The Itta Bena Board of Aldermen unanimously passed two resolutions Tuesday that will begin the process of setting special elections for mayor and Ward 1 alderman.
The first resolution authorizes City Attorney Carlos Palmer to draft a resolution authorizing that some land annexed by Itta Bena in 2014 be added to Ward 1. The second resolution will allow Mayor Reginald Freeman, City Clerk Barbara Applon and Alderman-at-Large Willie Williams to work with Leflore County Circuit Clerk Elmus Stockstill on adding the residents of that area to Itta Bena’s poll books.
The board chose Williams for this task after Ward 3’s Darrick Hart said a board member should work with Freeman and Applon. Hart suggested either Ward 1’s Jennifer Walker or Williams, because of their familiarity with the area. Walker recused herself.
Palmer told the board that his understanding of the court order, made by Special Circuit Court Judge Jeff Weill Sr. earlier this month, led to these resolutions as the “cleanest fix” for the city’s election issue.
He explained that the annexed area is all adjacent to Ward 1 and that it made sense to merge the two areas for the purposes of the new elections. Redistricting for the entire city can be done later when the 2020 census data is available.
“We don’t get to do redistricting before the special election, and we can’t have this annexation area not be in a ward for this upcoming special election,” he said.
In the June 8 city elections, Freeman narrowly defeated opponent Patricia Young, and Walker defeated incumbent Ward 1 Alderwoman JoAnn Purnell. Young and Purnell filed suit alleging voting irregularities.
During a trial regarding Young’s contest of her loss, it was revealed that a section of land along County Road 507 had been annexed by Itta Bena in 2014 but that Stockstill was not made aware of it until the day after the election. For seven years, the voters living in this section of land had been voting by affidavit ballot but paying Itta Bena city taxes.
Palmer said a search to find the minutes of the 2014 meeting in which the board dealt with the annexation of that land came up empty. Had that information been found, it could have informed the current board whether those residents had been assigned to a ward.
He said that within 10 days of approving annexation, the city clerk should have communicated that information to Stockstill’s office.
“Itta Bena never did that,” he said. “We’ve had two elections since that had been done, and it had never been caught until you had these two contested elections and stuff came out during the hearing process.”
Freeman and Walker have been allowed to remain in office until the special election is held.
Both Palmer and Stockstill emphasized to the board Tuesday that this was the only option available to them and that time was of the essence. Resolutions are needed because “there has to be some documentation to show what the board has decided to do,” Palmer said.
Stockstill said that in addition to updating the voter rolls, he has been ordered to provide training to city election officials and poll workers to ensure any voting irregularities are avoided. “We don’t want what happened in this last election to happen again,” he said.
Once he has updated the voter rolls and provided the training, he can present that information to Weill, who will set a date for the special election.
“The judge made it perfectly clear that it rests on your shoulders to go ahead and get this done immediately,” Stockstill said. “We’re waiting on you guys to go ahead and set the special election, but we can’t do that until you all go ahead and approve these wards and this information.”
“The election can’t go on unless we do this?” Williams asked. Palmer and Stockstill confirmed it cannot.
Ward 3’s Jerry Crockett said he was hesitant about acting now. “We don’t want to be caught up in some stuff that a previous board didn’t do and it’s all back on us,” he said. “There’s so much going on now with the system, and we’re very afraid of stuff like that right now, and that’s the reason we haven’t come to agreement on it.”
Palmer told the board members that it is not their fault that this issue came to be but that they must fix it, as ordered by Weill.
“The unfortunate thing about being in the position that you all are in is that you inherit the good, the bad and the ugly,” he said. “You can’t be held personally or in your position liable for something that happened back in 2014, but you are in a position to correct it.”
He reminded the board that that it would violate the court order if it took no action.
After the passing of the resolutions, Stockstill said he is prepared to receive the voter roll information starting next week while Palmer will have the annexation order ready for the board’s next regular meeting.
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwards@gwcommonwealth.com.
