You have to be 18-years-old to serve as an alderman in the city of Starkville.
There is no maturity requirement, however, which in large part explains Ben Carver’s continued presence on the board.
Since his arrival in 2009, Carver has fashioned himself as a conservative voice on the board of aldermen. On every issue, Carver seems to search for the most conservative position — even creating a conservative position if none exists — and set up camp there. There’s nothing wrong with that. A diversity of opinions and viewpoints are a sign of the health of any community. As long as our leaders are operating in good faith, the give-and-take, the debate, the compromises that follow benefit the community.
But there are times when Carver’s zeal goes beyond a fair exchange of ideas. He’s a guy who loves playing footsie with extremist conspiracy theorists. As far as that goes, there’s nothing wrong with that either: All he risks is his reputation and credibility. If he wants to make a fool of himself, nobody is going to stop him, least of all Carver himself.
But even here, there is a line to be drawn, and Carver sailed over that line this week.
On any governing board, there are issues where board members are divided, sometimes very passionately divided. When a vote doesn’t go your way, it’s perfectly acceptable to criticize the decision and offer reasons why you think it is wrong.
But ultimately, an alderman is expected to put aside his or her personal views and respect decisions made by his fellow board members. To refuse to do so creates chaos and harms the community.
On Sept. 7, the Starkville Board aldermen voted 5-2 to implement a new COVID-19 policy that requires city employees to either be vaccinated or pay an extra $75 per month in health premiums. The majority position was that those who choose not to be vaccinated should bear the financial burden of that decision. The choice is ultimately up to the employee.
Carver voted against policy. That’s OK.
On Tuesday, he announced on social media that he was starting a GoFundMe campaign to cover the additional health insurance premiums of those employees who chose not to be vaccinated. That’s not OK.
What Carver is doing here is an attempt to undermine the will of the duly-elected leaders of the city entrusted with the responsibility of creating city policy.
Put succinctly, it’s sabotage.
Beyond that, a fund-raising campaign led by an aldermen potentially creates liability issues for the city and taxpayers. There are probably any number of private citizens who could have started this fund-raising campaign. But it’s clear that Carver wanted to exploit it to his own dubious benefit. He likes to lead the parade.
In a Facebook post where Carver was pitching his GoFundMe plans, a commenter under the name of Keith Kellum wrote that Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill “needs to be replaced as soon as possible. In Mexico, they drag mayors out into the street and drag them behind a car for making stupid decisions.”
Carver “liked’’ the comment, but later — after removing the entire post from his page — said he only read the first part of the comment. The reader is left to determine if Carver is being truthful on this point, based on the degree of credibility he has established over the years and his enthusiasm for extremist rhetoric.
Carver would be wise to disassociate himself with the GoFundMe campaign. He should also apologize to his fellow aldermen for his deliberate attempt to sabotage a policy that was fairly decided, one enacted for the sole purpose of protecting the health of city employees, their families and the community at large. He should also apologize to the mayor.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen, though.
That would require a level of maturity that Carver has yet to attain.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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