Lumberton's Best Investment Overlooked Again

Last night it was finally revealed why the board members refused to attend the special called meeting; they do not want Elsie Cowart to serve as Chief of Police. When the vote was taken, Rogers and Hale voted in favor of appointing Elsie Cowart as Police Chief while Gibson, Crider and Johnson voted against the motion. Hale pointed out that Elsie had been employed with the City of Lumberton for the past 5 years and she also stated, on record, that she felt that Elsie was "fair and honest." Now, I'm not going to hold it against Hale, but didn't she say the same thing about Hobson. But let's get real; there's a big difference in the way Elsie governs and the way Hobson ruled. For the first time, the board room was filled with officers, on duty and off duty. I have never seen officers concerned about city affairs like I witnessed last night and I believe that their concern is part of the Elsie Effect. Promoting Elsie would be a good return on the City of Lumberton's investment. Often times, when the city pays for someone to attend the police academy, they're usually ghost soon after completing their training. But Elsie stayed and she's going above and beyond the call of duty. It boggles the mind whenever I think about this board and how they base their decisions. Elsie is the first chief that can do payroll, scheduling, and background checks effortlessly. She's worked with the past three chiefs (Hammond, Fortenberry and Hobson) and she still came out unscathed. In the past, the board has always promoted from within. For some reason, Gibson, Crider and Johnnson want to bring in someone that's not familar with the dynamics of Lumberton and place them over the police department. I don't understand how the board can vote to hire officers based on Elsie's recommendations, but not vote to promote the person that made the recommendation. I know I've had my fall outs with Rebecca, but if I had to categorize her, I would say she was a Pharasses because at times, she's fair, you see. But I would categorize Gibson, Crider and Johnson as Sadducees because their sad, you see. When the board did not promote Elsie as Police Chief, almost everyone left the board meeting. After coming out of executive session, the board voted to give Elsie a pay raise; one she should have received when she was promoted to captain. I don't know who the Sadducees are planning on bringing in as Police Chief, but at least we know their vote can't go through over the next 45 days because they won't have enough votes to override Mayor Holder's veto of anyone other than Elsie. In the meantime, those of you that are supportive of Elsie Cowart, need to make it known. Elsie has been a breath of fresh air to a city that's still dealing with the toxic fumes left by the previous chief.