District 1 Supervisor Harry Sanders says a deep political rift led him to unexpectedly resign his seat at the head of the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors Monday.
Sanders, who served as board president since January 2004, said his decision to resign the presidency had nothing to do with a 3-2 vote to spend $2 million on road repairs, which he and District 3 Supervisor John Holliman voted against immediately preceding his announcement at the end of Monday”s meeting.
Rather, Sanders said the vote was a fitting precursor to the announcement, which he had already written and planned to deliver.
“It was not a knee-jerk reaction. The vote was just another sign of me losing the support of the majority of the board,” he said.
The rift in the board, according to Sanders, has become so severe that, outside of the boardroom, he is no longer on speaking terms with District 2 Supervisor Frank Ferguson or District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks.
Ferguson, the board”s vice president, will assume the president”s duties until a new president is elected. He acknowledges being at odds with Sanders, but says he respects Sanders” position.
“I respect every member, including Harry and his position. But this thing has gotten into a personal vendetta,” said Ferguson. “I think Harry is a very capable president and I did not want this to happen. I do not want to be president.”
Sanders says Ferguson and Brooks have become disruptive in meetings.
“When I”m at the head of the table and don”t have the respect of the board, something”s wrong. I don”t have to put up with that when they interrupt and won”t follow the rules of order,” said Sanders.
He believes Ferguson and Brooks wanted to vote him out as board president, but lacked the four votes necessary to unseat him. Sanders” vote often aligns with Holliman, while Brooks and Ferguson align with District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith.
“It”s hard to conduct business that way,” said Sanders. “There”s no reason for me to be up there when somebody else wants it.”
Ferguson insists he”s never voted based on alliances or a personal agenda.
“I”m not voting with anybody. I”m voting for what I think is best,” he said.
The supervisors are uncertain how Sanders” resignation of his board presidency will effect the 3-2 voting dynamic.
“I really don”t think it will change things,” said Holliman. “It will just be a matter of (Sanders) moving from the president to the side of the table. I don”t think it will affect a lot on board actions.”
Sanders says he won”t change his voting patterns in the future.
“I”ve been there 10 years and voted the same way for 10 years. I”m not going to vote any different than I”ve always voted,” he said.
And that includes his opposition to borrowing $2 million for roads.
Smith introduced the road issue at Monday”s meeting, moving that the board fund repairs for damaged county roads. In seconding the motion, Brooks amended it to authorize County Administrator Ralph Billingsley to seek $2 million in loans from local banks or to borrow from Lowndes County funds to repair the roads already specified on a list held by Road Manager Ronnie Burns.
Earlier in the meeting, the board heard from Kevin Forrester, information technology specialist for the Lowndes County Sheriff”s Office, about the need for new software and technical support for the county”s E-911 equipment.
The current system has been in place since 2006 and Forrester says technical support sometimes takes up to 72 hours to return a call for assistance.
“You get what you pay for, and the service agreement was free,” said Forrester.
He recommended the county purchase new software and technical support from PTS Solutions, the company which provides computer software and services to both the Columbus Police Department and LCSO.
The estimated cost for the upgrades was $141,000, with a required one-third down payment.
Supervisors asked if the purchase could be postponed until October because money for a software purchase is not budgeted. They tabled the issue until the board”s March 15 meeting.
In other business the board:
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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