Liars and Buyers

I didn't plan on blogging today but when I logged onto the Hattiesburg American I saw an article entitled "A trade in the future for Lumberton armory?" Before I discuss the article, I would like to discuss the inflated water bills we received. Prior to the meeting, there were several stories regarding the late water bills; stories ranged from blaming the post office to blaming the customers. At the meeting, nothing was said about the late water bills and there was not mention of any adjustments regarding the due date. One of the reasons why they don't hold Merlene accountable for her lack of professionalism is because they know the water bills do not contain a post mark. We know we received the water bills late but we can't prove it because they can say they were delivered to the post office on time but we don't actually see when they were received by the post office. When Merlene tried to explain why the water bills were higher than normal, she said the meters were read late because of the holidays. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Christmas and New Year's Day occur on the same date every year. Since that's the case, those responsible for reading the meters and processing the water bills know these dates and should adjust their duties/responsibilities accordingly but that's just my rational way of thinking. There's the argument that we know the date our water bills are due and that's true. I find it interesting that Mississippi Power has one person reading the meters for the entire City of Lumberton and our electric bills are always on time but for some reason, an crew of six or more people, over the course of several days cannot process information in a timely fashion to ensure that we get our water bills on time and that they're read in consecutive intervals. Well, enough of that. My lunch break is almost over.

Now about the National Guard Armory. The Hattiesburg American mentioned a trade. Can we rewind back to the February board meeting? When the board went into executive session, they said they were going to discuss a sale of land. But according to the newspaper, they were working to complete a trade not a sale. I know Merlene probably took all day to find some loophole in the Open Meetings Act to justify discussing the trade in executive session but another lie was revealed. The board, sans Quincy Rogers, approved the trade, but it seems that the trade agreement is still up in the air. During the board meeting, Crider explained that the trade was good for Lumberton because it would cost too much for the City of Lumberton was maintain the building. Crider also claimed that utilities for the National Guard Armory was $1,000/month. I wonder how many board members actually reached out to Mississippi Power to get an actual billing history or are they relying on Crider's claims? After taking a vote to trade the building with Lamar County, Cora Rogers asked if any of the citizens wanted Lumberton to keep the building. At that point, her question was moot. The board already decided to accept a deal that no one other than Crider was privy to the details. To sum up the deal, the City of Lumberton is giving away a building that could be used by the City of Lumberton to Lamar County in exchange for the Kid's Kampus building and 5 acres of land for an unknown boiler company that no one, other than Kent Crider and Paul Ockmond, know about. Is that how to conduct business? In essence, the City of Lumberton is now a broker for an undisclosed company that's recommended by Crider and in the process the City of Lumberton will become brok-er because the New Industrial Park is not equipped for business. Who's going to pay for the infrastructure (water, sewer, electrical? Lumberton. Is Crider planning on using the CDBG grant to pay for these expenses?

We're constantly dealing with liars that do not have the citizens of Lumberton best interest at heart. Back to Merlene. She's purposely created a lie to allow the board to discuss a public matter during executive session and the new city attorney, Vanessa Jones, was in executive session with them. I was hoping she would do better than Carter and attempt to steer the board in the right direction. You heard the old phrase, once a man and twice a child. I guess Merlene is experiencing her second childhood because she's acting like she's going through her terrbible two's. We all know Merlene is incorrigible, incompetent and sometimes infantile. Remember when she was blurting out at the Lamar County Library Board Meeting and yelping "take a picture, take a picture." This is what happens when you let children misbehave at home, they will do the same thing when they're in public. I wonder when they're going to place her in time out? I guess that's a job for the next board.