Mayor Quordiniah Lockley revisited his push Tuesday night for junking McComb’s charter and adopting one of the four forms of government allowed for cities not operating under a special charter.
He stated a case that the mayor should have powers that are protected by state law.
“The mayor has no powers enumerated in the charter,” Lockley said. “Four selectmen can get mad at the mayor and change any power of the mayor given by ordinance. That has happened twice, once to Mayor (Zach) Patterson and once to me, and that’s not fair.”
He noted that, as powers in the charter are alloted to the “mayor and board of selectmen” collectively, executive and legislative powers are not in his view adequately separated as they are under other forms of government in state law.
“The attorney general’s office and other officials I’ve spoken with talk about how vague McComb’s charter is,” Lockley said. “If something isn’t spelled out, you go to state law. Why not go to state law from the start?”
Lockley said he doesn’t believe McComb is large enough to effectively use the mayor-council form of government, and he said he doesn’t like the design of the council-manager form of government.
That leaves the code charter form, also known as mayor-alderman or weak mayor, which is most commonly used in the state, including by Magnolia, Osyka, Gloster, Liberty and Tylertown; and the commission form.
Another form just called council form remains on the books, but depends on 1940 census figures and applied only to Tupelo when enacted. Its usefulness is defunct.
Selectman Matt Codding tried to press Lockley on which form he wanted and whether Lockley was trying to gain veto power over board decisions. Lockley deflected, saying he just wanted board members to look over the terms of the forms of government so they can discuss pros, cons and preferences later.
Changing from the city’s special charter to another form of government would also change the election cycle.
Lockley said the change would take effect after the city’s next election in 2026, which would then put the city’s election cycle on par with other municipalities in the area in 2029.
Codding contended that the election cycle would have to change before the end of this term, meaning the current board’s terms would be shortened by a year and elections would held in 2025.
According to state law, the form of government of any municipality may not be changed before a referendum is held and approved by a majority of voters participating.
