Columbus Mayor Robert Smith ordered Ward 4 Councilman Marty Turner removed from Tuesday’s city council meeting for talking over other councilmen.
Turner was escorted out of the meeting’s executive session by Oscar Lewis, the city’s chief of police.
Smith told The Dispatch that Turner was speaking in a raised voice and talking over other councilmen without being recognized, in violation of Robert’s Rules of Order, a set of guidelines for official meetings.
Councilmen typically have to wait for the mayor, who serves as the meeting’s chairman, to recognize them before speaking.
Smith said that during the executive session he asked Turner more than five times to not talk over other councilmen and be recognized before speaking. Smith said that when Turner failed to do so, he stopped the meeting and asked the councilman to leave.
“At first, he refused, and so then I told him if he didn’t leave the chambers I was going to have him escorted out,” the mayor said. “I called (Police) Chief Oscar Lewis, who was in attendance in executive session, and asked him to remove (Turner) from the chambers.”
Lewis escorted Turner out of the Municipal Complex. Turner was not arrested or placed in handcuffs, according to Joe Dillon, the city’s public information officer.
Turner told The Dispatch he left the building voluntarily.
Discussion that led to incident
Turner was removed from the executive session about 20 minutes into the first topic of discussion. At the time, councilmen were discussing whether to rent the Trotter Convention Center to Kingdom Vision International Church.
Potential leases of city property may be legally discussed in executive sessions. The council took up this lease because of the proposed duration, according to Dillon.
Turner said he was in favor of renting out the downtown complex to the church for the next 40-plus Sundays. Turner said the Trotter is rarely rented out on Sundays and that the pastor, R.J. Matthews, had promised to let anyone else who needed the Trotter in the evenings have it.
The council declined to enter into a lease agreement with the church.
Matthews, in a statement sent to The Dispatch on Wednesday, said he had made the request “to reach more souls with the Gospel and be a greater blessing to the city and community we greatly love.”
“Unfortunately, the council made the decision to decline the proposal and deny our request for their own particular reasons,” he said. “While it does seem quite unfair, I have never been more convinced by a “No” that God is getting ready to bless us in an even better way.”
Turner said council members denied the request because they “have something against” Matthews and do not like the influence he is gaining in Columbus.
“They’re trying to stifle him,” Turner said.
“It seems like when you’re young, black — especially young black men — that (are) trying to do something, it’s like a wall,” he added. “Some kind of wall is there. It’s invisible, an invisible wall that won’t let them proceed, especially when they try to do something positive.”
Turner claims mayor was mad before incident
Turner said he was not intentionally being disruptive during Tuesday’s meeting. He said there were times when he was trying to let Smith know Ward 6 Councilman Bill Gavin, who joined the meeting by speakerphone, was attempting to speak.
“The mayor couldn’t hear him,” Turner said of Gavin. “I could hear him clearly. I was telling the mayor that it’s important for each councilman to have a chance to speak.”
Turner also claimed Smith had him removed from executive session in retaliation for something that happened earlier in the meeting.
The council on Tuesday voted to appoint Fredrick Sparks to the Columbus Municipal School District school board. Prior to that appointment, however, Ward 3 Councilman Charlie Box motioned for the appointment of Berry Hinds.
Ward 1 Councilman Gene Taylor, Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens and Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones voted against Hinds. Gavin, Box and Turner voted in favor of Hinds. The 3-3 tie forced the mayor to break the tie. The mayor voted against Hinds, which ultimately led to Sparks’ appointment.
“I know he was mad at because I put him in that 3-3 pickle,” Turner told The Dispatch. “He hates breaking ties, especially on racial divides.”
Sparks is black. Hinds is white.
Turner: There is a plot
Throughout Tuesday’s open session of the council meeting, Turner routinely spoke over the mayor and other council members in a disruptive manner. Other media outlets on Wednesday indicated Turner may have been under the influence of alcohol. Turner denied he had been drinking.
“I was not drunk. At all,” he said. “I hadn’t drunk anything for a long time.”
Dillon drove Turner home after he was ejected from Tuesday’s meeting. Dillon said he could not tell if Turner was under the influence, adding that the two had a “pleasant conversation” about Ward 4 during the ride.
In October, former councilman Kabir Karriem claimed Turner was under the influence of alcohol during a council meeting. Turner denied that claim, as well.
Turner said the perception that he struggles with alcohol is the result of a “plot” from Lowndes County supervisor Leroy Brooks.
“That is a plot from Leroy Brooks that started a few years ago,” Turner said. “They say that if you say something enough times people will start believing it.”
Brooks denied Turner’s accusation. Brooks said he had nothing to do with Turner’s dismissal Tuesday from executive session, as he was in Pascagoula.
Turner made an unsuccessful bid last fall to unseat Brooks from the Lowndes County board of supervisors.
‘You have to draw a line’
Turner has faced criticisms before for his behavior.
In 2013, Turner still owed fines to the city of Hattiesburg for a December 2010 DUI second offense arrest. A court clerk told the Dispatch Turner paid the fine in July 2013.
In October, he was reprimanded by his fellow councilmen for a profanity-laced Facebook post where, among other things, he called Karriem a “bi*** boy.”
In January, Turner again took to Facebook, this time to call Gavin racist.
Smith said he’s had several conversations with Turner about his behavior. He said those talks have failed to yield any long-term results.
“I have talked to councilman Turner on several occasions about his behavior, similar to what happened (Tuesday night), and he indicated after speaking to him on several occasions that he would correct his mannerisms during council meetings,” Smith said. “It lasts for about two or three council sessions and then the same old, same old. You just get tired of it at some point and have to draw the line.”
Smith said he will enforce the rules, even if that means ejecting Turner from council meetings during open session.
“At this point I can assure the citizens as the mayor and chief executive officer of the city and as the person who’s in conducting meetings, where I have been patient and tolerant, I’m not going to be tolerant anymore,” Smith said.
Turner’s removal from the meeting was the first time a member of the council has been removed from a meeting since at least 2001, according to the mayor.
Dispatch reporter Isabelle Altman contributed to this report.
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