Lumberton Informer

Like I've said, we have some great people in Lumberton. After hearing about the Back 2 School Blowout that's being held at Tina's Salon and Barber Shop on August 1-2, 2014, the manager and employees at Ward's of Lumberton offered their assistance and services. Ward's of Lumberton has generously decided to donate meals to the stylists. They're also donating cookies for the children as well as school supplies. Another random act of kindness from concerned residents of Lumberton; if only this type of caring and generosity was exhibited by our Mayor and Board of Alderpersons. Kudos to the management and staff of Ward's of Lumberton. If you would like to contribute to the Back 2ASchool Blowout, give Tina a call at 601-297-9738.

I knew I was bugging the Mayor and Board of Alderpersons but I never would have guessed that they thought I was actually bugging them with electronic listening devices. Yesterday, I discovered we, the citizens of Lumberton, no longer have access to the Records Room because it's locked and being used as the executive session room for the boardIof alderpersons. It seems that some elected officials and the city clerk think I bugged the room they once used; the small room adjacent to the break room. Now, the alderpersons are holding executive session across the hall,Iin the room designated as the Records Room. It was said that there was a sweep of the previous room and they actually found "bugs" in the room. Seriously. I'm not a soy but from the spy shows I've seen on television, there's a device used to detect bugs. So, if they visually located bugs, it would lead me to believe that the person that found them is probably the person that put them there. Another ...

On August 1-2, 2014, Akeema Taylor will be hosting a "Giving Back to the Comwillunity" event at Tina's Hair Salon and Barber Shop. Akeema is inviting ALL school age children to Tina's Hair Salon and Barber Shop to treat them to FREE natural hairstyles; mainly retwists for dread-locs. This offer does not include starter dreads. Included in this event will be other salon offers. There will be a barber on duty and he's offering FREE haircuts for boys and the young ladies that don't rock the natural look can get a relaxer for $25. These offers are for ALL school age children. In order to get the free and reduced priced services, participants are asked to bring in an item from the school supply list. The school items collected will be donated to the local school to ensure that all students will have supplies for the new school year. Come out and support a worthy cause. We look forward to seeing you there as we get ready to kick off another successful school year...

I went to city hall to do a little research and I stumbled upon several road blocks on the access road to public information. As I was standing in the hallway, on my cellphone, calling the city clerk because the records room was locked; a guy that was working off an old fine yelled through the corridor saying I had to come to the front because the record room is closed. Say what you may about Stephanie Mullings, and I have, but she knew better than to lock the records room. She talked the board into allowing her to lock her office but she did have the wherewithal to know that the public has a right to access to the records room. My first thought was, what are they trying to hide? I later discovered that the records room is now the location for executive sessions. In addition to the locked records room, the board room/court room has been locked as well. I wonder when were these changes implemented? Normally, I would just look.at the book of minutes but the last set of minutes availa...

Please show your support for Boone's Water Wells; owned by Scott Boone. With over 20 years of experience, Boone's Water Wells specializes in drilling and services related to water wells. Boone's also sell filters, pumps and all other equipment and supplies related to water wells. For all of your water well needs, give Boone's Water Wells a call at 601-796-2858. Help support local business and watch our community grow.

Waste Pro has been awarded the contract for garbage collection in Lumberton. They will begin collecting garbage on Monday, August 4, 2014. All garbage collection.will take place on Monday. There will no longer be any garbage collection on Tuesday and Wednesday. Waste Pro will not require citizens to have a Waste Pro trash can during the first year of the contract but according to the Waste Pro representative I spoke with today, that agreement is subject to change. For now, Waste Pro will pick.up garbage in cans up to 30 gallons. There are some restrictions. To get a list of those restrictions, you can call Waste Pro at 601-264,7888. Please note, in August, all trash will be collected on Mondays.

Help support another local business. Family owned and operated. Specializing in service, installation, and sale of heating and air conditioning. Equipped to serve all your heating and air needs. Located on 69 Hess Road, Lumberton, MS. Give them a call at 601-606-7762. You can also find their business page on Facebook. Taylor HVAC, LLC. Support local business and the investment will help grow our community.

The other week I started a feature called "Small Business Spotlight" to highlight local businesses and services. I was looking through the blog posts and it seems that I may have posted the information on the Lumberton Informer Facebook page but not the blog. So, this week, I will re-post the businesses that were featured in Facebook. Local farmer/contractor Pops Chad Owens has an assortment of watermelons, cantaloupes and tomatoes fresh from his garden. To show his appreciation to those supporting his business, he has a give away every day. To enter, go to his Facebook page, Pops Chad Owens, and click like on the picture and your name will be entered into the drawing for that day. Please support our local businesses and watch our community grow.

