Ward 4 Councilman Marty Turner contends an opinion Columbus requested from Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood is further proof that city leadership is treating him unfairly.
The opinion, issued May 20, responds to several inquiries from city attorney Jeff Turnage about behavior and Columbus policy enforcement for councilmen.
Turnage’s inquiry, which is included in the opinion, references an April 19 meeting in which Mayor Robert Smith asked Turner to leave during executive session for unruly behavior.
“Since that time, I have been requested by council members and the Mayor to write for an official attorney general’s opinion on a number of issues,” Turnage wrote. “They all relate to numerous issues related to conduct by the mayor and city council individually.”
The inquiry requests guidance on five questions: whether the city can discipline the mayor or a city councilman for violating the social media policy; whether the mayor or a city councilman can be disciplined for violating the city’s personnel policy manual; if the city can pass a rule or ordinance requiring the mayor or city councilmen to submit to drug and alcohol testing as a condition of continued service; whether the mayor and council may remove a sitting councilman from officer for misconduct or violation of the city’s charter or ordinances; and what a member of the public may do if they have a suspicion that the mayor or a councilman may be intoxicated or under the influence of an illegal drug.
The opinion, authored by Special Assistant Attorney General Leigh Triche Janous, states municipal elected officials are protected from discipline and cannot be removed from office except for provisions under Mississippi Code section 25-5-1, such as being convicted of or pleading guilty to a felony.
Alcohol testing
The opinion further states there are no mechanisms in place for a city to compel its elected officials to submit to alcohol or drug testing. It also states, in regards to public intoxication, that any citizen can sign an affidavit against another person for a criminal violation.
In previous meetings and interviews, Turner contended the city can’t punish him since he is an elected official.
Although the inquiry doesn’t name Turner, many of the matters relate to issues surrounding him or past incidents involving the Ward 4 councilman.
Several public officials have accused Turner of alcoholism, and former Ward 5 Councilman Kabir Karriem once accused him of being under the influence of alcohol at a council meeting.
The council has previously reprimanded Turner for violating the social media policy, and service to his city phone was recently suspended for misuse of city property after he allegedly used it to post threatening remarks to Facebook.
Turnage said he submitted the inquiry for several reasons.
“Several times I’ve read in the paper where people have written in saying the mayor and city council need to do something about people violating the social media policy and how can it be fair to fire a police officer or fireman and suspend them and they don’t do anything to members of the council,” Turnage said. “Then, I got some written discovery questions from Canyon Boykin’s lawyer wanting to know what we do when a council member or the mayor violates the policy.”
In previous council meetings, Turnage said the board cannot punish an elected official for violating city policies. He said there wasn’t an AG’s opinion on the specific questions, and the new opinion confirms what he’s previously said.
“I have always advised that there’s nothing you can do to a member of the council that’s elected by the public,” he said. “It would be a strange law to allow the mayor and council to suspend somebody and deprive their constituents of representation.”
“It’s a plot”
Turner told The Dispatch on Friday he’d only learned about the opinion a few days prior after one of his managers pointed it out to him. He said he did not know the city requested the opinion or that the AG’s office had issued it. He said he took issue with the city requesting the opinion on several matters that relate to him without telling him.
“It’s a plot,” Turner said. “I know I sound crazy by saying that stuff, but it’s part of a bigger plot. I’m actually for the people and (city leaders) don’t like that.”
Turner, when saying he didn’t know about the AG’s opinion, said the lack of communication with him is evidence of the disrespect toward him and his ward.
“It’s always been going on like that, and they want to keep it like it is,” Turner said. “They’ve been suppressing Ward 4. They disserviced (sic) our last councilman (Fred Stewart) by keeping things in the dark … and that’s why I ran for office.
“That’s why Ward 4 is in the shape that it’s in,” he added. “The establishment was trying to lock Ward 4 out of anything that was going on.”
Turner pointed his finger squarely at Smith, saying the mayor has “been disrespecting Ward 4 for quite some time now.”
He cited the sudden suspension of service to his city phone last week as an example. He said he still can’t access his email because it was set up on his city phone. Turner said Smith denied a request Thursday to briefly reactivate the phone to allow him to switch his email to his new, personal phone.
“If that’s not disrespect, I don’t know what is,” Turner said.
In a statement issued last week, Smith said his decision to suspend Turner’s phone was the result of Turner’s behavior, which reflected poorly on his ward and the city as a whole.
“When we accept the job of a public official, there is a great deal of trust and responsibility that comes along with the position,” Smith said. “Councilman Turner has every right to say anything he desires to anyone. However, he does not have the right to do so on a phone paid for by the city.”
Claims against Smith
Turner said Smith, in a conversation on Thursday, threatened to have him arrested if he attends the Mississippi Municipal League meeting in Biloxi next week.
“He said if I come down there saying anything, he’s going to send me to jail,” Turner said. “That’s what the mayor said.”
Smith, however, denied the accusation.
“I told him that we would be attending the Mississippi Municipal League to represent Columbus, and others would judge our city by our actions at the meetings — in particular, the dinners we will attend as a group,” Smith said. “I only wanted to remind him that we would be a direct reflection of how others see our city, and that goes for all of us that will attend.”
Turner also accused Smith of telling him not to call anymore.
“I don’t know why he would say that,” Turner said. “I’ve got to call (Smith) to make sure that my people are serviced.”
Smith said he advised Turner to only contact him for official business.
“If it is not city business, then I do not need to be included in the discussion,” Smith said. “I want to work with him and the residents of Ward 4. My door is always open for city business.”
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Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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