He Said What?

Did you see the interview with District Supervisor, Ben Winston, on September 8, 2011 in the Hattiesburg American? Why is he talking about ways to grow the city now? He's had four years to get these plans implemented, but now it's a pressing issue. Could it be that he's just trying to get his name out there since the election is only two months away? Here are some statements I take issue with. Mr. Winston stated that ". . .I'm the only black on that board and my district is majority white and I get more accolades from the white community than I do from the black community." Well, after taking a short drive through Lumberton, most of the signs supporting Ben Winston were in the yards of black voters. As a matter of fact, I didn't see any Help Ben Win signs in the yards on Lower Airport Road or Bass Lane. Is Mr. Winston more concerned with accolades than accomplishments? So, now he wants to play the race card. When he ran for election, he listed all of his accomplishments, including his stint as an alderman, but I noticed that he omitted his service as President of the Lamar County Chapter of the NAACP. I wonder if that was just an oversight or something done intentionally. For the record, I don't have any qualms regarding Ben Winston and his position as a minister. I do have qualms when those same characteristics that he demonstate in the pulpit are not expressed in other areas of his life.
Winston also said that "I think the strongest divisiveness exists in Lumberton. . I mean, c'mon, you're dealing with grown people, and they have a responsibility to be looking out for the welfare of the people they represent, and if they're not going to do that, they need to step aside." Intersting. Three of the main one causing strife in Lumberton (Gibson, Crider and Johnson) are affiliated with him in one way or another. Why haven't he asked them to step aside? But they why would he, they went to bat for him and even went as far as disbanding the planning and zoning committee to get rid of a citiation that was issued against Mr. Winston.
Ben Winston also spoke of the new Industrial Park and said ". . I really need is the mayor and the city's board of aldermen to come together and come to the (supervisors), and say, 'We need your help. What do we have to do to get your help?" Good luck with that one. This board does not want to work with Mayor Holder. Until recently, the board has not kept the mayor in the loop regarding the new Industrial Park, and now Ben Winston want them all to get together and come to the board. If two can't agree, how can they walk together. I don't know why this board don't want to work with Mayor Holder, but until they set aside their differences, this city will continue to fall apart.
Winston, Gibson and Johnson want to turn back the clock of time. They want us to vote for certain candidates solely based upon color of skin, rather than whether that candidate is the best person for the job. While at the same time, we have elected officials like Bobby Gibson that got your vote based on the color of his skin instead of the content of his character. The realities are that when our community comes together, as the song says, ain't no stopping us now, but we already know that Gibson and Johnson will do everthing they possibly can to denegrate Mayor Holder as well as the City of Lumberton and they're doing this with the blessing of their leader, Ben Winston, District 2 Supervisor. It may be nice to have a black supervisor, but I'd rather have the best person do the job, black, white or Latino.