I arrived at the meeting at 6:05 p.m. and they were already on page two of the agenda. After speaking with the deputy clerk, I was told that the matters involving the 2014 FAA-AIP Project were voted down because Gary Hickman had not concluded his work and was not prepared to present the information to the board for review and approval. Noticeably absent was Alderman Quincy Rogers. The board had already voted to proclaim the City of Lumberton a Purple Heart City. The board also voted, with trepidation, voted to allow Mr. Jimmy Holder to carry over 13 hours (not days) of vacation time to the next year. For some reason, that was a matter of great debate. There was an order to allow Elsie Cowart, Chief of Police, to attend the 2014 Association of Chiefs of Police Conference and to pay hotel, registration and per diem. The board also voted to allow Danny Davis, Public Works Director, to attend a short course for certification for Wastewater and to pay registration fee, test fee, hotel, per diem and mileage. I thought it was odd that they would pay mileage since he has use of a city owned vehicle. Unless he's not taking the truck but it was not discussed. The board voted to post a speed limit sign on Piatonia Road. Mayor Winston added that the speed limit will be 35 mph.
There was an order to pay the Mississippi Department of Employment Security $11,188.61 for 2013. The commission had not received any payments from the City of Lumberton in the last four quarters. The board voted to pay the monies owed in hopes that it would not prevent the City of Lumberton from obtaining future grants. That is possibly the reason they tabled the 2014 FAA-AIP Project. Agenda item 11 is something the board made clear that they wanted to have it addressed by Mrs. Kathleen Bogle in her Sunday column. So, I acquiesce and will not post the information. It will be posted in the Hattiesburg American on Sunday, April, 20, 2014. The deadline for the matter is Friday, April 25, 2014, but you can get more details on how you can assist in Sunday's paper. When discussing agenda item 11, Alderwoman Cora Rogers was giving a tally of the individuals she needed letters from and the list included Mayor Winston, Danny Davis, Public Works Director and Johnny Buckley, Code Enforcer/Inspector. When she asked Mayor Winston to get in contact with Buckley, he and Crider started giggling like two school girls. Winston went on to say that he will allow someone else to get in contact with Buckley because Buckley was rather heated during a conversation they had on Saturday and Winston said he had to walk away. From the way they were chuckling, it seems that Crider was privy to that exchange and I guess it will be an inside story that we will have to wonder about. What has Buckley upset, who knows and who cares? Rogers said she needed to get in contact with him and Merlene Wall graciously gave her his contact information. The reason I mentioned the matter was the fact that Winston was so upset with an elderly church member that he wanted her banned from the building but he was willing to walk away from a heated exchange with Buckley and actually laugh about it afterwards. Interesting.
The board then voted to go into executive session. It took longer to rally all the aldermen in the board room than it did for them to vote on the issue they were addressing. I thought we were able to get through the meeting without any faux pas, but Mayor Winston decided to violate the Open Meeting Law once again. After coming from executive session, Mayor Winston announced they voted to terminate a public works employee. After reviewing what I taped, he specifically stated: “I will not give the name on the person that was terminated. If you want the name of the person that was terminated, you can look it up when the minutes come out." Lack of knowledge, lack of knowledge, lack of knowledge. Now, this is not Winston's first time on the board. He should be aware of the Open Meeting Laws. This is the second time in the same month that he violated this law and no one on the board addressed his errors. Not a single alderperson or clerk moved to correct the matter and that is the reason why I feel it is time to file an
Ethics Complaint. Ignorance of the law is not a defense. This is Kent Crider second term on the board and he should know that anytime a vote is taken in executive session, the vote and what actions that were taken must be announced to the public. The fact that Winston said "he wanted to make sure the person that was terminated was contacted before it was announced that he was terminated" was a kind gesture but it was not legal. There have been quite a few individuals that were terminated in absencia. But that does not mean the public has to wait another 30 days for the minutes to be printed to find out who was terminated. It was obvious that the person that was being terminated was from the public works department because Danny Davis was the only person called into executive session with the alderpersons. So after is request to have the employee terminated was granted, he should have gotten on his cell phone and informed the person. How difficult was that. As a matter of fact, the person that was terminated was informed of his termination just moments after the meeting was adjourned. The person that was terminated asked the city clerk and she then told him that she did not feel it was her place to give out that information. Where are we getting these employees? You are basically the guard of the city and you have the legal right to give out information that's pertaining to public records. So, here we are back to square one. We had years upon years of a city clerk that sat by and would not correct any misinformation disseminated across the board room podium and it seems that history is repeating itself. What is going to take to move this city forward? In the words of Dr. Maya Angelou, "I agreed a long time ago, I would not live at any cost. If I am moved or forced away from what I think is the right thing, I will not do it. Yes, you must be agile and willing, but if one is being asked to contradict, you must remember there is different in manner, but not different in meaning."
