What's The True Agenda?

The other day I reported about the closed door discussions that were allegedly being held to replace the Lumberton Police Department and it's officers with patrol by the Lamar County Sheriff's Department. The amount of $300,000 per year may not be accurate but Ben Winston is working overtime trying to get rid of Lumberton's Police Department. At first I said he was operating without board approval. Well, that may or may not be true. Everything that has been done by this mayor, despite it's legal and/or ethical ramifications, has been supported by the board of alderpersons. As you know, he only need three aldermen to sign off on his injudicious motions and they are passed. So, all the blame for this effort to dismantle the Lumberton Police Department is not the working of one individual but the fact that there are some unethical as well as uninformed/unlearned/unscruplous individuals that are seeming uninterested in the dismantling of the City of Lumberton. (Side note: I would have used the term disinterested but that would indicate they have no stake in the matter but that is not true.) After trying to look at this measure from other perspectives, I have yet to come to a reasonable conclusion as to why Ben Winston is so determined to rid the city of its police protection. This attempt was tried months ago and Lamar County Sheriff Danny Rigel stated that they would assist the City of Lumberton with crowd patrols and parades. He also stated that they would assist when needed but they primarily focus on patrolling the unincorporated areas of Lamar County. In other words, the Sheriff's Department work in conjunction with the area police department not in lieu of the police department. But for some reason, Winston is insisting on eliminating every job in the City of Lumberton including but not limited to the Lumberton Police Department and all its personnel. In order to carry out such a plan, he would need approval of the Board of Aldermen and the Lamar County Board of Supervisors would also have to approve any deal of this nature. Still, I don't think this will be something that would be accepted because as a city, Lumberton is responsible for its police protection. I am fully aware of the need to correct the bottom line in a budget, but there is also a quality of life that must be considered as well. Let's be realistic. How effective would police patrol be if we had to rely on Lamar County. Go to the dispatcher's office and check the call log and notice the response time for calls made from Lumberton. It's not that the Lamar County Sheriff's Department is not a capable group of individuals. The problem lies in the fact that they are scattered and at the time of the call, it could take them 30-40 minutes to reach Lumberton. Not very reassuring in an emergent situation. Those of us that live in Lumberton know that things can get out of hand in a short period of time; especially during the summer months. Well, with the rise in the use of "spice" they are not waiting until Summer to "wild out." Do you really want to wait 30 minutes for police assistance? Well, I guess Winston has not considered these facts. From what I can tell, he is only looking at the budget and not looking at the effects these cuts will have on those that are willing to work in Lumberton, on the ones that live in Lumberton and the ones that actually re-located to Lumberton to work for the police department. But I guess he is hoping that some civil matter could be handled via the open carry laws. Essentially, without police protection, the City of Lumberton will turn into Old West and citizens can use their firearms to "stand their ground" or as it is referred to in the State of Mississippi, "castle law" to protect themselves in the event that the police are not available. I don't know why he's so hell bent getting rid of the police department. Do he feel members of his family are being targeted by the police department? Someone said I should call him and ask but several calls to the telephone number he provided me has yet to be returned. Therefore, I don't think he has any interest in discussing the matter with me or any other citizen since he is constantly telling citizens at the board meetings that "these matter are not their concern." Regardless of how you may feel about the police department, I would hate to be in a city that did not have an active police department. If the budget is his concern, he need to allow Chief Cowart and Deputy Clerk Speights continue to collect the $750,000 in fines owed to the City of Lumberton. He also need to stop trying to be a dictator and actually take the time to listen to the citizens. Unless he truly believe that the citizens don't matter. If Winston truly want to dismantle the police department, then he need to start the process to unincorporate the city of Lumberton and turn it over to Lamar County. He and the rest of the elected officials can step down, give up their pay and insurance, close city hall (turn it into another Lumberton museum), work out a plan where the water bills can be paid at the library and wash his hands of the entire City of Lumberton and focus on his plans of establishing Lake Lumberton. Personally, if you didn't want to put in the work needed to be the mayor of Lumberton, you never should have sought the office, but since Lumberton is full of misinformed individuals that were more concerned with a personal agenda instead of looking for a person that had Lumberton's best interest at heart, we are stuck with this lame duck mayor that feel that this city is for sale and every day he's in office, he looking to put more and more city employees out of work while selling off the city itself. I can't promise this is all I have to say on this subject but I will let this marinate for a while and see how many "concerned" citizens will attend the February 4, 2014 meeting to see if any of these measures to eliminate the police department are true or will it be empty as usual. Only time will tell. Like I've said, don't take my word for it, come see for yourself. Cioa!