Water Woes: Part Two

On Friday, July 22, 2011, I blogged about water bill issues and asked residents to e-mail me their complaints about their water bills and/or billing issues. I didn't receive an overwhelming response, but of the 42 complaints/concerns I did receive, most were from residents of Ward 4--Timothy Johnson's territory. The residents in that area are particularly peeved with their representation or lack thereof. I found it interesting that an area that has both a District 2 Supervisor (Ben Winston) and an aldermen living in their community would have residents that feel that their voices are not being heard. The water bill issue is nothing new and for the most part it's indicative of the lack of leadership on display in the clerk's office. Unfortunately, we have a city clerk that does not want to submit to a system of checks and balances. The WSOM (Water and Sewer Operation and Maintenance) account has lost $86,770 but Alderman Rogers is the only alderman that sees this as a problem. I have no problem with Stephanie saying that she can operate the office at city hall the way she sees fit, but if you're going to take over a building that is funded by taxpayer's money, then you should be accountable/responsible for when things go awry. I have never heard of any office that has a department head that's never responsible for anything that goes wrong. When an employee's insurance is cancelled, the insurance company is at fault . . . when child support payments are not deposited, the department of human services is at fault . . . when the alderman's monthly packets are not completed, it's because she had to work in the office by herself. Excuses, excuses, excuses.
Now, back to Timothy Johnson. . . I still find it interesting that there are a growing number of residents of Ward 4 that feel they have no representation; especially since they have an aldermen and a district supervisor living in the same neighborhood. In September of 2010, Timothy Johnson informed the public that he would investigate the allegations that were levied against the water department. Prior to that board meeting, Betty Speights addressed her concerns regarding the malfeasance taking place in the water department, but the board attempted to quiet her concerns by terminating her employment with the City of Lumberton. The next board meeting is Tuesday, August 2, 2011. We will give Timothy Johnson another opportunity to give the citizens a report on his finding from his water department investigation. If he gives his standard "I'm still checking into that matter" response, we will proceed to the Mississippi Ethics Commission with our complaints. I found a state law that will give us leverage for filing complaints with the Ethics Commission. I have already e-mailed those of you that sent in your complaints. Now, I need you to set up a time and date where I can get you to sign the complaint forms. I will fill them out, but they must be notarized or they won't be accepted by the MS Ethics Commission. We want to send in as many complaints as possible because it would have a greater impact; especially since all of the complaints will basically be the same. So, after Tuesday, August 2, 2011, we know what steps we will take next. We've talked about this far too long and now it's time to take action. Sadly, we do not have any trust in those representing the City of Lumberton. We have representatives that do not communicate their ethical standards and/or change them on a whim. Trust is built when the citizens that elected you can count on you to represent their best interest. According to the e-mails, you feel that the actions of Timothy Johnson and others are inconsistent and have the tendency to change when it's expedient;as a result you don’t know what to expect and trust is lost or never existed in the first place.