City officials had a number of takes Thursday on a special called meeting requested by selectmen Wade Lamb and E.C. Nobles that could not be held because of the absence of presiding officers.
The meeting, which listed three agenda items related to the city attorney and city administrator positions, drew the return of Selectman Danny Esch, but Mayor Zach Patterson and two selectmen were unavailable to attend.
That sparked heated comments from officials who delved into long-standing disputes in their discussion of what had occurred. Those who attended said they had done so to stand behind suspended City Attorney Rachel Michel and former City Attorney John H. “Bubber” White. Those who did not said they didn’t see how circumstances had changed beyond prior discussion of issues to require a special meeting.
“There were three issues on (the agenda) that matter a lot to me,” Esch said of the reason for his return. “I back Mrs. Michel as city attorney, and I’m here tonight to support her and her job which she is going to do for the city.”
Asked what level of familiarity he had with Michel’s work, having been away from city business in recent months, Esch said he’d met her in her previous role as the city judge and came away impressed.
“The board needs to give her enough time to understand the government of the City of McComb,” Esch said. “The same scenario was given to Mrs. Michel that was given to ‘Bubber’ White: If you don’t cooperate, we’re going to suspend you. That’s not the way we’re gonna go.”
Esch said that despite White’s recent retirement, the former city attorney deserved the same opportunity to clear his name as any other official suspended by the city. He called the absence of three board members an insult to White.
“ ‘Bubber’ White is known around the City of McComb as ‘Bubber,’ ” Esch said. “The people that did not show up tonight need to call him ‘Mr. White’ because all of his friends call him ‘Bubber.’ … ‘Bubber’s’ been the city attorney for 16 years, he was a two-term selectman for the City of McComb, he gave his life to the City of McComb as far as his practice and the serving of the city, and to be done the way he was — I think — was a disgrace. I was there for support of ‘Bubber.’ ”
Smith, though, asked why that need was suddenly pressing, since White’s suspension occurred in September.
“To me they could have waited until Monday or Tuesday,” Smith said, when the board has its regularly scheduled work session and meeting next week.
Smith said he wasn’t disputing the possible urgency of handling the issues, but hadn’t talked with Lamb or Nobles to understand why an earlier meeting would be necessary.
“Basically, if E.C. and Lamb are calling a meeting, then they’re the ones that would have the information,” Smith said. “I’m not saying it wasn’t urgent for them, but they would have all the details as to what’s what.”
To Lamb, that was the whole point.
Lamb said the fact that two selectmen felt the need to call such a meeting ought to be taken as an indication they felt it was needed, blasting Patterson’s letter in his comments.
“Basically he said our meeting wasn’t important,” Lamb said. “But the ones he calls, I guess they’re important. It’s important as far as we’re concerned.”
Lamb said he saw unresolved issues in the city only increasing in severity with delays.
“Number one, as time passes more and more, things are going on in the City of McComb that the board is not being kept aware of,” he said, citing previous complaints about raises given to city employees via a board vote on the budget and workforce reductions revealed to selectmen by local media.
“The city attorney’s position has become a great quagmire,” Lamb added. “With the way that the City of McComb is going now, there will not be any attorneys that will take the city attorney job. … I feel like the public expects the Board of Mayor and Selectmen to do something about the current problems. … It’s hard to do business when you don’t know who you report to for sure, and when vendors come in and they’re not sure whether Dr. Storer is the city administrator or not. As the mayor always says, we’re kicking this can down the road.”
Lamb also questioned Patterson’s failure to suspend Storer for being delinquent is his duties to keep the board informed, citing other suspensions handed down by the mayor.
“Why does the mayor not see that as being delinquent?” Lamb asked. “He certainly has seen everyone else as being delinquent. … I do believe that the citizens of McComb are ready for some conclusions to some of the things that have been going on. … Who’s in charge? Which way is the city going? And are we or are we not in financial trouble? Those things are extremely hard for me to answer as a selectman when the city administrator does not keep me informed. I do not have any personal problems with Dr. Storer, however, I do not agree with the way that he is running the City of McComb.”
Storer had a response to Lamb, noting his own availability before board meetings and work sessions to discuss city matters in the board room, and asking why some selectmen failed to show.
Storer said he was following the job description for a city administrator listed in the city’s charter when he worked with the Delken Group’s recommendations to hand out raises. He also said demands for his departure have not followed the proper process that would include the ability to respond to complaints about his job performance.
“If you’ll recall, there were two sessions in which the budget was discussed before it was adopted,” Storer said of process by which recent raises were approved. “In my opinion, I was following the city administrator job description. … I have checked to see if individual budgets for a group of people were ever brought to the board before. I certainly do not know any guideline as it relates to increasing someone’s salary beyond including it with the budget that is approved by the selectmen.”
Storer said he found it inappropriate to potentially discuss an individual’s salary in a public forum.
“I will be glad to do that confidentially,” he said.
And Storer said communication issues are a two-way street.
“There has been an attempt to communicate with the selectmen, to meet with them at 5 p.m. on every day that there is a work session,” Storer said. “They have not taken advantage of that opportunity. They have not communicated with me why they don’t attend. … I’m available by phone and I’m always in the office, and I’ll be glad to speak with them at any time.
“The city administrator does not have the authority to call a meeting with the selectmen. … It bothers me that the selectmen have not paid attention to city business and do not take advantage of the opportunities that are given to them to learn what’s going on. They do not participate in any solutions.”
Selectman Melvin Joe Johnson said he stands behind Storer’s job performance and doesn’t see what the problem is. He said he sees gridlock at City Hall as evidence of a charter that needs re-evaluation, and expressed disappointment that such a discussion couldn’t even begin before being shot down.
“Dr. Storer, he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to McComb,” Johnson said, adding that he feels efforts to remove him are about Nobles’ desire for former selectman Quordiniah Lockley to get the job.
“The charter needs to be revised and changed,” Johnson said. “It’s hard to put that charter with what’s happening statewide. I don’t know if we can go to a code charter. I think the charter should be changed to whatever’s best for the city … but it can’t be changed until everybody gets to looking at it and decides what’s what.”
Johnson also had sharp words for Esch, recalling a special meeting last year called by Esch and former Selectman David Myers, and saying he found Esch’s return convenient.
“I guess he just comes to those special called meetings, because the last one he came to was he and David Myers,” Johnson said.
Nobles, meanwhile, said the urgency was for the board to push matters that Patterson didn’t deem as pressing, including a resolution on White’s suspension. He said he didn’t understand how the city could go forward with hearings on Michel and acting Police Chief Greg Martin while forgetting White’s service record.
“ ‘Bubber’ White is very ill, and we want to get together to clear his name,” Nobles said. “You’ve scheduled two hearings now before you’ve scheduled that one.”
Selectman Bob Maddox found the entire saga regrettable.
“You can just put a big question mark there and let everybody decide what they want to decide,” Maddox said. “It’s a shame we can’t just all get together and get this thing all settled to the benefit of McComb, but we’ll eventually get that straightened out.
“They can put them off as long as they want,” Maddox said of the issues on the table, “but the situation’s got to be solved.”
