By the time two McComb selectmen arrived at Tuesday’s board meeting — one of them 10 minutes late, the other 18 minutes — the board had already taken action on several controversial issues, including the removal of the Mississippi state flag from all city property.
In measures added to the agenda, selectmen voted 3-1 to remove the flag from city-owned buildings and property. They also approved design work on a new gym for Martin Luther King Jr. Park in the Burglund neighborhood.
Selectmen Michael Cameron and Tommy McKenzie were not at the meeting when it began, and almost immediately after Mayor Whitney Rawlings finished the opening prayer, Selectman Donovan Hill moved to amend the agenda and add the two additional items.
Selectmen Albert Eubanks and Ronnie Brock supported Hill’s motion, while Ward 1 selectman Ted Tullos opposed.
Hill then asked to consider the two new items immediately, rather than wait until scheduled business was concluded.
“We will not do that. That would be out of order,” Rawlings said.
The mayor has the unilateral power to decide the order in which agenda items will be considered, but he can be overruled by a majority vote of the board. Eubanks moved to do so, his motion passing by a 3-1 margin with Tullos again opposing.
During discussion of the flag issue, Tullos said, “I am not in favor of removing history.”
Brock said, “I’m in favor of removing bad history. Everybody’s history is not my history.”
The vote passed 3-1, with Tullos opposing.
McKenzie said this morning his tardiness was related to a flight he was on that was delayed by weather. Asked if he planned to move at a future meeting to reverse Tuesday’s action on the flag, he said, “I would assume that would probably come back up at some point. Probably a 3-3 vote would be my guess, and I don’t know which way the mayor would go on that.”
As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, the state flag had been removed from flag poles at City Hall, police headquarters and fire stations.
Hill’s second issue — calling for allocation of funds for the design and construction of the new gymnasium — also passed by a 3-1 margin, with Tullos again opposing. The board has debated the subject often.
It is unclear, however, to what extent Hill’s measure will result in action, since it did not specify a dollar amount for the project.
“We don’t need to undo that because nothing can happen,” McKenzie said. “It’s like saying, ‘I make a motion for world peace.’ ”
Another matter Hill brought for action early in the meeting was a Rawlings-backed proposal to petition state revenue officials to change regulations governing the sale of alcohol in resort areas. Rawlings wants to shorten the hours within which resort-status businesses can sell alcohol.
The issue appeared two-thirds of the way down the meeting agenda, but after the flag and gym votes concluded, Eubanks moved to bring it up right away.
“That motion is out of order. We have a docket here in front of us,” Rawlings said.
Eubanks moved to overrule him. His motion passed 3-2, with selectmen Tullos and Michael Cameron opposing, clearing the way for immediate debate on the matter. Cameron had arrived at the meeting a few minutes earlier.
The mayor then asked for a motion and second to begin consideration of the resort status question itself, but when none came, the issue died.
Rawlings introduced the same proposal at a May 23 meeting, but after contentious discussion it failed by a 0-6 vote of the board.
Asked last week why he reintroduced the question after it had already failed, Rawlings said, “I believe in it.”
McKenzie took a pessimistic view of the subject.
“That would have died if there were six people there,” he said, referring to the full complement of selectmen.
McKenzie mused on the possibility of more board meetings like Tuesday’s.
I’m really thinking about being late for the next few meetings so the City of McComb can see what it’s like with the leadership that’s in Wards 3, 4 and 5,” he said.
Selectmen Eubanks, Hill and Brock represent the wards McKenzie mentioned.
