Our rebuttal to "Supervisor files request for records"

The following story appeared in the 26 Sep 2014, issue of The Tunica Times.  The byline is Brooks Taylor.  I am reprinting the story on our blog so that the issues presented may receive a reply

Comments will be highlighted in yellow.

District 2 supervisor Cedric Burnett, frustrated that the county board has not received financial updates in more than nine months, filed a Freedom of Information request for public records on September 17 to Circuit Clerk Sharon Reynolds, whose staff hand delivered it to Chancery Clerk Rechelle Siggers' office and to the county administrator.  Read the letter below.  Burnett is not asking for "public records".  Burnett is asking for reports that he says he needs to make decisions.  Wait just a minute.  Burnett wrote a letter to be read at a Board of Supervisors' Meeting saying he was voting no on everything unless he specifically voted yes.  At least I think that is what he said.

"As you know, I am the elected supervisor for Supervisors' District 2 in Tunica County, Mississippi," Burnett wrote.  "I have repeatedly requested certain documents at the meetings which will give information upon which to base decisions and votes.  And you were repeatedly asked to go by the County Administrator's Office and you would be given all of the information you needed.  Did you go by the Administrator's Office?  And how come other Supervisors had the information they needed and you didn't?  Seems I remember the Chancery Clerk handing you the IPad the County purchased and loaded with reports for you.  But wait, if the Chancery Clerk had your IPad with the loaded documents, then you didn't have it and came to the meetings without preparation.

"These are documents which I understand are required by law to be maintained and provided monthly.  To date, I have not received any of the information.  I don't know what this means so I can't respond.

"Given this, I am making a formal request for public records."  These aren't public records.

Burnett said he had officially asked for year to date cash in bank and general ledger reports,  a comparative budget for each month, and gaming revenue totals, starting in January to the present.  He also requested copies of the county administrator's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2015 and of the budget that supervisors approved September 15.  This is so frustrating.  I've checked with other Supervisors and each of you were given a 2015 Budget Proposal.  Not only that, there was a Power Point presentation containing 2014 v 2015 comparisons and the public was in attendance.  You didn't come to the open workshop where "Efficient and Sustainable Government" was presented.  Why is that?  Even the public received a paper copy.  We now understand why we are in such poor fiscal condition.  If you need it spelled out for you, here it is:  WE HAD DECLINING TAXES AND DECLINING REVENUE ALL AT THE SAME TIME.  Do you realize our gaming revenue has been declining since 2006?  Do you realize if the other Supervisors did not vote for the 15.77 tax increase we would most likely have defaulted on our General Obligation Bonds and then where would we be?

"That's all information that we need," Burnett explained.  "I've been asking for it all year and haven't gotten it."  Cedric, this just isn't right.  In 2012, the budget was presented and you voted against it.  At the same Board meeting a tax increase of 15.77 mils was presented and you voted against it.  Are you saying you didn't have the information you needed in 2012?  The documents for this information is in the Public Records: Book 153; pages 483-495. 

Burnett said this week that he had not yet received the information requested, but he had been contacted by Board attorney Ellis Pittman.  Your letter was received on a Friday and you demanded satisfaction in 24 hours.  Why?  You've been given what you need.  You just need to do the work and stop trying to get others to spoon feed you information.

"I am in receipt of your request," Pittman wrote.  "...with the day being Friday, it will be impossible to comply with your request...due to the office being closed on Saturday and Sunday.

"The County Comptroller is in the process of calculating the fees and costs associated with producing the documents pursuant to your request...

"It is my understanding that the County will require prepayment prior to the production of the records requested.

"Every effort will be made to provide the documents to you...within seven days."

State law requires public bodies to provide a written explanation if records cannot be produced within seven working days.  The recors requested must be produced no later than 14 working days from the receipt of the original request.

END

This is a copy of the request from Supervisor Burnett.  Again, to try to make people believe information is being withheld from you when it has not been withheld from you is just WRONG.

Important Board of Supervisors' Meeting 30 Sep 2014 @ 5p

This Board Meeting will be another opportunity for Tunicans to talk about the upcoming tax increase.

If you have not attended a previous meeting and received a copy of the report:

 "Efficient and Sustainable Government"

 Please go by the Administration Office and pick-up a copy in time to read it before the meeting.

Business at the Airport

At the last Board of Supervisors' Meeting we heard from Cliff Nash, who runs the Tunica County Airport. The Board was presented with a $3M+ FAA grant to build a new hanger and apron. Okay, so where is the feasibility study showing we need a new hanger and apron? Maybe we need this project and maybe we don't. Who knows?

This is what I do know: GRANTS ARE NOT FREE! Citizens of the United States of America are paying for this grant and it is adding to our NATIONAL DEFICIT. If we don't need it, we shouldn't take it. Doesn't anybody believe this???

Here's another bit of information I gleaned from the airport report. We are not getting the business from Southern Airways Express and Nash did not know if this airline was going to be up and running or not.

Funny thing about that. I had just seen a Southern Airways Express ad on TV this past weekend.

Then last night there was a news story about Southern Airways Express flying out of Memphis International Executive starting Oct first. Look them up for yourself online.

