Weekly Wrap-Up

Before I need to request a police escort, I think I'm going to wrap up this week of events. This has been a very active week, but we must keep things in perspective. My intentions are to provoke your thinking and to challenge you to embrace change. I feel that I need to go on record and say that I don't have any ill feelings against the people that serve. We all have personal agendas, but it was/is my hope that we elect a set of individuals that will use their agendas to propel the City of Lumberton forward. I have known Bobby Gibson all of my life, and once he became an alderman, he was/is the person I turned to when I have questions. The blog has focused on a set of events that took place during one meeting, so it would be unfair of me to base my entire opinion on one event.
My participation in board meeting began before any of our elected officials took office. I attend the meetings because I am concerned about what takes place in this city. I volunteer my time and energy to doing what I think will be beneficial to this city. We have people on the board that never attended a meeting until they were paid to do so. Therefore, I feel that it is my civic duty voice my opinion about what is taking place in my city. So I am using this blog to debunk many of the myths people have about me. There is an old expression that said if you wanted to hide something from a black person, put it in writing. Well, I hope this blog has dispelled that stereotype. I have spent a number of weekends reading the comprehensive plan, reviewing the Sunshine laws, attending planning and zoning meetings here in Lumberton and in Hattiesburg.
I hope you will read this blog with an open mind and understand that you, and me, and all of us, are responsible for what is taking place in Lumberton. It is ours to keep, or ours to throw away, and whichever action we take, the survival of our city rests solely upon our shoulders.
Our leaders are there to serve us, and if they fail in that regard, it is our right, and more importantly our duty, to make sure they do not remain in office.
Being a concerned citizen is neither easy nor simple. Much is demanded of us, and if we fail to do our duty, the Lumberton we want to see will not prevail. I have been accused of giving our elected officials hell. For the record, I don't give them hell, I give them the truth and they just think its hell.