Columbus councilman Marty Turner is out of the race for Lowndes County District 5 supervisor.
The county’s Democratic Party Executive Committee decided in executive session Tuesday not to certify Turner’s candidacy, following a roughly hour-long hearing in the Lowndes County Courthouse boardroom, where Turner failed to convince committee members he actually lived at his legal residence.
Turner, who represents Ward 4 on the Columbus City Council, submitted paperwork in January to run against eight-term incumbent Leroy Brooks in an Aug. 4 Democratic primary for District 5 supervisor. Brooks, however, filed a complaint with the DEC on March 5 protesting Turner’s residency.
The councilman claims to live at 1504 23rd St. N. in Columbus — within District 5 boundaries — but Brooks presented evidence Tuesday claiming Turner actually lives with his girlfriend and campaign manager, Tiffany Sturdivant, at 701 11th Ave. S. That address is located in District 4.
On Tuesday, DEC members on hand for the hearing struggled to maintain order through a process that involved scathing allegations from Brooks, finger-pointing from both Brooks and Turner and intermittent heckling from a small crowd of spectators comprised mostly of Turner’s supporters.
After the hearing, Turner said he plans to appeal the DEC’s decision in Lowndes County Circuit Court. His deadline to appeal is April 1.
“I’m absolutely going to appeal. This is ridiculous,” Turner said after the hearing. “A fair election is a fair election, and that’s all I want. You’ve got a bully (in Brooks) that is running, and he’s bullied this committee.”
‘We can drive to my house’
Neither Brooks nor DEC chairperson Cindy Lawrence would comment after the hearing, citing Turner’s expressed intent to appeal.
During the hearing, Turner showed a voter registration card and a property deed in his name from 2009 for the 23rd Street North address. He also showed committee members a receipt from a utility bill he paid on the property this month, along with bank statements, insurance information and documents from the city he received in the mail at that address.
Turner presented witnesses to the committee, as well, including Sturdivant, another 23rd Street North resident, and his mother, Emma Turner.
“If you really want me to prove it to you, we can all get into our cars and drive to my house,” Turner told the committee. “It’ll be a little messed up, because I haven’t cleaned up, but you’ll be able to see that I stay there…I pay my bills there. My clothes are there and my bed is there.”
Brooks countered with a barrage of allegations against Turner, ranging from claims he had not paid property taxes at his legal address since 2010 and showing he had deeded the house back to his mother in 2013. He also said Columbus Light & Water had disconnected the meters at the house “on several occasions” for failure to pay the bill.
Brooks also characterized Turner as demonstrating a pattern of “doing what he wants to do” who often failed to pay his bills, does not respect the office he held on the city council and “has no respect for the law.” He cited Turner’s DUI arrest in Hattiesburg in 2013, after which his driver’s license was suspended. The Hattiesburg DUI followed another DUI arrest in Jones County in 2008.
Because of his suspended driver’s license, Brooks said city officials often picked up and dropped off Turner at the 11th Avenue South address. Additionally, he said Turner filed a police report last week claiming his campaign money was stolen from Sturdivant’s residence.
“The issue is not whether he has lived at (1504 23rd St. N.),” Brooks said. “The issue is that he has moved. Just because you get mail somewhere doesn’t mean you live there. I get mail at the post office, but that doesn’t mean I live there…He’s probably moved out of that house for convenience because he’s having to be chauffeured around.”
Reasons for confusion offered
In an interview with The Dispatch during the committee’s executive session deliberations, Turner did not deny many of Brooks’ allegations.
He admitted he deeded the property to his mother but did not offer a reason for that decision. He also admitted he and other family members often “forget” to pay the taxes and utility bills on the property, and he did not refute that CLW might have disconnected the meters more than once.
Turner added that he, his siblings and his mother maintain the property together, and all of them claim the 1504 23rd St. N. home as their legal residence. He said it is his “job” in the family to meet with people and be involved in the community, while others in his family are charged with paying the bills and taxes.
“One of my family members usually takes care of that,” Turner said. “If we forgot to pay a (CLW) bill, it probably was cut off. But if it was cut off, it was only for a day…I hate to say this, but I don’t even buy my own clothes. If I need a suit, somebody will go get me a suit. That’s just how it is.”
Turner’s sister, Patricia Turner, who attended Tuesday’s hearing, verified the arrangement, saying she claimed the 23rd Street North address as her “address of record” and voted in the wards and districts that allowed. However, she said she often resided elsewhere.
She also offered measured support for her brother’s organizational practices.
“He’s a responsible person, but he needs a list,” she said.
Councilman Turner and Sturdivant both admitted to residing overnight together at what Sturdivant described as her “family home” but maintained their belief that Turner has the right to stay where he wants. Turner said he did report the campaign money stolen from Sturdivant’s address, claiming the money was there because Sturdivant is his campaign manager.
“We thought it would be safer there,” he said. “Apparently not.”
Finally, Turner answered Brooks allegation of city officials picking him up from Sturdivant’s house by saying that a number of officials — ranging from the mayor, chief operations officer, the other councilmen and the fire chief — had picked him up and dropped him off at both his legal address and Sturdivant’s address. He said that actually proves he does “respect the law” because he is following his court order not to drive.
Brooks will still face former West Lowndes boys’ basketball coach Ricky Hill Sr. in the Democratic primary.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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