I spoke with Charlie Bock of the MDEQ last week and he said they are moving forward with the permit request submitted by Rolloff Recycling, LLC. He said they meet the guidelines and they are going to be allowed to open once they agree to certain stipulations. Mr. Bock said he did not understand why city officials were trying to keep the public from knowing about this permitting process and he felt that the attempt to hide the process from the general public contributed to many of the doubts and speculations regarding the site. Here is the text of the email I received from Be. Bock after we talked over the telephone. Good afternoon, Mr. Griffith. Thank you for giving me a call this afternoon. As I said, we just simply wanted to somehow address the letters we received from several of the city residents before we went forward with our permitting process and issued the permits. I wasn't sure whom to contact, so I was hoping to speak with you as I was aware that you had a hand in e...

Last night, I attended yet another recessed meeting that was held by the Lumberton Board of Alderpersons. I arrived a few minutes late and the board was already in executive session. I don't know about you, but it seems that once I started posting videos of the meeting, the board had found more reasons to go into executive session; whether it's legal or ethical. Well, one of the reasons I started taping segments of the meetings was to avoid accusations that I was "twisting their words." Needless to say, there's a few that insist I am not accurately reporting what's taking place at the board meetings; namely Cora Rogers, but you've seen the video, there's no need for me to add to the statements made by the alderwoman at large. The only thing I regret is the fact that I wasn't recording when a concerned citizens, who was seemingly still grappling with the fact that she was brutally attacked, pleaded with the board to keep a full police departmen...

One of the first thing's I noticed when I went to the podium to sign for an agenda was a copy of Robert's Rules of Order among the stack of papers that were before the city clerk. As a matter of fact, I tweeted a picture of the book and posted it on the Lumberton Informer facebook page. Seeing this book offered me some renewed hope that someone was at least attempting to follow some protocol regarding these meetings. But my renewed hope was quickly withdrawn as I looked at the lengthy agenda. The regular scheduled meeting was recessed on July 3, 2014 and was to reconvene on July 15, 2014. However, there were two "emergency" meetings called while the regular meeting was recessed and prior to the recessed meeting, the only agenda item that was left to discuss was the termination of police officers. Correct me if I'm wrong but a recessed meeting was a meeting that was not completed. In order to have additional items put onto the agenda for a recessed meeting, an a...

I have been trying to find the words to describe/ encompass how I'm feeling. Today, the mayor and board of alderpersons will put the final nail in the coffin of police protection for the City of Lumberton. It saddens me thatmmore people are not concerned about the ramifications of this decision to essentially leave Lumberton unprotected. It feels like the board is thrusting us into a movie; a cross between The Purge and Alien vs. Predator. Not only are they endangering the residents and local businesses but they're endangering the lives of the officers that are being forced to patrol alone for 12 hours. The saddest part of this decision is the fact that no one knows how this happened or they're just not willing to discuss this matter with concerned citizens. The meeting that was recessed will reconvene this afternoon but it seems more like a memorial service than a meeting. I just don't understand how a mayor that prays for a city on Main Street every Saturday do...

The mayor and members of the board held another "emergency" special called board meeting. Since there wasn't enough money for payroll, the board voted to borrow $20,000 from WSOM to cover payroll until the next board meeting; which is Tuesday, July 15, 2014. During the discussion, the aldermen didn't want to discuss why so much was needed to cover payroll. Cora Rogers did everything to avoid admitting that the board did not amend the agenda to terminate the police officers that were not on a budget list, but McMcGraw acknowledged that the funds were needed because they cannot terminate any officers until the regular board meeting is reconvened next Tuesday. Sadly, the board didn't know about their gross oversight until it was mentioned in the blog. After the board voted for the transfer of funds, a concerned citizen asked the board why they didn't forsee any of these budget issues and true to form, Alterwoman (her pronunciation) at Large Cora Rogers rudely l...

It's almost that time of year. Registration for the Lumberton Pee-Wee Football League will begin Saturday, July 12, 2014 at the Lumberton Public Library. You can register your child between 10:00 am- Noon at the Lumberton Public Library. For more details, contact Coach Stanley McGowan @ 601-606-4165.

Each week, a local, small business will be highlighted. If you know a small business owner that would like to be featured, please give me their contact information. It could be a home based business or store/shop. I will not feature any business without the consent of the owner. So far, we have featured Pops Chad Owens Fresh Produce. He has fresh watermelons/cantaloupes for sale right now; he's stationed in front of the Shell Gas Station. The small business spotlight for this week is Reuben NcInnis, the new barber at Tina's Beauty Salon/Barber Shop. The shop is conveniently located at 7792 Highway 11. His hours of operation are from 7:00 am- 6:00 pm. Help grow our local economy by supporting local, small businesses.

And the winner is................the dump truck. I'm just leavingwhat is being deemed an "emergency" special called meeting to make a payment on the dump truck to avoid repossession. The fact that the dump truck is in danger of being repossess means the payments are behind; extremely behind. Tonight, the board voted to pay the final payment of $2,059.84 to Bancorp South Financial for the dump truck. It seems the board can always find money to pay for $6,000 lawn mowers and dump trucks but cannot or will not find funding to keep our city safe. But on the bright side, our streets are always clear of leaves/branches, the park/cemeteries are always neatly cut....ooops...they're not. Unfortunately, that's not an issue, according to Daniel "Danny" Davis. He said, and I'm summarizing his statement, the Public Works Department should not be cut because the city will continue to raise rates to ensure the department is self sufficient. In other words, don...

