Can You Hear Me Now?

All this time, I've been blogging but no one wanted to losten because they hate the messenger more than the message. So, do like our Mayor and stick your head in the sand and hope this goes away. There was a special called meeting tonight because the board just realized they're out of money. Mayor Winston, who led the city down this path, decided not to attend because this is the start of his Sabbath. Didn't Jesus address this matter in Matthew 12:11, when he said, "If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath....wouldn't you take hold of it and pull it out?" Well, Mayor Winston, the shepherd of this city refused to step in to pull this city out of the ditch he created with his "we only need three votes" mantra. As a matter of fact, tonight's meeting should not have taken place because the mayor was in the jurisdiction and the Mayor Pro Tempore violated the jurisprudence of a code charter municipality by chairing the meeting.

The board went into executive session, another violation, but I guess, at this point, it really doesn't matter. After an hour of deliberation, they felt the best resolution is to send certified letters to Governor Phil Bryant, State Legislators/Representatives, the Lamar County Board of Supervisors and plead for assistance. In this matter, in this age of technology, I think it's time to get on the phone, social media, the news and make your request known. Certified letters are antiquated and are basically used for proof. While this city is circling tbe drain, tbe board is trying to create a paper trail. Tbe time for action was over a year ago, before they threw money at Richard Rose, before they blindly voted to pay expenditures without knowing what was in tbe bank, before focusing on how details discussed in executive session made it in the blog, before allowing Mayor Winston to dictate which bills were getting paid, before spending money on an airport that wasn't profiting the city, and before re-certifying Merlene Wall as city clerk. I know more about this code charter municipality than she does and it didn't come from a class; it came from attending meetings and reading. A weak willed person cannot function as city clerk. Now, the men and women employed by the City of Lumberton may not have a job next Wednesday but those responsible for getting us to this point will still be on the payroll. How pathetic. Time and time again, I warned of this day; Alderman Quincy Rogers warned of this day but we were both look at like pariahs. So, Alderman Tommy Dukes, do you now know why Quincy was "critiquing" everything on the agenda and budget? Because it's his job to do so; it's all of your jobs to do so. Mayor Winston drove us over the fiscal cliff and he had several board members to fuel his cause; with their vote of yea. I never said their job was easy but you have to be willing to make tough decisions. Too many of their decisions are based on personal agendas and not based on what's best for Lumberton. Tell me, how are you going to look in the eyes of the soon to be unemployed staff of Lumberton as they lose their jobs right before Christmas? What are you going to tell the citizens when they have no police department, no garbage collection, no fire protection? This is a tragic situation and it's tragic because it could have been avoided. No millege rate increase in a city with basically no tax base? Seriously? Ben, I hope your business partners appreciate you shutting down the city so they wouldn't have to pay higher taxes on all the land they're hoarding. What's next? The board needs to instruct Lindsey Carter to draw up paperwork so the city can file bankruptcy, but what do I know, I'm just a blogger that tried to warn you for the past few years.