Editorial in last week's paper

This is the editorial that I wrote for last week's issue of The Camilla Enterprise. It went over well with the general public and the boss as well. Most commented that I called it "straight down the middle" in detailing the internal friction of our city council.
To be honest, I was proud of my composition, too. :>)


“Come together, right now...”

Reginald Garrard

By now, everyone in Mitchell County – as does, probably, everyone in the state – is aware of the outcome of last Saturday’s vote by the Camilla City Council regarding the hiring of a new city attorney. There is no need to rehash specifics of the meeting; however, from a personal standpoint, I’d like to reflect on what I view as a lack of civility and protocol on the part of all parties concerned: the council, the mayor, as well the citizens in attendance.

To be honest, at several points during the meeting, I felt like doing a “Bernard Shaw”. For those unfamiliar with the name, Shaw is a one-time top correspondent/anchor man for CNN. During a broadcast from Iraq during the Desert Storm conflict of the early 90’s, Shaw was giving a report when suddenly rocket fire could be heard in the background. Shaw threw “caution to the wind” and immediately looked out for number one, uttering an expletive or two and diving under the desk. His actions became the stuff of late night talk show hosts but I have to admit that I would have done the same had I been in his situation.

In fact, I felt like diving under a desk myself as the verbal barrage of questions directed at the mayor during the council meeting grew in intensity and genuine rudeness. Like a fleet of Kamikaze pilots, the angry “questioners” yelled out at inappropriate times to Mayor Haywood, failing to follow the decorum that is expected in governmental assemblies. Even the two council members that failed to vote on the Coleman recommendation, following the earlier defeat of the Powell recommendation, did not paint a pretty picture of city government.

As much as the Mayor and council tried to “soften” the implications of how the respective members voted, to a casual viewer of the simultaneous television broadcast, that vote became a question of “black and white” and the crowd’s reaction fell along the same lines.

Whether or not one agreed with the actions of the Mayor or council members, there is a time set aside on the agenda to voice one’s opinions. Granted, there were questions that even I would’ve liked to have answered, especially in the rationale behind choosing one candidate over the other, especially when Powell was so much a better choice for the job. But, regardless of my wishes, the council members were not required to reveal why they voted one way or the next.

There were several times when grumblings from the audience interfered with the proceedings and I wondered if the two cops on duty might have to whip out the handcuffs or even worse to curtail the “mob”.

However, even with the contentiousness of the proceedings, there was a bright spot or two, especially in the respectful and thought-provoking reflections made by Laura Vann, Eddie Williamson, and former state representative Richard Royal. Their appeals to the council, though made after the vote, were designed to give the council words of advice and were spoken from the heart.

Councilwoman Vivian Smith does deserve commendations for speaking to the audience, detailing why she voted the way that she did. Even though her words did not meet with the approval of the obvious-pro-Powell crowd, she was thanked by many for her honesty.

Also, councilman Vernon Twitty, Jr. should also be praised for standing his ground, challenging his fellow council members to do what is best for the city, and choosing not to leave as well as making his dissenting voice heard during the 3-1 vote in favor of Coleman.

It is ironic that this particular council meeting which shows a divided group occurs just one week after the city and the county commemorated the 2000 Tornado, an event that rallied ALL of Mitchell County together to work to help each other.

Not trying to sound like a Sunday morning preacher, but God sometimes puts us through adversity to make us stronger. Though the terrible storm resulted in much destruction and some deaths, as a whole, the community became the better for it.

I think He was trying to tell us something. If we didn’t learn from the tragedy, as it appears by the divisiveness we witnessed this Saturday, then we might need another “reminder”.

The next time might not be as “mild” as the first.