Good Riddance: The End of the Age of Ignorance

Today is officially the last day of the current Mayor and Board of Alderpersons. I also heard that today is also Danny Davis' last day as Public Works Director. If the rumor is true then I can truly say that things are already getting better for the City of Lumberton. I'm sure Danny think he's crippling the City of Lumberton by resigning before the new board takes office but he's actually helping the City of Lumberton Move Forward. Since the inception of this blog, Davis "quit" his job several times because he knew at least one board member would beg him to return. It's amazing that he claimed month after month, year after year that he loved this city but words are meaningless if they're not supported by your actions. If he loved this city, there would be an employee at the Public Works Department that had the education, experience and expectation to carry on in his steed but Davis made sure that the ones that had the educational background to take his position didn't receive the necessary training to fill that post; others were giving the responsibilities and increase in pay despite the fact that they never intended to obtain the training needed to have such a position but Danny made sure they got promoted because he loves this city. Davis loves this city so much that he actually assaulted a citizen while he was on payroll at the City of Lumberton. As a matter of fact, he actually drove to the scene of the crime in a City of Lumberton vehicle. After he thought he was clear of any civil actions, Davis allegedly boasted about assaulting the Lumberton Informer. The City of Lumberton never took any actions against Davis and that's probably why the voters braved the rain to get them out of office, but at least the Board of the Lamar County Library did the right thing and banned Davis and his sister from the Lamar County Libraries; not that it was a place they frequented. I find it laughable that Davis didn't train his workers to excel without him but he trained them to hate a person that actually advocated for them to receive better pay and work conditions. Who knew slavery still existed. I could share a plethora of screenshots of things said by Public Works employees but I will save them for the appropriate time. I know they probably think I'm going to use their words to retaliate against them but if I chose that route, I would be just as low as their current boss, Danny Davis. They enjoy the benefits of freedom of speech just as I do but when that speech if filled with threats it's something totally different but Judge Anderson has yet to sign off on those charges.

As we mark an end of the Age of Ignorance, things are already looking better for the City of Lumberton. Kent Crider, Tommy Dukes, Jr., Cora Rogers and Danny Davis are no longer in power and we can start revitalizing the City of Lumberton. Prior to the election, several city employees "claimed" they were going to quit if Jonathan Griffith was elected. I guess that's why they were working so hard to keep me from taking the oath of office but their plans didn't work. In case they didn't know, I was elected as Alderman of Ward 3. Where's your letter of resignation? Oh, you're waiting to submit it at our first board meeting. As I stated, I'm not like them. My goal is to Move Lumberton Forward. The decisions I make as an elected official will be business decisions not personal decisions; unlike most of the decisions rendered by the outgoing administration. I'm not going to go into all the details but they did everything possible to keep me out of office. They had Paul Ockmond slithering around my ward, looking for someone to run against me and after many failed attempts to sponsor a candidate, they convinced Ben Winston's nephew to run. I guess it was an easy choice since he was also a former employee of Aaron Lott. I think they knew Tommy Dukes and Cora Rogers were going to lose but they were willing to give up those two seats because winning Ward 3 would allow them to remain in control of the three votes needed to keep the City of Lumberton stagnant. They never counted on the voters getting out in the rain and demanding change. They never expected Quincy Rogers to win the Mayoral spot.....But God!

After winning the election, I should have been in a celebratory mode but winning was just the beginning of my fight. I kept hearing these rumors about Ben Winston talking to the manager at Pecan Ridge, rumors that Paul Ockmond had called on a judge for a favor and then I started receiving screenshots and telephone calls. As you know, I was actually locked out of my apartment despite having receipts. Long story short...I survived. However, I never thought in a million years that ministers in my community, ministers in a church I help start would stoop so low but at some point, people always show you who they are; it's up to us to believe them. You can tell they thought they won but look how God works. Someone at city hall called the Hattiesburg American to tell them that I was evicted because they thought that would prevent me from getting sworn in. Well, what the enemy meant for bad God made it for my good. After they reported the matter to the Hattiesburg American, the Secretary of State informed them that I could still get sworn in even if I no longer lived in Lumberton as long as I had the intent to return to Ward 3. Look at God!!!!! They tried everything to keep this city under their control and their world is crumbling right before their eyes. The attacks almost caught me off guard but it never caused me to lose focus. Over the years, in an effort to bring accountability and transparency to the City of Lumberton, I was threatened with a gun by the Chief of Police (Hobson), I had job applications hidden or thrown in the trash, I was ticketed while parked in front of my home, I had my car towed by the Lumberton Police Department because I received tickets for parking in front of my home, I was later jailed because I didn't pay the parking ticket, I was sued for blogging, I have been denied access to public records despite filing complaints with the Ethics Commission, several department heads plotted to have me charged with cyberstalking, I was assaulted by a City of Lumberton employee and despite all of this, the residents of Ward 3 elected me to serve as their representative/their voice for the next four years. So when they tried to prevent me from taking the oath of office, it wasn't an attack on me; it was a slap in the face of the voters that got out in the rain and said they wanted me to serve the residents of Ward 3. I'm thankful and I pray that God led us as we try to revitalize this city. We were elected to be agents of change and we, the entire City of Lumberton, has a lot of work to do. It's going to take all of us working together to Move Lumberton Forward.