In barb-laden exchanges Tuesday night between the two Democratic mayoral candidates, Leroy Brooks compared his opponent Stephen Jones to a “midget” and a “child.” Jones attacked Brooks for being “old.”
That was the general tenor of the two men’s answers during a Lowndes County Federation of Democratic Women forum, where a packed courtroom in the Municipal Complex heard from 12 of the party’s 14 candidates running for either mayor or city council.
Primaries are April 1.
Jones, the sitting Ward 5 councilman, went on the offensive first, attacking Brooks’ assertion that the city’s 34% poverty level is scaring away development. Brooks has served as Lowndes County’s District 5 supervisor for 41 years and has touted the county’s success in recruiting billions of dollars in industrial development during his tenure.
“When it comes to poverty, as my opponent has said, he’s done more in his district bringing jobs, so why haven’t those jobs trickled to our people over here?” Jones said as the room erupted in applause. “He said he had a seat at the table. That … should have brought jobs to the people in the city of Columbus also. Then you wouldn’t have that poverty.”
The next time Brooks spoke, answering a question about the city’s biggest challenges, the gloves came off.
“There’s an old saying that midgets like to throw darts at giants. I’m going to let that fall where that may,” he said. “… The challenge (in the city) is poor leadership. People are looking for leaders they can respect, leaders that convey a sense of pride and dignity in this community.”
At Jones’ turn to respond, he walked to the podium and briefly squatted to look shorter, drawing laughter from the crowd.
“I guess I’m going to be like David and fight a Goliath,” Jones said, before pivoting to answering the question. “… Columbus gets a bad rap. Just the perception of Columbus. The No. 2 problem is people like Mr. Brooks, who done got old and want to continue to talk about Columbus. You can let that fall where it may.”
Jones is 55. Brooks is 71.
On substance, Jones sang praises of city projects like its burgeoning Blight Elimination Program, which has been granted $6 million in federal funds to eliminate dilapidated houses, as well as ongoing improvements to the city’s parks system. He also vowed again to finish construction at the Sen. Terry Brown Amphitheater on the Island by the end of the year, if elected.
Most of Jones’ comments centered on improving the city’s image, specifically how it is portrayed “in the media.” Negative messaging is affecting everything from retail recruitment to the future of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Sciences, he said.
“If you had a good image in Columbus, I don’t think they’d be trying to move MSMS (to Starkville),” Jones said. “That’s the main problem: how we are portrayed in the media. Some of it is self-inflicted. Some of it is not.
“… This is a great city. We’re just as great as Starkville, Tupelo, West Point, any other city. The best city, actually,” he added later when discussing what about Columbus makes him proud. “If we start thinking that way, then the sky’s the limit for Columbus.”
For Brooks’ part, he called for more efficient government and improving the city’s financial stability, noting Columbus still had not completed required accounting audits for Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023.
“How are you going to do anything when you don’t know where the money is? So we have elected officials up here talking about what they want to do and they don’t even know how much money they have,” Brooks said. “You may complete the amphitheater because of the kneejerk reaction, like you always do. I don’t think completing the amphitheater is the most important issue in this town when young boys and girls are being killed in the street because we don’t have enough policemen.”
His age, Brooks argued, has given him wisdom. He said he stood before the public with “dignity, not sarcasm.”
“Any child can get up and make crazy remarks,” he said. “This is something serious. … For 41 years, I’ve helped shape the dynamics. I don’t have time to tell you all I’ve done. But if you walk the streets or go through the parks, you can see the footprints of Leroy Brooks.”
Speaking about recruiting retail, Brooks didn’t sugarcoat how difficult that would be in the era of online shopping. But he vowed to be an “ambassador” for the city.
“I won’t be sitting up in City Hall wondering whether something is coming,” Brooks said. “I’m going where they are. … I’m not going to be afraid to step out. And when I step out, I know what to say. I don’t have to mumble and stumble and think about it.”
Though Brooks did not directly reference his opponent at all in that response, Jones nevertheless took exception.
“He got up here and said ‘mumbling’ and all this stuff,” Jones commented during his last turn at the podium. “He can talk about me, but when I get up here and make jokes about him, it’s not OK.”
Council races
The 10 council candidates were friendlier and more subdued than their mayoral counterparts, avoiding verbal attacks.
Attending were incumbent Ward 1 incumbent Ethel Stewart and her opponent Tommie Smith, Ward 2 challenger Roderick Smith, Ward 4 challengers Lavonne Harris and Marty Turner, and Ward 5 candidates Cequeila Clark, Sedrick Fenster and Gary Jefferson.
Incumbent Joseph Mickens and Laisha “Ms. She She” O’Neal, both running for Ward 2, skipped the forum. Republicans and independents weren’t invited to participate.
Building youth programs, reducing crime, cleaning up blight and improving drainage proved thematic across the board, with Clark offering a unique take on some of those issues.
“I would like for us to come together as a community in my ward just to get to know one another and see who is living next door,” she said. “Then maybe the crime will go down.”
On blight, she added, “Why can’t we take some of the abandoned houses, remodel and make homeless shelters or something that would benefit the citizens?”
Roderick Smith called for more neighborhood policing to build trust between the police department and citizens. In a seeming response to the night’s discourse between Brooks and Jones, he also called for unity between the city and county.
“We can’t grow if the city councilmen and county supervisors are tearing each other apart. So we need to come together,” he said, drawing some of the loudest applause of the forum.
Turner advocated for continued cleanup and possible redevelopment at the old Kerr-McGee plant property, now an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site, while Harris told horror stories of drainage issues in her ward.
“Some of the neighbors … they’re scared to go sit out on their back porch in the summertime due to the snakes,” Harris said.
In supporting youth, Fenster focused on talking to children and giving them something to do.
“They’re saying they want a job, and we don’t have any jobs for the kids, nothing here for them to do,” Fenster said. “So they are out here, willy nilly, doing what they’re doing.”
Stewart talked about the city’s continued efforts to improve infrastructure and recreation, as well as provide first responders with needed equipment.
Jefferson, talking about how the city makes him proud, talked about coming from “pretty much nothing” to now owning two businesses in town.
“I don’t know if I could have done it anywhere else,” he said.
The pride question also brought heartfelt answers from the Ward 1 candidates, mixed with some well-timed humor.
“I grew up in the 60s,” Tommie Smith said. “… It wasn’t a lot to be proud of back then. Now, after being on my journey and making it back home, I’m very proud of this place.”
He paused before coyly adding, “I’d be a lot more proud of it if everybody get out and vote Tommie Smith for Ward 1 though.”
That elicited laughter from everyone including Stewart, before she shared her thoughts.
“You’re either in Columbus because you can’t afford to leave or because you want to be here,” she said. “For me, I want to be here. … Don’t talk down about your city. Don’t talk down about your citizens. Take it for what it is and be proud. I’m proud of every inch of Columbus.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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