Editorial: Should a judge decide?

Written by admin on August 23, 2009 – 5:12 am -

Mississippi Tribune

By Lonnie Ross
Editor

August 21, 2009

 

This week in Sunday’s edition of the McComb-based local daily newspaper, the Enterprise-Journal, editor Jack Ryan wrote an editorial titled “Let a judge decide. He was writing about the same issue that I have been writing about these past few weeks: what should be done about the majority of selectmen’s actions when they stripped the Mayor of his powers and gave them to the city administrator and themselves. In case you missed reading that editorial (or you do not read or subscribe to that newspaper), I am sharing some of what he said:

 

“…I think the members of the city board who hired Quordiniah Lockley as city administrator should ask a judge whether they had the legal authority to do so. Basically this means submitting the four ordinance amendments the majority of the board approved in June to judicial review. Generally, the amendments
take power away from the mayor and give it to the city administrator, excluding the mayor…Mayor Zach Patterson has said he believes the actions are illegal. He has maintained that the amendments change the
city charter, which can only be done by a vote of residents…He said he believes the board hired Lockley illegally, and anything selectmen do at Lockley’s recommendation would be illegal as well…I have no idea who is legally in the right: the mayor or his opponents on the board. So the selectmen, if they are confident that their decisions in June were proper, should ask a judge, presumably in Pike County Circuit
Court, for a review of the ordinance amendments.”

 

First, I must say that I agree with Ryan about what happened at city hall: four selectmen, Danny Esch, Wade Lamb, Robert Maddox, and E.C. Nobles used ordinance amendments to strip the mayor of his power and gave it their new city administrator, Lockley. They basically crowned Lockley the new mayor and  rendered the official mayor position useless. But, will the next elected city board in 2011 change the ordinances again to give the mayor his power back if Zach Patterson is not re-elected as mayor?

 

I don’t trust Jack Ryan. As far as I am concerned, he is one of them—part of the good-ole-boy system that maintains white privilege in McComb. Ryan may not know who is legally right, but if he has any moral
character, he must see that those selectmen actions were morally wrong. Any intelligent person can see how unjust these ordinance amendments, these actions by those board members, how unjust they are.

Unfair, unjust, just plain wrong.

 

So, I disagree with Ryan when he said let a judge decide. The people, the voters, the majority Black city and Black community already decided. Zach Patterson is our mayor!

 

First Black mayor in the history of McComb. We are so proud of that. Great leader and great confidence. Any first Black mayor would need that characteristic. Back in the day, many white people would call
him an arrogant n…. A change agent. Just what we needed, someone not afraid and willing to help change city hall so that everyone can equally participate and have equal access. Especially Black people who have
been deprived for so long.

 

No, the people have decided.

 

And, why did Ryan suggest the selectmen go to a judge in Pike County? No, no, no. This is the same good-ole-boy system of the slavery and Jim Crow days where white people look out for each other at the expense of Black people. I don’t trust the process that Ryan is suggesting. After all, Ryan suggested in a
few of his previous editorials how a majority of selectmen could stop the mayor. I don’t trust him.

Selectman Melvin Joe Johnson stated this week that if he were the mayor, he would go to the
governor and the state attorney general. He would fight back against these unfair actions.

 

Finally, I was disturbed by a comment near the end of Ryan’s editorial. He said:

 

“If a judge says the selectmen are right, the mayor has even less ammunition to oppose those who disagree with him. If the judge says the mayor is right, that would certainly be a defeat for those who disagree with the way the mayor has run things. Since this disaffection is fairly widespread, the next step
would be to put these proposals to a referendum. I suspect the voters would approve them by a comfortable margin.”

 

A comfortable margin? What in the world is Ryan talking about?

 

I hate, yes, hate when these arrogant white people talk as if Black people don’t exist, as if we are invisible, as if we will not do anything, and as if their world view is the only view! What world is he living in?

 

McComb is 65% Black. Yes, the voters are majority Black and they are proud to have Zach Patterson as our first Black mayor. Before Obama was elected as president, there was the historic election of Mayor Zach Patterson. President Obama is ‘catching it’ from every direction it seems, especially from republicans
and white racists. Because he is Black and he wants to help people, everybody (sounds liberal to me). And Patterson is no different.  He is Black, determined, has a take no prisoner attitude, and he wants to help everybody (sounds liberal to me).

 

Those four selectmen do not want their proposals, their amendments to go to a referendum, because the majority of Black voters would find out what they have done. And, I would personally get involved in organizing the vote and making sure that every person, especially every Black person and right-minded person is educated on the subject matter. I am convinced that the majority Black city voters along with other right-minded white citizens will come out and vote those amendments down! We won’t let you get away with it.

 

Yes, let’s have a vote. We don’t want a local white judge to decide. All judges are subject to their experiences, values, beliefs and culture. All judges are biased in that way. We have had enough of one man, or four men deciding what we have already decided.

