Remember When You Said. . .

I have a lot to share, but I'm going to wait since we only have a few more days left before the next board meeting. I don't want the aldermen to claim that they failed to take action on certain agenda items because of the things I said in the blog. Don't you love the irony of that statement. . .our aldermen feel disenfranchised by this blog, but none of the aldermen read the blog. . interesting. But I will share some information from an interview the aldermen had right after they took their oath of office. I pulled a news article from July 4, 2009, that highlighted the swearing in of our current board. The title of the article was “Mayor, Board call for unity” and was featured in the Hattiesburg American. Those statements were taken almost two years ago and it’s interesting to contrast the things the aldermen said after they were sworn in with their actions over the past two years. Alderman Rogers was grateful for being elected to serve again and he was optimistic and willing to move Lumberton forward. He stated the following: "I just want to thank the voters again for the opportunity to serve them again. I know this mayor is better for Lumberton. ... We can only go up from here and that's where we are going." Mayor-elect Holder affirmed her belief in God and was looking forward to better days in Lumberton. "For myself and the new Board of Aldermen, it is our goal that everything is to be done for the glory of God and for the promotion of the city of Lumberton." Kent Crider stated that “It's going to be a lot better, this is a board that is going to work together rather than bring out our arguments in public." If you’ve attended any of the meetings, you will notice that Kent is the most argumentative of all the aldermen, especially when it comes to admonishing the mayor. But he did say that the board is going to work together, I didn’t find any quote saying that he and the board were going to work with the mayor for greater good of the City of Lumberton. During the interview, Rebecca Hale didn’t talk about her stance on city issues; instead she talked about the fact that her family has always been involved in the politics and how proud her grandfather would be that she’s been elected to serve. Alderman Rogers stated that “We can only go up from here and that's where we are going." Sadly, this board has not been able to see past its own agenda and help elevate the citizen’s view of our elected officials. Bobby Gibson did not speak with the press, but Timothy Johnson made the following statement: "I believe from the start that our commitment is to work as one. "We have the backing of our community, and we want to utilize every possible resource. ... I want to see the citizens of Ward 4 and the city get more involved in all functions of the city." Did I read that statement correctly, that Timothy Johnson wanted the citizens to get more involved in all functions of the city? Where was this reasoning when you and your group decided to disband the planning and zoning committee? The mayor and aldermen were sworn in by Judge Prentiss Harrell and he told the mayor and board of aldermen that “Your people elected you to a responsibility of public trust. We cannot forget that we are elected for the benefit of the people rather than ourselves."