Lumberton Informer

Before going to work, I like to sit out on the patio but I couldn't enjoy my morning dose of sunshine because of all the tall grass and the fact that I had to wade through this field of neglect to get to my garbage can. As I sat there with fears of the Zeka virus and Lyme disease running through my mind, I recalled a time when managers of the Mississippi Regional Housing Authority 8 would evict residents that failed to pay their lawn care fees. Now the same corporation is slacking in their responsibilities and have failed to properly maintain the lawn all Summer but that's the nature of MRHA 8; they will adjust the rules to fit their purpose. They're in a position to help people but they seem to love employees that will lie, cheat and possibly steal in order to advance their agenda. What they failed to realize, if people no longer needed housing, they would be out of a job. As you know, I've had dealings with the manager of Pe...

I remember when I decided to start the Lumberton Informer. I was sitting at the barber shop, now Tina's Salon, and I was talking about the election with Wade. During the discussion, he asked me what did I think about the election. At that time, we were weeks away from the election but I told him that I didn't trust Bobby Gibson and Timothy Johnson because I felt they were running to serve Ben Winston and Paul Ockmond. I also told him I was waiting to see who's the third partner and it was later revealed through their voting pattern that Kent Crider was their other partner in crime. So, their attempt to control the City of Lumberton has been in the works for years; it didn't just happen. I told Wade that I needed to establish a forum where we can hold elected officials accountable. Over the years, I've gotten many things wrong because my access to public information was often restricted. As a matter of fact, there's a current investigation...

The meeting started out as usual. Noticeable absent was the members of the Lumberton Police Department but shortly after arriving, I received a call informing me why the police were not present at the meeting. However, there was an officer in the audience that was hired as a full-time/part-time officer at a rate of $12.50/hour. His name is Phillip Duckworth and he's replacing Officer Linda Marie McKibbin. The first item on the agenda was to allow Mr. David Hatt to address the board about brining a skydiving business to the City of Lumberton. Thankfully, he was not present because I don't trust this board to negotiate a contract that will benefit the City of Lumberton. They tabled a motion to repair the windshield of Martha Youngblood because Danny Davis said none of his workers were mowing grass at the time of the incident. There were some lackluster reports given by the Public Works Director and City Clerk. Danny Davis warned the board that we were going to fail the wa...

Due to inclement weather, I didn't not attend the board meeting last night but I'm sure they didn't accomplish much last night. However, about 40 minutes prior to the board meeting, I received an email from Vanessa Jones, the new attorney for the City of Lumberton. The letter did not have a subject line but I'm guessing it was in response to the request I submitted asking for verification of Paul Ockmond's certification as the building inspector and code enforcer. The letter I received is provided below. I take issue with the letter because it lacks specificity. One would think that a person that's paid $100/hour could write a better response; instead Jones seemingly struggled to string two sentences together in an effort to remain as vague as possible. Another issue I have with the response is the fact that the elected and appointed officials of Lumberton do not think the citizens of Lumberton have the right to know if thos...

I just mailed a letter to HUD about my suspicions about fraudulent activities taking place at Pecan Ridge Apartments, formerly Frank Lee Homes but eternally referred to as "Turn Key." As many of you know, I worked as a property manager for years and I know a little about tax credits for apartments. As a matter of fact, I went to several training sessions about LIHTC (Low Income Housing Tax Credit). One of the first things I learned as a property manager was to maintain a waiting list and to make sure you did not move tenants in the computer unless you had another tenant slated to move in. Tenants would move without notice but regional managers were adamant about leaving the tenant in the system because the property could lose money from that unit if it remained vacant too long. Generally, it would take a week to turn an apartment around for a new tenant; depending on the condition of the apartment. I recall an instance where one apartment was left in...

I was blogging the other day and stumbled upon some important information. It seems that Lumberton Code Enforcer/Building Inspector, Paul Ockmond, is allegedly working under the previous inspector's certification and milking the city and citizens in the process. Stealing Southern Baptist Preachers??? Tell me it ain't so. Now I know why Paul Ockmond was slithering through my community, offering to pay someone to run against me. I discovered this Ponzi scheme accidentally. Imagine what I would find once I have access as an elected official? That thought has many scared and they're actually willing to pay to keep that from happening. What are they hiding? Are the ones currently serving on the board in on the scam? The bible carrying ministers seem very comfortable with the crew that's already in place; for some reason. We all know there's a plethora of individuals on Lumberton's payroll that's about as effective as set of old butter kni...

