawsuit also points to the center’s 1998 lease, which the city signed as landlord, and says the agreement guarantees that the “Tenant peaceably and quietly enjoy the leased property without any disturbance from the Landlord.”
They are asking the court for a temporary restraining order and injunction to prevent further eviction attempts, along with damages.
“Unless the city is restrained, the center faces immediate and irreparable harm for which no award of money damages could compensate,” the complaint said. “The July 27, 2026, vacate deadline threatens to close a 60-year-old charitable institution.”
Plaintiffs also seek a declaration of the lawful Board’s authority, and the invalidity of the former directors’ acts, as well as the city’s eviction effort.
| Previous stories
- Ajax Turner Senior Center board splits, takes conflicting votes, starts over
- Senior Board meets despite initial police lockout, votes to remove 4 members, reinstate director
- Senior center attorneys address allegations of Open Meetings law violation, sexual harassment
- Ajax Turner Senior Center to close June 15 to pack for move, closed-door meetings questioned
- Protesters object to changes at Senior Center, resident speaks out on Adult Day Center closure
- City terminates Ajax Turner Senior Center’s lease, mayor says to ‘stabilize’ ongoing operations
Jazmin Logan contributed to this report.
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