First and foremost, the elected officials of Lumberton need to stop lying to themselves and others; they read this blog more than they read the work packets they get each month. Today, at 6:00 pm, the board will hold a special called meeting. When I contacted city hall, they were rather evasive about the subject matter of the meeting but whenI called the Lumberton Library, I was told the meeting was to discuss payment to Bancorp South for a dump truck. I guess the board has decided to act like they can't see the big neon pink gorilla in the room; the fact that they never properly terminated the police officers and the fact that they're still on the city's payroll. Since I am well versed in procedures regarding board meetings, I have another how did I miss that moment to share. One would think that this board would tire of getting upstaged by a person that, according to some, knows nothing about this city. Well, with what little I do know (sarcasm intended)...I have more u...

I have some good news for a change. There's a barber in town. His name is Reuben McInnis and he will be working at Tina's Beauty Salon/Barber Shop. His hours are Monday-Saturday, 7:00 am-6:00 pm. Walk-ins are welcome. Please stop by and welcome Reuben to Lumberton and help build up his local clientele. It's important to support local businesses and I hope Reuben have a long, successful stay here in Lumberton. Welcome and I will be stopping by to show my support.

There's benefits of attending meetings as a concerned citizen. Most of our elected officials never attended a meeting before getting elected. As a result, they don't have a full understanding of the laws governing their position. Yesterday, the board forced Chief Cowart to select four officers to keep on as Lumberton Police Officers. Their names were written on a budget form and the remaining officers were told they were terminated. Well, as a person that regularly attends board meetings, I know that more is required to terminate a city employee. In order to complete the termination process or reduction in employee hours, the agenda of the board meeting must be amended, the names of the officers being terminated must be added and the motion is carried upon a majority favorable vote.The board followed this process Tuesday when they terminated several part time officers but didn't follow this process on Thursday when they verbally terminated the officers that were not lis...

There's no need to wait for fireworks; there were plenty on display at the board meeting. Before the meeting started, Coral Rogers and Kent Crider were having their meeting before the meeting. Noticeably absent were Mayor Winston and Alderman Dukes. They make decisions to make cuts but then don't man up and stand behind th;ir closed doorddecision. In true form, Danny Davis got up and faked concern saying he care about this city and he could retire.DDavis also said that there was no need to cut his department because the rare increase sustains his department. Davis is not giving up any man hours or privileges; his department will still have the use of two trucks and they are cutting the hours of two seasonal workers. Again, the only department that's getting cut is the police department. Davis ran out, stomping like a baby because the question about the use of the city truck was raised. McGraw ran after him and gave him his yearly sugar tit and he came back in and behave...

On June 30, 2014, the mayor and board were scheduled to hold a special called meeting but since the board wanted to hold a budget workshop in executive session, the meeting was adjourned because several alderpersons did not want to violate the Open Meetings Act. Needless to say, the very next day, the same alderpersons went into executive session and violated the laws they were so concerned about just the day before but I will talk more about that later. Recently, there were posts about the second train derailment and how that was actually newsworthy. I think the point that the author was attempting to make was the fact that the mayor is constantly trying to derail the City of Lumberton is not newsworthy. I am thankful that no one was hurt as a result of the passenger train derailing but I also know that we don't know how foolish a person is until they open their mouths or post random thoughts on Facebook. I think there's some misconception about reality. Whenever someone p...

More details are emerging from last night's board meeting. I just found out that the board denied Chief Cowart use of the Tahoe. Keep in mind, she's the only department head that no longer has access to a take home vehicle. As ammatter of fact, two Public Works employees have take home cars, Danny Davis and Roy. I guess their trucks run off air because they think the chief's truck.is the only one using gas. I don't know about you, but this seems like a personal attack against Chief Cowart and the Lumberton Police Department. Another issue I have is the fact that this matter was not revealed once the board came out of executive session; another ethics violation. I may have had problems with the former chief but I think we have a good police force in place and I would like to keep it that way.IThe only people that don't want a police department are crooks and you best believe they've been plotting; waiting on the dismantling of the LPD. But we still have a say....

The review of last night's board meeting has been delayed. I am making calls and researching the legality of the actions taken by the board last night. After I get the paperwork together to file the ethics complaint against themayor, board and city attorney, I will blog my review. For those that may not have heard, Jay McGraw Kent Crider and Tommy Dukes voted to cut the police department. If the Chief carryout their orders, we will have three police officers serving as the Lumberton Police Department. The question I've been asking is how they're cutting positions that were already included in the budget. The budget for this disc year does not end until September. So, they're essentially putting the cart before the horse. Also, the cuts they're making are arbitrary. They say they're cutting all departments but that's not true. The two part time positions they're cutting in the public works department are seasonal employees and the clerks are being cut ...