At the February board meeting, our elected officials went into executive session to discuss what they deemed "the sale of property" but they were actually discussing a trade with Lamar County. According to Crider, they needed to make a decision because it was a done deal but according to an article in the Hatteisburg American "there still remains some details to work out." Based on the article, it was hard to tell who initiated this deal that will result in the City of Lumberton losing a building that would cost $1,000,000 to build today in exchange for a vacant building and 5 acres of land. It looks like another win win for Lamar County and another bad business deal for the City of Lumberton. If you're a sports fan, you're familiar with lop-sided trades. For instance, the time the Vikings gave Dallas a dynasty for Herschel Walker. How about the time when the Baltimore Colts traded John Elway to the Denver Broncos or when the Atla...

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...

As you know, this is an election year for the City of Lumberton and other surrounding municipalities. For years, self-serving agendas have ruled Lumberton. We complain about the people ruining our city but we're not willing to give others an opportunity to show leadership through service; something that's lacking from this and previous administrations. Lumberton is on life support and a mortician has the authority to pull the plug. Do you really think a person that specializes in death is capable or willing to support life. Death is his bread and butter and Lumberton's corpse is just another opportunity to put more money in his pockets. Over the weekend, those currently serving on the board were at various events gathering signatures in order to have their names placed on the ballot. Each candidate is looking to get re-elected. All of the candidates have made their intentions known except for Tommy Dukes, Jr. He's collecting signatures but...

I stopped doing review of the board meetings but since this one was short and ineffective, I decided to post a review. Abbott and Hardy (Crider and Buckley) had their routine rehearsed perfectly when they downplayed the value of some shelves at the old Lumberton Hospital. The board declared the shelves as surplus so an undisclosed person could purchase them for $100. At first I didn't think much about the deal but when Johnny and Kent kept trying to convince everyone the shelves had no value I realized that they probably saw the items on an Antique Trading Show and using this as an attempt to swindle the City of Lumberton once again. The department dead-heads gave their monthly monologues. Prior to the meeting, Merlene allegedly made various claims about the late inflated water bills but during the meeting she settled on the story that the bills were higher because they included a 40 day billing cycle because of the holiday season. The person over the ...

The second meeting of 2017 will take place tonight. It is rumored that the Lumberton Board of Aldermen will sell the National Guard Armory tonight. Instead of keeping the building and turning it into a community center, shelter, senior citizen center or to house the Lumberton Volunteer Fire Department, Kent Crider is pushing for the sale of the building before the 2017 election. The building was given to the City of Lumberton and instead of using it to enhance the City of Lumberton, they're rushing to sell the building. I just started my subscription to the Lsmar Times and I didn't get an opportunity to see if the notice to bidders was advertised. I know bids are sealed but with the crew we have at city hall, I don't trust the process. Unfortunately, I saw what happened when the City of Lumberton rushed to sell the Movie Star building; everyone made money from the deal except the City of Lumberton. It was my hope that the city would keep the building o...

We're on the eve of the second regular scheduled board meeting of 2017 and those elected to represent the City of Lumberton are not conducting themselves in a professional manner. Since the last board meeting, where the board members decided to show they fully support an employee that committed a criminal act while on the clock, the board members and the city clerk have tried to set up road blocks in an attempt to build a case against me. Those of you that read and/or troll the blog, you noticed there were several attempts to show their full support of Danny Davis. Your current mayor, Kent Crider, went to the Lamar County Library Board meeting with a slew of misinformation; he said the assault started outside, that some disgusting language that he could not repeat was disseminated using the library's internet service, that he's planning to organize a ban of the Lumberton Public Library and he also proved he was not well versed in any laws...

Imagine my surprise when I heard about Paul Ockmond going to and fro like a irritating Chihuahua looking for someone to devour or bite on the ankle. Although I suspected for years that Paul and his crew were buying votes but now they're looking for someone to run against me and they're allegedly looking to buy votes to keep Kent Crider in the Mayor's seat. Apparently the Enterprising Bubbas fell short when they looked were slithering through the streets of Lumberton, looking for a candidate to split the votes in an effort to keep Alderman Quincy Rogers out of the Mayor's office so they're resorting to "buying" votes with promises of things to come and the ever allusive jobs that will come to fruition something after another four years of deception. Allegedly, of course. Just so we're clear, there will be jobs and an influx of money but it will be for the Enterprising Bubba's not you. They will give a few of th...

Last year, there were rumors about the state of the National Guard Armory. At one meeting, there was speculation that the building was getting sold for $10,000. Calls made to city hall regarding the matter were rather evasive; the clerks would neither confirm or deny the pending sale of the building that was gifted to the City of Lumberton. Besides the rumor mill, there was a sighting of the proposed buyer meeting with Lumberton's city attorney at Dan's in Hattiesburg. At first, I didn't know what was going on but after a little digging I started to wonder why the City of Lumberton didn't give the building to Lamar County since they wanted the building and the City of Lumberton was not able to maintain the facility. After hearing that Kent Crider was itching to sale give away the building for $10,000, I wanted to know why he was so adamant about keeping the building out of the hands of Lamar County but whenever Crider is involved there's prob...