Mayor Diane Delaware says the days of city employees “hiding behind trees” to avoid an honest day’s work are a distant memory.
Delaware said all city employees are expected to do the job they’re being paid for during the Mayor and Board of Aldermen meeting this week.
“When one of us asks for something to be done, we really want it to be done,” Delaware said. “If you’re working for us, or if you’re a contractor for us, we actually want it done. We appreciate the advice, but we really want it done. If someone believes we are asking for something that is improper, bring it to the board and let the board know.”
Delaware said that when she and the current board members took office, some city employees were getting away with avoiding work.
“We work every day all day,” Delaware said. “When the city pays for work, it is fully expected that we are working eight hours a day – not hiding. When we came here folks were hiding behind trees. Do you remember that? We’re not hiding behind trees.”
Delaware said that the summer heat can’t be an excuse to avoid work either.
“We understand it’s hot so we’re going to get some Gatorade for our public works,” Delaware said. “Some Gatorade and water and some ice chests because they’re working in the hot sun. We’re going to get them some summer hats so the sun won’t burn them up. We can do all of those things, but we’ve got to work every day. Just because it’s hot doesn’t give us an opportunity not to work.”
Delaware said that another problem that existed was employees not showing up for work without explanation. She said those days are over as well.
“We also want to make it clear that you can’t not come to work and not make it clear that you’re on vacation,” Delaware said. “If you don’t come to work, you have abandoned your job. I say these things because I am told, and from I can see, this is the sort of thing that happened, and we’re not going back to that.”
“We all have to come to work,” Delaware said. “We want to be very nice, cordial, empathetic and all of those things, but you’ve got to come to work. That’s just the way it is. That’s what work is about. I work every day. You pay for me to come to work.”
In other business:
n Police Chief Jeff Curtis reported that 187 traffic citations were issued in the month of June, which represents a 35 percent increase from June 2015. Curtis said police are focusing more on addressing violations like illegal parking in handicap spaces and not wearing seatbelts.
The police department also has new radar units that will allow officers to much more effectively combat speeding in the city.
Ward 3 Alderman Rev. Gregory Robertson said he is concerned that there is an officer who hasn’t written any tickets.
“I can’t quite wrap my head around how you can be an officer and go months and months without writing tickets – not one,” Robertson said.
“I can’t either – I tried,” Delaware said.
Curtis said that all of his officers are expected to enforce traffic laws.
“I’m the chief, and I even make stops,” Curtis said. “I can’t drive the city and see a violation and not react to it. I do a minimum of patrol because I’m in my office working on administrative things the majority of the time.”
Curtis said that going forward all officers will be writing tickets when they see violations.
“It’s got to change,” Curtis said.
n The board accepted the resignations of city school board members John Wallace and Willye Neal Thomas. Nominations for their replacements will be made at the next board meeting.
n Jimmy Wever, manager of the Public Service Commission, reported that repair costs have been much higher than expected due to Yazoo clay shifting during dry weather and breaking pipes.
n Ardis Russell, bookkeeper for the Parks and Recreation board, said that the organization is within its budget so far this year and has $57,595 in the bank after the bills were paid for the month of June.
Delaware, who questioned why no one from the Parks and Recreation board was present, asked what the Parks and Recreation department accomplishes other than cutting grass and lining fields.
“I’m not an operational guy, but that’s a lot of it,” Russell said, adding that the equipment also must be maintained.
Delaware mentioned a recent article in The Yazoo Herald that compared parks and recreation program from similar sized cities in Mississippi. She said she detected a “passion” for parks in other cities that seems to be missing in Yazoo.
“The recreation doesn’t need any defense, but I will say that they have eight or ten parks that they have to keep up; it’s not just one or two,” Russell said.
“Maybe we need to close some of them,” Delaware said.
“That’s a policy decision; I’m just a bookkeeper,” Russell responded.
n Russell also noted that the loss of inmate labor due to the closing of the Yazoo Community Work Center by the Mississippi Department of Corrections will cost Parks and Recreation about $22,000 this year.
In march the board hired three part time employees for four months at a cost of $15,639. The services of two of those part time employees will be retained through the end of the year at a cost of continued the employment of two of those employees through the end of the year at a cost of $6,244.
n Ward 2 Alderman Dr. Jack Varner criticized the fact that the public pool at the Wardell Leach Recreational Complex has cost Parks and Recreation over $4,000 while only bringing in a little over $1,000 in revenue.
“They’re real business people aren’t they,” Varner said.
