Involvement, transparency, moving City offices, and redistricting of wards — three citizens shared their concerns and complaints about these issues with the Brookhaven Board of Aldermen this week.

A Browns Loop resident and two pastors took their turns at the podium to address concerns not just on their own, but on behalf of other citizens they were representing.

Rev. Jerry Kelly, who hosts community Town Hall meetings monthly, said it is the public’s privilege to be aware of certain decisions that are being made. Though the Town Halls were publicly advertised, Kelly said “few of the public officials attend.”

“There is concern that y’all do not want to hear the concerns of the community,” Kelly said. “A lot of the voices are asking, ‘Where are the community leaders, the government leaders, that are over these wards?’”

When Kelly and some other citizens met with Mayor Joe Cox in June, there was no “set plan” to move the City Hall and offices to the site of the former Hartman-Harrigill Funeral Home on West Chickasaw Street, Kelly said. However, in the Board’s second meeting of May, aldermen voted 4-2 to proceed with entering into contract negotiations and letter of intent with 101 Chickasaw LLC to lease and renovate the existing building located at 101 W. Chickasaw St. “It is the intent of the City to renovate the building for the purpose and usage as City Hall,” a release from the Mayor’s Office stated.

Prior to a second planned meeting with the mayor scheduled for July 15 — which was later canceled, Kelly said paperwork was seen that said the funeral home had been submitted for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places in June of 2023. That paperwork stated the location was “Work in progress/City Hall.”

“Why did we have a conversation about something if the paperwork was already done?” Kelly asked from the podium. “It felt kind of offensive to have a meeting about something where the decision was already made.”

He concluded his time by encouraging aldermen to communicate with their respective wards’ residents “as a whole.”

“They expect you to do your job, and that’s all we really want,” he said. “Because right now, they’re more concerned about moving you out of those seats than about moving bricks to create a new City Hall.”

Ward 1 resident Wilcher took her turn before the Board, saying she was there on behalf of the ward and its other residents.

Wilcher said citizens were very upset, complaining they did not know anything about the City’s planned move or about recent redistricting of wards, even though the information had been published on several occasions in The Daily Leader.

“They said they didn’t see it in the paper. They don’t get the paper,” she said.

The July 15 meeting was canceled that morning, Wilcher said, and “15 or better” questions were left unanswered as a result.

“We scheduled for what? For lies,” she said. “It came up in the paper that y’all was going to go ahead and do this. There’s too many hands sliding under the table, too many lies being told, and y’all have got to understand this: when it comes to leadership, you got to have somebody to put you in place … You all have left down a lot of citizens here in Brookhaven, and that’s sad to say. … We got to sit here and hear a bunch of lies … Who can we trust? … No answers are being given to any question we ask. Y’all don’t want the citizens to know.”

Wilcher said the City’s residents had not heard from their aldermen about “redistricting, City Hall, or nothing.”

“Y’all sitting on y’all —– and don’t do nothing except taking and pocketing money for yourself. I’m sick of it,” said Wilcher.

Rev. Sterling, the final citizen to take the podium, said he had not “come this evening to bash, (or) point fingers, because I don’t believe anything … can be solved by going at each other’s throats. … The Bible says we ought to be able to sit down and reason together.”

Sterling said his primary concern, as well as that of the people with whom he had spoken, was with the relocation of the City’s offices.

“It could be the best thing in the world — I don’t know. It could be the worst thing in the world — I don’t know. And I don’t know because I’ve only heard one side, and the side I’ve heard I’m against the move. Not to say there’s not a better side. But the people need to know the other side,” said Sterling. “Our nation is divided. Our state is divided. But I don’t want to see our community divided. … we can keep a common peace here in the city.”

The pastor said he understood that the City needed to relocate for space reasons.

“This (boardroom) is already too small. It’s been too small for some time. A move has to be made somewhere,” Sterling said. “But is there any way (to) sit down and talk together reasonably, and come to some type of conclusion? I’d like for you to take that into consideration.”

Sterling suggested officials and citizens be able to sit down in a more informal context, and “put everything on the table so it can be explained. Everybody’s not going to be on board, that’s not going to happen. But at least we can come to a consensus where people can say now I understand.”

The mayor thanked each person for sharing their concerns.

 

In other business, the Board:

• Approved pay request 3 from Dickerson & Bowen for work completed on the 2024 Citywide Paving Project, in the amount of $465,732.55.
• Approved pay request 2 from Mitchell Contracting for work completed on Ellen Drive Storm Drain Lining Project, in the amount of $1,545.
• Approved pay request 3 to G Rayborn Contracting for closure of the City’s Class 1 Rubbish Site, in the amount of $539,935.82.
• Approved to accept the single quote received for maintenance of the City flower beds, from Luke Ramshir, at a monthly rate of $2,990.
• Approved to schedule and advertise a public hearing on the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget and proposed utility increases on Aug. 27, at 5:30 p.m.
• Approved to donate 2009 Ford Crown Victoria from the Police Department inventory to Bude Police Department, per Statute 17-25-25.
• Approved Professional Services Agreement with WGK Inc. for rehab of Homeseekers Water Tank on Industrial Park Road.
• Approved Fire Training Capt. Marlon Dixon to attend the Fire Management Class at the State Fire Academy, Pearl, Aug. 12-15 at a cost of $415, plus reimbursement for meals and mileage.
• Approved Firefighter Cannon Travis to attend the Rope Rescue Awareness and Operations Class at the State Fire Academy, Pearl, Aug. 26-29, at a cost of $365, plus reimbursement for meals and mileage.
• Approved an Equal Housing Opportunity Plan for the City as required under HUD, as part of the Home Program through Southwest Planning and Development.
• Approved the Law Enforcement Services Agreement between the City and the Brookhaven Public School District.
• Approved the reaffirm the appointments of City Court Clerks and Deputy Clerks.
• Approved to terminate Quashan Edwards from the Solid Waste Department, effective July 26.
• Approved to terminate the Summer Youth Program workers Aug. 2, at the close of the program: Dajuante Smith and Caden Quarles, Street Department; Kaden Charles, Toney Bussey, and Andre’ Spiller Jr., Water Department.
• Approved to hire Victoria Carter as a Certified Patrolman 6 in the Brookhaven Police Department, with a salary of $51,250 annually, pending drug test, physical, and background check. Carter has 25 years of experience.