 

Those selectmen had no right or authority to take away the mayor’s power and give them to their hand-picked administrator. It is unfair, it is wrong, and it is crazy.

 

In his editorial, Ryan reveals some of the objectives of he and his good-ole-boy group when he said the mayor would have less ammunition to oppose those who disagree with him. Ryan, the mayor has disagreed with you, often. So, now ‘you all’ have worked in concert to take away a large chunk of his ammunition.

 

How dare Patterson stand up to the great white man. Esch, Ryan, Wayne Dowdy, Norman Gillis, Ronnie
Temple, and more!

 

How dare Patterson try to lead McComb city into modern times, making this an attractive city for everyone, not just white people.

 

How dare Patterson try to give the Black community hope and pride, that we really are equal to white people in every area of life.

 

How dare Patterson try to improve the living conditions in the Black community, to match and equal the conditions that the white community takes for granted.

 

How dare Patterson try to stop the good-ole-boy system from maintaining a white rule caste system when he decided to pick people who would be more friendly to the Black community (remember Jim Storer, Jean Fyre, Angela Miller, and so many more appointments?).

 

No, no, no Jack Ryan, you are mistaken. The disaffection is not fairly widespread. I am not happy with everything about Mayor Patterson. But, I am not happy about everything about President Obama. I am not happy about everything about my Pastor, Gregory Partman. But, I support them all. I believe in them. I understand them. I relate to them. None of them are perfect, but neither am I and neither are you.

 

Patterson’s office as mayor is greater than all that personal stuff that you and those selectmen and others have entangled yourself in. The office of the mayor should have never been tampered with by you and those selectmen.

 

Yes, I said you. You are just as guilty to me as the rest of them. You all have acted like the white racists of the Jim Crow era. Shame on you!

 

Uppity negro. That what Patterson is to you. He was voted in legally. He’s been changing things for the better. Getting a lot done. So, you call on those white selectmen and one Black selectman to work together
to stop him. Patterson is too strong and too smart for that. So you do the impossible: you take away his powers.

 

He was legally voted in office with the same powers of all the previous mayors. You couldn’t put him in his place, so, you took his powers. Again, shame on you!

 

I believe that a judge will eventually make some kind of decision. But it shouldn’t have to come to that.

Because the people decided in 2006 who would be their mayor in 2007 through 2011. And, they expected
him to have the same powers and authority of all of the previous mayors (who all happened to be white men).

 

Those selectmen stole something from the people. They stole the Black mayor’s powers. That is a crime. And, that is what the judge should decide.

 

Because the people have already decided.

 

Lonnie Ross,
Editor

 


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Selectmen: It was wrong to take Mayor’s powers

Written by admin on August 23, 2009 – 5:08 am -

Johnson and Smith says it is unfair, it’s wrong

By Lonnie Ross
Mississippi Tribune

August 21, 2009

 

On June 9th of this year, the McComb city board of Mayor and Selectmen, by a 4-2 vote, approved a proposal to amend the city ordinances to give the mayor’s power and authority to the city administrator. This included an amendment that transferred the mayor’s authority to recommend his choice for city administrator to the selectmen.

 

On July 28th, they appointed Quordiniah Lockley as city administrator and bestowed the mayor’s powers on him. Three of the six selectmen on the McComb city board responded to questions by the Mississippi Tribune about the recent passing and enactment of amendments to the city ordinances that stripped the Mayor of his powers and authority.

 

Only one of the four selectmen who voted in favor of these changes participated in the interview, Selectman Robert Maddox.

 

E.C. Nobles indicated that he would talk to the Mississippi Tribune if his lawyer was present. He returned a call the next day to announce that his father, Michael Nobles who is also the owner of the business he works at, Nobles Brothers Cleaners, told him to tell this newspaper not to call his place of business
unless it is a business related call (for dry cleaning services). Nobles also referred the newspaper
to his lawyer, Dennis Horn, stating that he would not be answering any questions because of the pending lawsuit filed against him and the other three selectmen who approved and filed the amendments.

Nobles was asked if he took Enterprise Journal calls at his job. He deferred to his lawyer and ended the call.

 

Horn called back and stated that he had advised all of his clients not to talk to the press or to say anything because of Patterson’s pending lawsuit. He said that everything those selectmen do from this point
on will be under scrutiny and could be used against them during court proceeding related to the lawsuit.

 

Selectman Danny Esch said he was in class each time he was contacted and said that he would call back. He never called back.

 

Selectman Wade Lamb said that he was in a meeting when he was contacted and asked to be called back in a half hour. He has not answered his phone over the past two days since the initial contact.

 

All of the selectmen were asked the first question: Why the amendments? Why was this done?

Only three answered, Maddox, Robert Earl Smith and Melvin Joe Johnson.

