Tunica County Office of Planning and Development

On 5 Dec 2011, the Board of Supervisors held a public hearing about the North Sub properties owned by John Ferguson and Commilla Johnson Perkins and leased by Ed Walls.

Also on 5 Dec 2011, Tunicans for Transparency in Government hand delivered a Freedom of Information letter to the Tunica County Planning Commission requesting “a copy of any and all correspondence, phone calls, pictures, directives and dates of conferences pertaining to the clean-up of Mr. Ed Walls’ property in the North Sub. We are looking for documentation the County is using in their pursuit of the ‘clean-up’ of the property listed in the legal notices in the Tunica Times.”

This request was honored and the Transparency Committee reviewed and discussed this matter at our meeting on 14 Jan 2012.

This is what we found:

1.This matter has been going on for quite some time.

2.There are inconsistencies within the correspondence.

a.Example: On 10 Jan 2008, a letter addressed to Mr. Walls states the following:

i.“Failing to comply Mr. Walls could and will require further action with an appearance before the Tunica County Board of Supervisors and subsequently a lien against your property.” Mr. Walls did not own this property on 10 Jan 2008 and to the best of our knowledge, Mr. Walls still does not own this property.

b.Example: On 22 Feb 2008, a letter addressed to Mr. Walls states the following:

i.Concerning a grocery store operated by Mr. Walls: “It is not zoned commercial as once thought. It is a residential area.” One would think the Code Enforcer would know this information before entering into conversations pertaining to a business that may be operating in a residential area.

c.Example: On 16 Jul 2008, a letter addressed to Mr. Walls states the following:

i.“You were given from February 22nd (2008) to April 30th (2008) to expedite and clear premises of all debris that would deface the property. I requested that Mr. Ferguson grant you that amount of time to get the premises looking nice and conducive for a respectable business operation, but you failed him, me and our office by not doing what was requested of you.” It appears the County had already discovered that the grocery store discussed in the 22 Feb 2008 letter was not permitted in this residential area. So, why is there still a discussion on 16 Jul 2008 about cleaning up a business in a residential area?

d.Example: In letters dated 21 Jan 2010 and 27 Oct 2011 to Mr. Walls it is stated that calls complaining about the Sears Grocery Store were received by the Tunica County Office of Planning and Development. And yet, no documentation of any calls was included with our Freedom of Information request. Absent this documentation, we would have to conclude there to be no back-up for these statements.

From the information we have been provided, our conclusion is that the clean-up of our County is not timely, effective, consistent and accurate. Our request from this study would be for the Planning and Development office to review their correspondence and efforts in order to implement improvements.