Six amendments to McComb’s Code of Ordinances passed by the McComb city board — including one reducing Mayor Zach Patterson’s power over city employees and department heads — are being published as a legal notice in today’s Enterprise-Journal.
The notice appears on page A10.
The amendments were passed on June 9 by a 4-2 vote with selectmen Robert Earl Smith and Melvin Joe Johnson opposing. Patterson told selectmen after the vote that he would not honor the amendments, calling them illegal. He accused the selectmen of trying to change the city charter and strip him of power.
Four selectmen — Danny Esch, Wade Lamb, Robert Maddox and E.C. Nobles — signed a document accompanying the legal notice. The document certifies that the ordinances in the legal notice are accurate copies of what the board approved.
Nobles and Lamb brought the legal notice to the Enterprise-Journal for publication last week. McComb attorney Norman B. Gillis Jr., a frequent critic of the mayor, notarized the signatures.
Typically, when the city board approves an ordinance, the mayor signs it and a copy runs in the newspaper as a legal notice. There is no indication that Patterson has signed the ordinance amendments approved June 9.
Under state law, either the mayor or a majority of board members can sign the ordinances, which are recorded in the city’s ordinance book. Ordinances must be published at least once in a newspaper in order for them to take effect.
The ordinances become effective 30 days after they are passed.
Because the move by Nobles and Lamb was not the usual way the city sends ordinances for publication, Enterprise-Journal Editor Jack Ryan said he researched the issue and learned that a majority of the board could sign the ordinances.
“In this case, four selectmen signed the notice,” he said. “The acting city clerk signed to attest that the document was a copy of the ordinances that had been approved by the board.
“I also checked with an attorney on retainer with the Mississippi Press Association to verify that the newspaper was following the correct procedures,” Ryan said.
Nobles said the decision to introduce the amendments was the result of Patterson’s delay in hiring a city administrator.
“We have been trying to get the city back for months,” Nobles said. “It was time for the board to take the position and stand up for the city.
“We have been without a city administrator for months. It’s getting close to budget time and we have not had a budget work session,” he said.
“It is time for us to hire a city administrator and begin getting back to business and get things running efficiently.”
Nobles said selectmen knew they had 30 days before the ordinances took effect and that they had to be published.
“The ordinances were not published in the paper like other ordinances were, and the law allows a majority of the board to sign an ordinance, so the board took the action that it took,” Lamb said. “We realized that if it (the ordinance) was not published in the local paper before the 30 days was up, this would not take effect.”
Attempts to contact Patterson for comment were unsuccessful Monday and today.
The amendments make several major changes in the city code, greatly reducing the authority and power of the mayor, changing the procedure for hiring a city administrator and increasing the city administrator’s authority.
One amendment strips the mayor of his direct supervision over city department heads and the authority to suspend them, transferring that authority to the city administrator.
Another amendment changes the way the city administrator is hired, making the office an appointment of the board of mayor and selectmen.
Currently, the city administrator is appointed by the board on the advice and recommendation of the mayor.
Other amendments include:
• Giving equal status to all special and regular meetings. The mayor will preside at the meetings and conduct them according to Robert’s Rules of Order.
The mayor has no vote except to break a tie, has no authority over agenda items and will submit all agenda items for consideration by the board.
• Giving the city administrator authority to suspend department heads and appoint someone to fill the position in the interim until a hearing before the city board.
• Requiring the city attorney to represent the city as an entire entity, not just individual elected officials and employees.
Because the attorney represents the city, according to the amendment, the city attorney does not form an attorney-client relationship with the city’s elected officials, allowing the attorney to consult with city officials and employees.
Nobles initially tried to introduce the amendments on May 26, but Patterson refused to put the items on the agenda, forcing the selectmen to seek an injunction to force the mayor to put the items on the agenda for the next meeting.
A planned hearing on the injunction in Pike County Circuit Court was later cancelled after Patterson placed the items in the June 9 meeting agenda.