 

When asked why was this done, Smith said “I’m not sure. The majority of the board felt that he (the mayor) should not have the power to supervise those employees, even though previous mayors had those powers.”

“I voted against it. I felt that we were changing the charter. To do that we have to go through the process of going to the governor, the attorney general, and the voters” he said.

 

“These powers are part of the charter. I’m sure those selectmen who wanted this change sat down with the lawyer to make sure they could do it this way. They felt the power should be with the board and the City

Administrator” Maddox said “That’s the way it reads on the books. That’s what needed to be done.”

Johnson said “I think that it was personal. Some of the selectmen have shown when you look back at the issue of the residential status, they made remarks that they didn’t trust the mayor. This is the best mayor
that I have seen who has accomplished a lot since I’ve been there. Some people don’t want change. Most of what was done should have gone to the voters who elected this board. This time around the police and
fire chiefs did not go through the civil service process, not this time like before. Jack Ryan said that they have the votes to do this. We had a vote where we voted 3-3 and the Mayor broke the tie, then it was voted again and Robert Smith changed his vote due to influence of others (referring to the police chief)  reinstatement vote)”.

 

When asked if they were concerned about legal ramifications, Smith said “A judge is going to have to make a decision on this. I’ve been on the board for 16 years prior to this term. I was always under the belief that those powers were under the city charter and my interpretation is that it would change the structure of the charter and that is why I voted against it. It’s not changeable by amendments of city ordinances. And, I still feel that way.

 

Maddox said that he has no concern right now.

 

Johnson said “It was sad, the attorneys that draft up these plans with those selectmen. I don’t understand all of the legal ramifications or if it is legal. And I don’t think it’s fair. For example, Lockley and his lawyer
struck a deal with the city that they would drop the lawsuit against the city if he were hired as City Administrator for a year at a salary of $69,000. Then, after he was hired he and his lawyer came back and
said that they want the city to pay the lawyer’s legal fees of $7,000 plus and Lockley’s insurance
costs of another $319 per month or over $4,000 total. This is unfair.”

 

When asked if this action is just for Mayor Patterson or will this continue for all future Mayors, Smith said

“A judge has to make that decision ultimately, because any board can do that. That is, every time you vote in a new board, they can change the powers of the Mayor the way they want them.”

 

Maddox said “I don’t know. No one has spoken on this issue. No further comment.”

 

Johnson said “It appears to be an act just against Mayor Patterson, and it is a possibility that it could be changed when he leaves office”.

 

When asked is this fair, Smith said “It was a weak form of mayor to begin with and it is weaker – weaker now. It may or may not be legal. But it is not fair. Slavery was wrong, but it was legal. The intent of the citizens in the beginning was for the Mayor to operate with the powers that was already in the
beginning, it was never questioned in the beginning. The system was pleasing the majority of voters of McComb, and it never came up ‘let’s take these powers away’. Poll taxes were legal but it was not fair. Blacks were denied the vote, but it was legal. It’s not fair. What has been done has not done anything
to advance McComb.

 

Maddox said “Yes, because those powers have been with the CA who has that authority. Someone has to make the decision. At this time yes it’s fair, next week maybe no.”

 

Johnson said “It is unfair”.

 

When asked do you think this happened partially because he is the first Black Mayor, strong willed,
and an agent for change, Smith said “He was voted in by Blacks and whites. I don’t criticize anyone who is pushing progressive change. I don’t necessarily agree with all of the ways he tried to bring about change.
People don’t like change and he upset a lot of people. Did race have a lot to do with it? I hope not, but it’s possible. Deep down, I hope that he is successful. It will pave the way for other minorities to run for office
and run city government.”

 

Maddox said “No, I don’t believe those were factors. I don’t know how the others feel about.”

 

Johnson said “Whenever you get the first Black, just look at the president. Both races, some are jealous and not ready or wanting change. Patterson is a great leader. I have watched him. He is an excellent leader.


He is the right man to move the city of McComb forward.” When asked the question:

 

“What if it were you and they took away your power and authority like this?” Smith said “If I came into that position with a level of expectation and the authority I would have, and this was done to me, I would not want that position: I wouldn’t like it at all. I would expect to have what the previous administration had and nothing less. No, I wouldn’t like this at all if I were mayor.”

 

Maddox said “First, you couldn’t give me that job. I believe in not getting personal with anyone,

keep it on a nonpersonal basis, then I think it is fine. If they got personal and it wasn’t based on what is best for the city of McComb, then I would be concerned about it. I’m 78, going on 79 years old and I operate this way. I don’t know all the answers”.

 

Johnson said “I would seek legal advice, go to the attorney general and to the governor, I would pursue it to the best of my ability, because it is wrong. Freedom is not free, but if you do the right thing it should work out in the end”.

 


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