Finally, I had a lightbulb moment. The President and CEO of Southern Airways Express is Stan Little. AND Stan Little is the personal attorney of one of our Supervisors, Cedric Burnett. So, there you have it sports fans. Not only does the Beat 2 Supervisor vote no on just about everything at Board meetings, he didn't secure this piece of business for our County.

Wake-up Tunica County, in 2015 we have to re-elect the Supervisors from Beats 3, 4 and 5 and replace the Supervisors from Beats 1 and 2.

Poll from Tunica County School District

Say, I've just been made aware of a community poll from the Tunica County School District. To take the poll, Like TCSD on Facebook and put in your 2 cents worth.

BOS Meeting....my observations and a threat from the Sheriff

Firstly, let me say that I do not appreciate the President of the Board of Supervisors asking the Sheriff to remove the County Administrator from the meeting. After the meeting, I told the President of the Board just that. We, the citizens who put you in office have a right to hear what the County Administrator had to say. And what the County Administrator was trying to tell us was that he was not recommending the adoption of a budget that was not balanced and we had reached the maximum millage for the coming year. What are you so upset about Mr. Dunn? You've been re-elected and re-elected and look what your decisions and the decisions of other Supervisors has done to this County. From the hand-outs we were given at the 11 Sep 2014 workshop, you have been on the Board of Supervisors in Tunica County from at least 1993 to the present. Cedric Burnett has been on the Board of Supervisors since 1998 to the present. During this time these two Supervisors and various others kept reducing our millage while our income was going down. How about that sports fans. And where were they during last week's workshop? Now onto the Sheriff. After the meeting adjourned, I was waiting in line to speak with the County Administrator. There was one seat between me and Sheriff Hamp. Sheriff Hamp decided I was "disrespecting" him. The Sheriff then instructed the Chancery Clerk to put the following in the minutes: "If Mrs. Tuchel disrespects me again, I am going to cuff her and take her to jail. I ain't playing with you Mrs. Tuchel." Hmmm, that sounds like a threat to me.

Report at 15 Sep 2014 BOS Meeting

15 Sep 2014: Board of Supervisors’ Public Hearing Meeting @ 5p Thank you for the appointment this evening. To begin, we have a few questions to ask: 1. Are we correct in understanding that the Tunica County School District receives 36.38 mills in taxes and 12% of the gaming revenue received by Tunica County? (Answer: There is also a 4% teachers’ stipend.) 2. The 12% is backed up with legislation? (Answer: The 12% and the 4% are both backed by legislation.) 3. I believe Mr. Willis stated that he was limiting his Job Readiness Program to 75 participants. Have the funds for the Summer Jobs Program been included in the Parks and Recreation budget? 4. We have asked before without receiving an answer. Would you all consider talking with the Tunica County School District to have this Job Readiness Program and the resulting Summer Jobs Program moved to the School District? The seminars for this program have been held in the Votech school for the last 3 years. It just makes no sense to have this program run by Parks and Recreation. 5. Has there been a decision made about moving the Tunica National groundskeeper position to Kemper Sports? *** 6. We were told there would be a report from Economic Development showing how much money Tunica County has spent and how much Tunica County has receive due to the various Economic Development projects. Will this report be forthcoming? ***Note: By moving the Job Readiness Program to the School District and moving the salary and benefits of the Tunica National groundskeeper to Kemper Sports, Tunica County stands to save $250,000. At the Public Hearing on 28 Aug 2014, I asked how much money was being lost due to lawsuits in the Sheriff’s Department. It was at that time that the Sheriff was heard saying I had filed suit against Tunica County 3 or 4 times. Since the Sheriff is included in all Executive Sessions, he knows this is not true. At this time, I would like to give Sheriff Hamp a chance to withdraw his statement. (Answer: There was no response from the Sheriff.)

11 Sep 2014 Board of Supervisors' Meeting @ 5p

There will be another Board of Supervisors' Meeting this Thu, 11 Sep 2014 at 5 p.m.

Going out on a limb...

I'm going out on a limb here because of something I heard. It is important for employees of the Tunica County Sheriff to understand that the Sheriff makes the decision to employ you or not to employ you. Don't for one minute think that by securing a statement from the County Administrator about there being no job lay-offs or reductions in salaries you have secured your job. I believe it to be true that what the County Administrator was telling you was that budget wise, there would be no reduction in staffing or salaries. Now, what the Sheriff decides to do about not being given his $250,000 for more cars is up to him. If you saw the news on Channel 3 after the Public Hearing then you saw the Chief Deputy stating that the Sheriff's Department was 13 employees down. People we can't manufacture money. We have been living way above our means in this county for a very long time. If you don't like the way our Sheriff runs his department, then there is something you can do about it. You can vote him out of office.

More cars for the Sheriff?

During the past couple of weeks we learned that the Sheriff's budget was being reduced by $250,000 not the $1M that was being claimed.  This $250,000 was requested by the Sheriff for new cars.

Hmm, been looking over the claims for Aug 2014 and what did I find?  A claim from the Sheriff's department for $155,078.00 for some Dodge Chargers.  At the moment, I don't know how many Dodge Chargers can be purchased for $155,078.00 but I will find out. (I found out. The $155K purchased 7 cars.)

Sheriff Hamp, will you please explain why you need so many new cars this next budget year?  You need to tighten your belt just like the rest of us.