Affidavit Ballots

The following information is taken from my notes at the counting of the Affidavit Ballots for the Run-off Election.

There were 98 Affidavit Ballots.
There were 63 ballots accepted and 35 ballots rejected for various reasons.

If you voted by Affidavit Ballot, do you know that your vote counted? If you care if your ballot counted, do us all a favor and go to the Courthouse to:

1. Register to vote.
2. Correct your current address.
3. Ask the Circuit Clerk what Precinct is correct for "YOU".

Thank you.

Run-off Election

There has got to be a better way to handle the counting of ballots. We were there until 11p on Tue, 23 Aug and the next day until 4p.

As this committee talked about at the 6 Jan Public Hearing and 9 May Public Hearing: If you want your vote to count, "YOU" are responsible for going to the Courthouse and updating your information. And then, "YOU" need to make sure you are voting in the correct Precinct.

I am going to make another issue about our State Representative Clara Burnett and I will keep making an issue of her lack of responsibility in changing her address until she gets her business taken care of at the Courthouse. Clara: Your address is still listed as 1370 Beatline Road. You don't live there. Do you need a ride to the Courthouse? You may have been re-elected to your position but this does not relieve you of your responsibility in updating your address on the voter rolls.

While we are on the subject of Ms. Burnett: Aren't you on the Education Committee at the State Legislature? So, how come our schools are in such bad shape?

Tunica, we need to find a qualified candidate to run against Clara Burnett the very next time she is up for re-election. As has been stated before, we need to elect persons who will get the job done no matter what the color of their skin happens to be.

Tragedy in Desoto County

There doesn't seem to be much information available about this morning's auto accident in Desoto County. Tragically, one person was killed. What happened? What was the Tunica County Coroner's Van doing in Desoto County?

Here's another way we can lose money:

Before the 2 Aug 2011 Primary Election, I personally spoke with some candidates and asked them this question: If you are elected, are you going to replace the employees in your department? The answer to this question was always no.

In two of these cases, their answer was the deciding factor in gaining my vote.

Each time elections come rolling around in Tunica County, government workers start worrying about their jobs. They have good reason to worry. Historically, newly elected officials have replaced current employees. This isn’t good for our county.

1. Tunica County employees and their jobs are unprotected because each and every employee has not been given a written copy of their job description.

2. Tunica County employees and their jobs are unprotected because all employees are not given an annual written performance evaluation based on their performance and their specific job description. To be fair, this annual performance review needs to be signed by the employee’s supervisor and the employee should be given an opportunity to sign this evaluation as to agreement or disagreement with the report.

3. The Tunica County Employee Handbook has been in the process of being re-written for at least 2 years. The County Administrator and the Board of Supervisors don't adhere to the Handbook that is now in place and they need to start reading and following the written word. So, again, Tunica County employees and their jobs are unprotected. The Handbook is probably one of the biggest reasons employees and former employees sue the County. And lawsuits cost a lot of money.

4. Every time an employee is replaced with a “new hire”, there is a learning curve before the new employee will be efficient in their new job. And yes this does cost money. A lot of money. If the new employee is a member of the "Good Ole Boys and Girls" network, the replacement may not even be suited to the job.

5. And here's the biggest reason I asked this question: Why? Yeah, it's answering a question with another question. But why would a new to the job elected official even consider "cleaning house"? These employees are your most valuable assets. They can make you look like a rock star. They know the job for which you were elected even if you don't.

Mississippi is an "at will" state. This means employees can be hired and fired "at will." However, if you abuse employees by firing them just because you were elected, you can be un-elected next time. We, the people, still have the vote and we will be watching.

Whoa....Somebody is reading this blog!!!!

You wouldn't believe the stats for today. I only have one thing to say: I am not from Madison, WI. Where the heck did that come from?

Last night...

Last night was National Night Out in Tunica. Candidates were invited to give their last pitch to the attendees...even a candidate for Governor showed up...Bill Luckett of Clarksdale. So, how about that. Go Tunica.

The MC called each candidate to speak using a list of offices and candidates. She didn't leave anyone out. One of the first offices was that of Sheriff.

This is the point: This is the second time Tunica County has had an event to hear from all of the candidates. At each of the events the Sheriff staged his entrance to be heard at the end...I don't know if his buddy, my Supervisor, ever showed up because I left. And when I got outside, I found that other candidates were leaving too. It did not go unnoticed that the audience was again being used as if the Sheriff and maybe my Supervisor too were "rock stars". Silly men.

1 Aug 2011 Board of Supervisors Meeting...And Jobs

I really do wish these Board Meetings were held at night so everyone who was interested would have an opportunity to see what goes on. Anyway...

At the Board of Supervisors’ Meeting this morning, the bills the county owed for Jul 2011 were read and approved.

One of the bills was for $10,000.00 to a company to cut grass and clean ditches. Over the last 2 years, I’ve been following the payments to this company and during the season, payment to this company has ranged from $10,000.00 per month to $17,000.00 per month. So, I ask you, why hasn’t this Board of Supervisors made the decision to purchase some lawn mowers and give these jobs to some folks who are unemployed and live in Tunica County?

We’ve all come to realize that jobs at the new Schultz plant may not be as...let’s say…”Tunica Friendly” as we were led to believe before all the loans and grants and whatever else were signed. What is stopping the current Board of Supervisors from making an appointment with Schultz and negotiating some jobs?

Come to think of it, what is stopping this Board of Supervisors from making an appointment with GreenTech and negotiating some jobs?

Don't know about you, but personally, I am tired of paying salaries to Tunica County employees who don't want to live in Tunica County. What is stopping this Board of Supervisors from giving these jobs to qualified Tunica County residents?

There is another area where I think my personal Supervisor is failing the people he was elected to serve. He has jobs in his family business but he chooses to fill these positions with people who already have good paying jobs with the county. I’m talking about our current Sheriff, one of our Constables (we paid him over $6,000.00 this morning for his Constable services) who also draws a salary from the Sheriff's Department, a former Sheriff and 2 employees from Youth Services. Why won't he give some of these jobs to unemployed Tunicans? How does he sleep at night? This whole situation makes me very uncomfortable. It feels like we have a sub-government of sorts going on in Tunica County and it needs to stop.

I am tired of watching my Supervisor walk out of meetings to have private conversations. What could possibly be more important than the people's business?

I am tired of watching my Supervisor not paying attention and sending text messages during Board Meetings.

If the Board of Supervisors meetings were held in the evening then more Tunicans could observe our Supervisors "in action."

This is weird

Now we have people reading our blog from the United Kingdom, Russia, Australia and Germany is back. I don't get this techno stuff. On to something more interesting.