Lumberton Informer

I'm bored. There's nothing to do.... Well,that's all going to change on Saturday, June 20, 2015, because Chris Wright will host the Second Annual Wright's Custom Woodwork Car and Bike Show at Wood-Hinton Park. The event will begin at 9:00 am and will continue until 6:00 pm. There will be plenty of activities for everyone. There will be plenty of food vendors and entertaimnent. They had me at funnel cakes. There will be cars, bikes, food, snowballs, popcorn, cotton candy, barbecue and jumpers. Did I mention food? There's something for everyone. Trust me. You will not be bored. This year, in honor of Officers Deen and Tate, the host decided to treat the men and women of the Lumberton Police Department to a free meal from any vendor to show their appreciation for their service. Now that's enough to compel anyone to come out and support this event. Chris Wright and the staff of Wright's Custom Woodwork are hardworkers that love their community. This event is ...

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse. It seems that our police department cannot patrol this weekend because they don't have any gas. Allegedly, the FuelMan accounts have not been paid and cannot be usec. So, in addition to not having enough officers on duty, I guess this administration expects tne officers to pay for their own gas. The clerical staff of Lumberton spend so much time, allegedly, monitoring, printing, and collating pages of my blog but can't remember to pay the FuelMan bill. Now do you see why I called the city clerk inept? This has never happened with any other clerk. We've always had plenty of officers on duty and one thing they had was gas to patrol the city. Now let me be clear, there is a patrol car with gas but it doesn't have sirens. Guess what? It can't patrol at night. They had money for security cameras and somehow found money to have them installed without it being on the agenda but they don't have gas money. We...

There's a lot going on this weekend. We're at the end of the school year, there's a graduation Sunday and Memorial Day is Monday. Many people are looking forward to this three day weekend but, for some parents, it's an emotional journey as they prepare to watch their babies march into adulthood as they graduate from high school. As another school year comes to an end, we say farewell to the students graduating. Through involvement in the classroom and extracurricular activities, students are able to find a sense of community. For many high school students, senior year marks the end of one chapter of education and the beginning of another: college. However, some students are opting to enter the military or the worforce. Graduation is a crossroad and many will decide on the path they plan to take in life and the possibilities are endless. We pray that each graduate has a successful, productive life and we're also praying that there's good weather so the graduat...

Yesterday was one of those days. There was talk about citizens organizing a support group for police officers and then there was a rumor about a special called meeting. Neither panned out. I called the Lumberton Libray to see if a notice was posted. It was after 4:00 pm and I know if the notice wasn't posted by then, there wasn't going to be a 6:00 meeting. There was another rumor circulating, saying there's not enough money in the budget to pay any part time police officers. So let me get this straight, at the last board meeting, no one had a clue about what funds were in the budget but this week, there's enough specific knowledge to know that there's less than $100 available to pay part time police officers. How is that possible? All employees are paid from the general fund and some employees are paid from the general fund and the WSOM account. So if there's not enough money to pay police officers, there's not enough money to pay anyone, including the e...

I was trying to figure out what was I missing? I know I'm not the smartest person but I'm not as dumb as some of the elected/appointed officials in Lumberton. Where's the logic? Even a broken clock is right two times a day. Well, the search is over, I had my ah-ha moment about why Lumberton is in such a downward spiral. Yesterday, a reader posted the following "I used to think that they were a sinister group but I came to terms with the fact that they are all basically ignorant opportunists who want to be important. They are all self-serving and like to be surrounded by people like themselves. That's why they stick with inept clerks, useless attorneys, etc." After all this time, I finally got it. All the time I spent blogging, hoping that a glimmer of integrity would be kindled but there's noting there to attach itself. That one reader comment made me realize that you can share your knowledge with a person but you can't make them think. Some people...

When I was uploading the videos from the budget meeting that wasn't, I forgot to upload the one about the actual budget. If you watched the video, you probably have the same questions I have. How can you be in office for 2 years and don't know how to read/prepare/manage a budget? How can you NOT know how much is in the budget? How can you go to Jackson, MS to acquire a loan without knowing what's in your budget? No matter who you're seeking a loan from, they want to know that you can afgord to borrow money and more importantly, the lender want to know if you're capable of repaying the loan. It was reported that the loan has a 2% interest rate, but how can you answer any questions regarding credit worthiness without having any comprehension of what's available in your budget? It may be my warped way of thinking but if there's some way they can finagle $250,000 for sewer pipes and water meters, there should be an line of revenue for a full time court cler...

Last night's board meeting was another example of what's wrong with the City of Lumberton. Just a few days after two Hattiesburg police officers were murdered, the pleas of the Lumberton Police Chief and a police officer were met with disdain. One alderman, Tommy Dukes, was so disrespectful that while the officer was speaking, he got up to leave. Chief Cowart provided documentation showing that the police department can sustain itself if given the tools to do so; a full time court clerk. But this board would rather let fines go uncollected or pay a collection agency to do the work instead of funding/providing police protection for Lumberton. It is a privilege to live in a city where law enforcement is seen as an honorable position. It's ridiculous to think that officers are there to just serve and protect you because you're an elected official. They have an entire community to serve and they're stretched thin because Lumberton's elected officials refuse to a...

Tonight's board meeting had a volatile beginning. Alderwoman Cora Rogers was upset that Mayor Ben Winston and his go to man, Alderman Jay McGraw, went to Jackson, MS to get details about getting a CAP loan for $250,000 - $272,000 to pay the required portion of a Army Corp of Engineers grant. It seems that Winston is more concerned about property and pipes and not people and the police. It was said that the loan would have an interest rate of 2% but based on the board's inability to decipher a budget created by Richard Rose, and claims that they're already overextended, how are they planning to repay a loan? One idea that was presented was to remove the city attorney, judge, defending and prosecuting attorneys from payroll and make then serve as contract workers that would get a 1099 at the end of the year. The clerk said this will save the city by eliminating the payments of FICA and other taxes. That's probably going to be a problem for the city attorney because ...