I arrived at the meeting at 6:05 p.m. and they were already on page two of the agenda. After speaking with the deputy clerk, I was told that the matters involving the 2014 FAA-AIP Project were voted down because Gary Hickman had not concluded his work and was not prepared to present the information to the board for review and approval. Noticeably absent was Alderman Quincy Rogers. The board had already voted to proclaim the City of Lumberton a Purple Heart City. The board also voted, with trepidation, voted to allow Mr. Jimmy Holder to carry over 13 hours (not days) of vacation time to the next year. For some reason, that was a matter of great debate. There was an order to allow Elsie Cowart, Chief of Police, to attend the 2014 Association of Chiefs of Police Conference and to pay hotel, registration and per diem. The board also voted to allow Danny Davis, Public Works Director, to attend a short course for certification for Wastewater and to pay registration fee, test fee, hotel, per diem and mileage. I thought it was odd that they would pay mileage since he has use of a city owned vehicle. Unless he's not taking the truck but it was not discussed. The board voted to post a speed limit sign on Piatonia Road. Mayor Winston added that the speed limit will be 35 mph.
There was an order to pay the Mississippi Department of Employment Security $11,188.61 for 2013. The commission had not received any payments from the City of Lumberton in the last four quarters. The board voted to pay the monies owed in hopes that it would not prevent the City of Lumberton from obtaining future grants. That is possibly the reason they tabled the 2014 FAA-AIP Project. Agenda item 11 is something the board made clear that they wanted to have it addressed by Mrs. Kathleen Bogle in her Sunday column. So, I acquiesce and will not post the information. It will be posted in the Hattiesburg American on Sunday, April, 20, 2014. The deadline for the matter is Friday, April 25, 2014, but you can get more details on how you can assist in Sunday's paper. When discussing agenda item 11, Alderwoman Cora Rogers was giving a tally of the individuals she needed letters from and the list included Mayor Winston, Danny Davis, Public Works Director and Johnny Buckley, Code Enforcer/Inspector. When she asked Mayor Winston to get in contact with Buckley, he and Crider started giggling like two school girls. Winston went on to say that he will allow someone else to get in contact with Buckley because Buckley was rather heated during a conversation they had on Saturday and Winston said he had to walk away. From the way they were chuckling, it seems that Crider was privy to that exchange and I guess it will be an inside story that we will have to wonder about. What has Buckley upset, who knows and who cares? Rogers said she needed to get in contact with him and Merlene Wall graciously gave her his contact information. The reason I mentioned the matter was the fact that Winston was so upset with an elderly church member that he wanted her banned from the building but he was willing to walk away from a heated exchange with Buckley and actually laugh about it afterwards. Interesting.
The board then voted to go into executive session. It took longer to rally all the aldermen in the board room than it did for them to vote on the issue they were addressing. I thought we were able to get through the meeting without any faux pas, but Mayor Winston decided to violate the Open Meeting Law once again. After coming from executive session, Mayor Winston announced they voted to terminate a public works employee. After reviewing what I taped, he specifically stated: “I will not give the name on the person that was terminated. If you want the name of the person that was terminated, you can look it up when the minutes come out." Lack of knowledge, lack of knowledge, lack of knowledge. Now, this is not Winston's first time on the board. He should be aware of the Open Meeting Laws. This is the second time in the same month that he violated this law and no one on the board addressed his errors. Not a single alderperson or clerk moved to correct the matter and that is the reason why I feel it is time to file an Ethics Complaint. Ignorance of the law is not a defense. This is Kent Crider second term on the board and he should know that anytime a vote is taken in executive session, the vote and what actions that were taken must be announced to the public. The fact that Winston said "he wanted to make sure the person that was terminated was contacted before it was announced that he was terminated" was a kind gesture but it was not legal. There have been quite a few individuals that were terminated in absencia. But that does not mean the public has to wait another 30 days for the minutes to be printed to find out who was terminated. It was obvious that the person that was being terminated was from the public works department because Danny Davis was the only person called into executive session with the alderpersons. So after is request to have the employee terminated was granted, he should have gotten on his cell phone and informed the person. How difficult was that. As a matter of fact, the person that was terminated was informed of his termination just moments after the meeting was adjourned. The person that was terminated asked the city clerk and she then told him that she did not feel it was her place to give out that information. Where are we getting these employees? You are basically the guard of the city and you have the legal right to give out information that's pertaining to public records. So, here we are back to square one. We had years upon years of a city clerk that sat by and would not correct any misinformation disseminated across the board room podium and it seems that history is repeating itself. What is going to take to move this city forward? In the words of Dr. Maya Angelou, "I agreed a long time ago, I would not live at any cost. If I am moved or forced away from what I think is the right thing, I will not do it. Yes, you must be agile and willing, but if one is being asked to contradict, you must remember there is different in manner, but not different in meaning."
SMDH!!!
ReplyDeleteDaville