Monday’s Lowndes County Board of Supervisors meeting began with an unfamiliar face seated at the end of the table, a space normally occupied by the board president.
It didn’t take long for the old seating arrangement to be resumed, however.
The first supervisors meeting of 2020 was devoted primarily to the perfunctory tasks of hiring staff and electing officers.
Because the meeting was the first of the new election cycle, Cindy Goode, the new chancery clerk, presided over the meeting until the board voted on a new board president and vice president.
There was nothing new about the outcome, however. Harry Sanders and District 3 Supervisor John Holliman were again elected president and vice president, again by 3-2 votes split across racial lines.
As he did four years ago, Holliman opened the election discussion by nominating Sanders for board president.
Before the motion was seconded, District 5 supervisor Leroy Brooks, now in his 10th term, offered a substitute motion to open up the discussion to all nominations before the vote.
“Look, we already know what (the outcome) is going to be,” Brooks said. “But if we don’t open it up for other nominations, I’m going to have to vote no on this.”
District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith seconded the substitute motion and the board voted unanimously in favor. Brooks and Smith are the two black members of the five-member board.
Brooks opened the discussion before any other nominations were made.
Smith nominated Brooks for president and the nominations closed.
Goode then called for a vote on the nominations in the order in which they were made, with Sanders returning to the board president position. Holliman, new District 2 Supervisor Trip Hairston and Sanders voted in favor with Brooks and Smith opposed.
Sanders then moved to his spot at the end of the table and the nominations for vice president were opened.
Brooks nominated Smith for vice president.
“I think it would send a better message throughout the county if we were to reflect the diversity,” Brooks said. “Just for perception and fairness, we need to change the officers. I know how politics go, but I think we are one of the few (county) boards that doesn’t rotate presidents. It’s not an issue with me, but when you rotate and allow everybody to serve in a leadership position, it’s good for the board and the community. I’d like to see Jeff get that opportunity.”
Sanders then nominated Holliman to return as vice president and the board again voted 3-2 in favor, again with the three white supervisors voting on favor and the two black supervisors opposed.
After the meeting, Brooks said he raised the issue as a matter of record.
“I’m past the time when I would be upset by this,” Brooks said. “But I did want to make a point here.”
The board has not had a black president since 2004 when Joe Brooks was elected to the position.
The rest of Monday’s board meeting continued amicably.
The board voted unanimously to re-hire county attorney Tim Hudson, road manager Ronnie Burns, county engineer Bob Calvert and county administrator Ralph Billingsley.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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