While Leroy Brooks and Bill Strauss disagreed on most points during a Tuesday debate, both mayoral candidates agreed on one thing.
“We’re kind of tied to the city council,” Strauss said to voters at the Municipal Complex. “We can’t do all the things we say we can do unless we have the support of the citizens and we hire new city councilmen. Throw the old ones out. Let’s get some new people.”
The crowd of roughly 100 citizens in the gallery erupted in applause.
Similarly, Brooks said he is “tired of the foolishness.”
“You’re tired of being embarrassed because you’ve got members up there trying to outrun the law,” Brooks said. “You’re tired of council members dogging employees.”
Brooks was referring, as he did more than once Tuesday, to Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard’s several misdemeanor arrests during this term, as well as recent incidents where other council members dressed down department heads during public meetings.
Each of the two candidates presented starkly different approaches for how he would run the mayor’s office. Emphasizing his 41 years working in government, Brooks said he wants to approach the office practically.
“There is no candidate in this race that has the experience, the knowledge, the training and the wisdom that I bring to the table,” Brooks said.
Strauss leaned into the city’s “weak mayor” system in which the city council holds hiring/firing power while the mayor is responsible for day-to-day operations. He pledged to work alongside council members to address issues that matter to citizens, he said.
“I’ve run a business from top to bottom while being a good community partner, and now I want to bring these skills to the city of Columbus as your mayor,” he said. “The future of our city is about taking care of citizens and taking care of the business of our great city.”
Hosted by the Lowndes County Democratic Party, the organization invited independent candidates to participate after Democrat Stephen Jones declined to participate, citing a scheduling conflict.
Strauss accepted the invitation but fellow independent candidate Darren Leach, also citing a scheduling conflict, declined.
The debate was moderated by Joey Barnes from WCBI, Tanya Carter from WTVA and Dispatch Managing Editor Zack Plair.
Party primaries are April 1 and the general election is June 3.
Crime and economic development
Brooks said addressing the perception that Columbus is unsafe starts with the example set by the city’s current leadership.
“I think part of this perception is that you have poor leadership that’s not out in the community trying to dispel this because, in some instances, they contribute to the perception,” he said.
If elected, Brooks said he plans to meet with both Chief Joseph Daughtry and officers at CPD to determine the root causes of the current officer shortage. To prevent crime, Brooks plans to implement a comprehensive plan that considers not only solutions but symptoms and causes of crime as well.
Strauss plans to take a more hands-off approach to crime in Columbus. If elected, he said he plans to rely on the expertise of the police chief to handle problems at the department. Other departments could also play a role, he said, like tasking the parks department with creating more programs to keep kids entertained.
“I was never trained as a policeman,” he said. “I have to depend on the professional to handle his staff. Now if he can’t handle his staff, that falls to the city council.”
Strauss plans to take a similar approach with economic development in the city. The Golden Triangle Development LINK, the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau and Main Street Columbus already do an excellent job of bringing industry and activity into the city, he said. As a self-described newcomer to politics with a lot to learn, he plans to rely on their expertise.
“If elected mayor, absolutely, I would be sitting at that table (making decisions about bringing in industry),” he said. “But I’m going to defer to the professional. I’ll be standing behind (LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins), and I’ll be egging him on for anything we can get.”
While it’s a “harsh reality,” Brooks said Columbus is not going to attract all the residents coming for jobs at area industries when competing with Starkville. But the first step toward bringing those residents in, he said, is having leaders who will do a better job of marketing the city.
“We have the people with the expertise, but we haven’t had an elected official or a mayor that can bring them to the table and dream about what this ought to look like,” he said.
Brooks, the District 5 Lowndes County supervisor, touted his success on the county board in working with the LINK to bring more industry into the county.
“Every major plant that’s come to this community, I’ve been at the table to help consummate the deal,” he said.
Quality of life and administration
In another dig at the current council, Brooks said the unfinished Sen. Terry Brown Amphitheater is a result of leadership having “no sense of what’s going on.”
While he acknowledged the amphitheater as a good idea, Brooks said the project was poorly planned. If elected, he said spending city funds to finish the amphitheater will not be a priority for him. He would rather the city lease or sell it as-is.
Strauss agreed the project was poorly planned. He would like to see the amphitheater completed if elected, but he does not think $4 million – the city’s current estimate for “finishing” the facility with amenities like seating, concessions, restrooms and gating – should be spent to do it.
“With $1 million, I’ll tell you, I can find a way to get enough seats in there,” he said. “… We can get toilets in there, and we can get a sound system in there for a million bucks.”
Brooks – if elected – plans to start his tenure with a 60-day assessment of the city’s department, including meetings and retreats with department heads and council members. While he doesn’t intend to change leadership in City Hall, he wants to make sure everyone is “on the same page.”
“If we can’t get on the same page, then we may have to look for someone else,” he said.
Strauss, alternatively, said he wants to hit the ground running. Because the council carries firing/hiring power, Strauss said his role as mayor would be to ensure city employees are getting the job done.
“That’s where my strength lies – boots on the ground in the community, giving proper leadership to those employees of the city, so that they can do their job better,” he said. “I’ll know what they need. They’ll know somebody cares about the work.”
‘I call it cowardice’
Jones’ intended absence sparked controversy earlier this month that was still simmering Tuesday in the Municipal Complex.
The Ward 5 councilman said he was not invited before the local committee posted a flyer for the debate on Facebook. He cited a prior engagement and offered the party committee several other dates he could attend, but the organization pressed on with its originally set date.
At the same time as the debate, Jones hosted a forum with a handful of local youth that he livestreamed on Facebook. Leach previously told The Dispatch he had to lead a scheduled meeting of the Memphis Town Community Action Group, for which he is executive director.
Addressing suggestions the debate was improperly arranged, local party chair Kabir Karriem said the goal of the event was not to trick candidates or voters.
Taking a more direct stance during his closing statement, Brooks said Leach and Jones were “absent without official leave.”
“I think that’s where the other two candidates are, probably somewhere watching to try and figure out what they’re going to do next,” he said. “How are you going to speak for the people if you don’t speak to them? I call it cowardice.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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