The Itta Bena Board of Alderman’s outgoing administration met for the last time Tuesday before a new administration takes office next month.
As of Wednesday evening, however, it remained unclear who the next mayor of Itta Bena will be.
Patricia Collins, the chair of the town’s election commission, said election results had yet to be officially certified because some absentee ballots need to be counted.
She added, though, that the results should be certified by sometime Thursday afternoon.
The unofficial results from the June 8 mayoral election showed Reginald Freeman with 199 votes, or 44% of the total, while Patricia Young had 194 votes, or 43%.
Despite the narrow five-vote margin, Freeman claimed victory, which Young said she would challenge.
In the race for the Ward 1 seat, Jennifer Walker got 39 votes, or 34%, while incumbent JoAnn Purnell and Toni Wesley-Ellis both got 37 votes, or 33% apiece.
For the city’s alderman-at-large position, Willie Williams was the clear victor with 52% of the vote.
Uncontested candidates for the board were Kim Hudson Dawson for Ward 2; incumbent Darrick Hart for Ward 3; and Jerry Crockett for Ward 4.
A swearing-in ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. June 24 at Brazil Center.
The current board also discussed the emergency proclamation it passed last week during a special called meeting to allow residents to get assistance from the government if their homes were damaged.
After the meeting, Hart said that he knew of at least 20 households in his ward that experienced flooding and said that any residents of the city with flood damage should add their names and addresses to a list maintained at City Hall, 201 Fitzhugh St.
Edna Beverly, the city’s clerk, could not say Wednesday afternoon how many residents had added their names to the list.
In other business:
- Purnell told the board she was recently informed by letter from the U.S. Department of the Interior that her grant application for a proposed revitalization project for Sunflower Park, located along Sunflower Road, was approved.
In March, Purnell had applied for the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, administered by the National Park Service, a division of the Department of Interior.
The grant program provides technical assistance, Purnell said, meaning sometime in September, someone from the National Park Service’s network of conservation and recreation planning professionals will come to provide guidance on how to redesign the park.
Leflore County Supervisor Eric Mitchell, whose District 4 incorporates Itta Bena, and Mississippi Valley State University, will also work on the park’s redesign project, Purnell said.
- Rosetta Washington, the coach for the Leflore County High School girls basketball team, said she would like to have her team provide a community clean-up for the city on June 25 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
The aim of the project, Washington said, is to have the players learn to take pride in their community.
She asked the board for suggestions about where the team could clean up.
Freeman suggested the 100 blocks of Lincoln and Grant streets, while JD Brasel, the outgoing mayor, recommended the area along Martin Luther King Drive.
- Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
