New Year, Same Bull???

The first meeting of the mayor and board for 2015 will convene tonight. Will there be a willingness to make needed changes? Will the mayor continue in his quest to rid the city of police protection, despite the numerous break ins? Will we ever get a city clerk that knows how to tell the truth and use the BBI software? Will the citizens show up and demand answers from their representatives? Will we ever find out what happened to the money or will they continue to blame the fiscal shortfall on the closing of Cooper's Industries or will the accept responsibility for not raising the millege rate? These and more questions will be answered at tonight's board meeting or they will continue to be unsolved mysteries.

The pressing matter at this point is the fact that the citizens of Lumberton are just getting their water bills; four days before they can start charging late fees. The city clerk claims she mailed them out on December 31, 2014 but the post office didnt receive them until January 5, 2015. I don't know about you, but that's a long commute. To make matters worse, the city clerk allegedly said she's not waiving late fees. I thought that was a decision the board should make. We all know that Merlene will never admit to mailing the bills late but we also know that it doesn't take six days to get a postcard sized bill mailed from city hall to an address in Lumberton. I placed an online order after midnight on December 31st and it was delivered on January 2nd. So, a package can be processed, routed through Memphis and arrive at my door quicker than a piece of mail mailed from Lumberton with a Lumberton delivery. Please! Just tell the truth, even if it requires pulling from a character trait you obviously do not possess, and move forward. Who am I kidding, that's not going to happen.

Yesterday, I posted a status on the Lumberton Informer Facebook page requesting they bring back Stephanie. There were mixed reviews about the post. In essence, I was saying, get someone in the office that knows what they're doing. Merlene has held this position a little over two years. It's obvious that she either has no intention of learning how to fully perform her job as city clerk or she does not have the intellect to comprehend the data needed to serve as city clerk. Either way, the job is not getting done and it's time to get someone in here that can give an accurate account of what's going on and how to properly enter the numbers into the computer system. I don't care if it's Stephanie Mullings, Leonette Wynn or JoAnn Ladner but get an interim city clerk in that office and send Merlene back to Immaculata High School because she obviously missed some of tbe basics. When Merlene was hired, I quipped at the notion that she was given the job based on her experience as a manager of a tire company. If we need someone to tell us the difference between Goodyear and Michelin, I wouldn't hesitate to give her a call. But what we need to know, what this board needs to know, is where is the money, what's in the budget and why did she stop making payments on the DEQ loan? Yesterday, someone recounted how Merlene found thousands of dollars that were either misplaced or misappropriated by the former clerk. How in the I wasn't trained for budgetarty can you find the errors of someone else but can't give an accurate account of what was in the budget when the new board was sworn in? There's too many unanswered questions and this board does not seem to care that they can not make informed decisions. How are you going to decide to eliminate the police department when you have no idea of what's in the budget?

It's time out for foolishness. When the department heads give their reports tonight, Merlene should have a segment called "What's In the Blog!" Because she's apparently spending more time reading what I write instead of reading her training manuals. When I was led to start taping tne meetings, I thought it was to support the things I post. But God! He knew the accusations that would be brought against me. I can't wait to defend my case, using their own words, in their own voices. The best defense against defamation is the truth. Also, the videos give those wno cannot attend the meetings an opportunity to view what's going on and it also gives a first hand account of how you're being represented. It is my hope that the board meeting will be filled with concerned citizens. If you're not able to attend, please join us and contact Mississippi Attorney General, Jim Hood and urge him to start an investigation into the fiscal mismanagement taking place in the City of Lumberton. The link is included in the post. Please put Lumberton in the subject line. Thank you! >