Just when I thought we had bottomed out and were surely on the upswing toward some peaceful and non-contentious period with the current term of the Starkville Board of Aldermen, somebody handed alderman Lisa Wynn a really big shovel and a treasure map. What the public got can only be described as a wild dose of “surreality” government.
I ought to be enjoying the opportunity to have so thoroughly an entertaining subject to opine about, but truth be told I hold presenting a positive image of our city in much higher regard. It is even worse to know that this juvenile behavior will be — through the magic of the Internet — perpetually available as representative of our community.
Since Wynn took office she has on many occasions sniped at her fellow board members. She has basically shared what were probably off-hand, gossipy type conversations with others and placed them into the public’s view. They have at times been amusing and accurate, but rarely have they been appropriate to her representative position or to the time and place of the revelations. They have never elevated the discussion nor have they resembled professional discourse on the city’s business.
This past board meeting she took a scorched earth approach to her dealings with the Mayor. It is hard to convey the “hiss factor” without having been there to see it in person. It is much like any spectator event, the surrounding environment amplifies and molds what the audience experiences. I can tell you that a jet engine is loud, but until you hear it rip the air open you can’t get the full effect.
It appears that this current set of complaints stems from what she views as the mayor’s inattention to his office.
Alderman Wynn opened and closed her three page statement with a claim that she was just reciting facts with no opinions. Ms. Wynn seems to believe that because she cited times and dates in her recitation of “facts” it was devoid of opinions. What was mostly included besides basic grammar errors were her attack on the mayor’s motive for attending a particular church, the quality of the car he drives and whether or not he coordinates lunch obligations with his wife, Lindsey, when it comes to helping take care of their new baby.
There are appropriate times and places to express concerns about exactly what duties and obligations she believes he is neglecting. To do so in the board meeting when conducting official business reveals a systemic disdain and lack of respect for Parker Wiseman, the person, that manifests itself by showing a shameful lack of respect for Parker Wiseman, the Mayor.
What is even more revealing is that Wynn, through her disrespect for the office, is thumbing her nose at the voting citizens of Starkville. A commanding majority of those citizens including the ones in her ward cast their vote for Mayor Wiseman not once but twice.
She is attempting to hold the city of Starkville’s elected head of state up for public ridicule. The damage this does is wide spread and filters down into the pride we take as citizens of Starkville and to the image we project to those who want to invest in our community. Talk about an economic development killer.
This behavior is without precedent in my 20 years of government involvement on the elected and the appointed side. Though there have been many times of disagreement about policy and actions among board members it never devolved into lengthy public and petty personal attacks. Perhaps in Wynn’s personal circles this behavior is acceptable but when it hits the public airwaves it makes Starkville look an episode of Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Alderman Vaughn who is usually very restrained in his comments at the board table was obviously dismayed by Ms. Wynn’s recitation and indicated that he was there to do the city’s business not engage in personal attacks. All but alderman Roy Perkins showed a visible and vocal level of discomfort and disagreement with her revelations.
All of this begs the question of when Wynn plans to declare her intentions of running for the office of Mayor. She clearly believes she knows precisely what the office of Mayor entails and that she is up to the job. All the dirt she dished out at the board meeting will be the expected subject matter for the kind of campaign she obviously will choose to run.
2017 promises to be one helluva year.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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