The McComb city board took no action Tuesday on resolutions for the newest appointees to the Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center Board of Trustees, the city planning commission and McComb Housing Authority.
Selectmen voted on the appointees at the March 24 board meeting, but city administrator Quordiniah Lockley said the board acted without a motion or a second, which are required for the resolutions to take effect.
In March, selectmen appointed Steve Blue to the hospital board by a 4-2 vote with Danny Esch, E.C. Nobles, Wade Lamb and Bobby Maddox in favor and Melvin Joe Johnson and Robert Earl Smith opposed.
Selectmen also named Alvin Burks to the planning commission with a 5-1 vote, with Johnson opposed.
However, the appointment of former Summit postmaster Freddye Green to the McComb Housing Authority Board was controversial.
Selectmen picked Green over former selectman Warren Ellis Gilmore in a 4-3 vote, with Mayor Zach Patterson breaking the tie. Maddox tried to change his vote afterward, saying he was not paying attention during the vote.
Lockley said he and city clerk Jeanette Butler discussed the error after the meeting, and Butler attempted to inform Patterson of the mistake as the votes took place.
“You all voted, but for us to do a resolution, we have to have a motion and a second by this board,” Lockley said. “What you all did was vote on the person to fill that position, but it was never motioned officially by this board.”Patterson said the resolutions were unnecessary.
“I don’t know what this is you and Jeanette Butler saw, or what you all think,” he said. “The bottom line is, that if you sit here and we vote on something, and we vote on these nominees, all you do after this board meeting is fill in the names of those who won the vote, and it’s over and done.”
Smith and Johnson agreed with the mayor.
“I ain’t never seen a resolution when we appointed you to the housing authority board, Mr. Lockley,” Johnson said, referring Lockley’s service on the board years ago. “There wasn’t no resolution.”
Patterson said he should’ve been informed of the mistake first.
“I tell you what. It passed, and I don’t know what Jeanette Butler told you, and I’m not too sure what’s going on there in that discussion,” Patterson said. “But if there’s been some flaw here, then the first thing you do if there’s a flaw in the procedure, you bring that to the attention of the presiding officer. And go read your charter. You know who the presiding officer here is, Mrs. Butler. Correct?”
He also voiced distrust of the resolutions, saying they aimed to force a new vote.
“Let me be honest, Mr. Lockley. What this looks like is a backdoor way to revote again,” the mayor said. “Be careful. Be very careful. When I start picking up on the street, if there’s a discussion about this matter, then it mysteriously shows up on the agenda, I smell a rat.”
Patterson asked Lockley if he discussed the flaw with anyone else in the city. Lockley said he discussed it with Butler and a few other employees. He also said he did not share concerns with other selectmen or housing authority board members.
Selectmen said they did not discuss the issue with Lockley, either.
“I’m going to tell you, I’m going to have my own informal and, if necessary, formal investigation, because this is an integrity issue,” Patterson said. “You do not lie to the mayor of the city of McComb, Miss. Not implying that anyone did.
“Selectmen, nor employees of the city, Mr. (board attorney Wayne) Dowdy, Mr. Lockley, will indulge in meetings after the meetings, offline conversations, conversations about the conduct, and certainly not conduct about the mayor of the city of McComb, Miss.,” Patterson said. “That is considered insubordination, Mr. Lockley … and I will treat it as such. I am still the mayor of this city, whether you like it or not.”
With that, Patterson moved on to the next agenda item with no objection from the board.
