An attorney representing Ward 4 Councilman Marty Turner continues to assert that Mayor Robert Smith acted beyond the limits of his authority when he deactivated Turner’s city-issued phone last summer.
Pontotoc attorney Walter Zinn, in a response to the city’s motion to dismiss Turner’s lawsuit, said “malice and ill-will are obvious” in Smith refusing to reactivate Turner’s phone.
Turner sued Smith and the city of Columbus in Lowndes County Chancery Court in October. The city has since filed a motion to dismiss Turner’s lawsuit and a counterclaim seeking reimbursement for what it described as a misuse of city property. Zinn also filed a response to the counterclaim that denies the city’s allegations of misuse.
Smith ordered service to Turner’s city-owned phone terminated on June 13, 2016, after Turner posted several inflammatory statements on his Facebook page two days prior, including calling Mississippi District 41 Rep. Kabir Karriem a “b***h.”
Turner previously admitted in a Dispatch article that he occasionally provided wireless internet access to Columbus citizens by using his city-issued phone as a hotspot. A Dispatch analysis found Turner used about 70 percent of all cell data consumed by city councilmen last fiscal year. Turner’s total cell usage cost the city nearly $3,000.
Zinn told The Dispatch on Thursday the city has not illustrated what authority Smith has as mayor to deactivate a councilman’s phone. He also challenged the assertion that Turner’s hot-spotting was a misuse of city property.
“They put one point in there about misuse, but I didn’t know that using a cellphone hotspot in your ward would be misuse. It’s public use. There’s no use in there that Councilman Turner ever received any personal or financial benefit from.”
Zinn, in the response, said Smith’s decision to deactivate Turner’s phone directly harmed the ability of Turner’s constituents to contact him. Turner, who has since used a private cell phone, also told The Dispatch as much after his city phone’s deactivation.
“It is inherent that the governing authorities as elected officials have a contractually obligated or vested business relationship with the electors of their district,” Zinn wrote. “It is clear that the actions of the Mayor unlawfully interrupted and harmed the reputation and services expected in this performance contract based relationship. One of the most fundamental characteristics and expectations of this relationship is availability.”
He further noted that Smith’s decision to deactivate Turner’s phone does not align with an attorney general’s opinion, issued last May, on discipline for city councilmen.
“The AGO opined that Section 25-5-1 excludes the councilman from the unilateral disciple or action of the mayor,” Zinn wrote. “Inconsistent with this opinion and the authority that it relies on, the Mayor in bad faith, unilaterally, punitively and unlawfully applied an employee policy to interrupt the Councilman’s city phone services.”
Columbus attorney Corky Smith, who is representing the city, declined to comment specifically on Zinn’s responses. However, he said he hoped to get a hearing date set so the case could move forward with deposition.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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