Lanett Councilman Malone criticizes mayor at city hall meeting

By John Brice
Correspondent

During his comments at the Lanett City Council meeting on March 4th of 2024, Councilman for District One Tony Malone strongly criticized the executive performance of Mayor Jamie Heard since he took office.
Speaking candidly throughout his extended remarks, Malone began by commenting “As a member of this council, I would like to give you my perspective of the state of the city. First, I want to thank my fellow council members for their sincere dedication to trying to make Lanett a better place to live for all. Many people think that the council executes things to get things done in the city. But a council member has no authority to make decisions. When it comes to the daily operation of the city, it all starts with the mayor. If we don’t take action during council meetings, the mayor controls and decides what will take place within the city and sometimes it is without council knowledge.”
Malone expanded on his thoughts by stating “I would also like to thank the employees for all the work they do. Each department is very important and what they do makes the city function. It is just plain and simple. Without them we would not have a city and we couldn’t deliver the services that we do. Thank you all for the work you do.” He went on to continue “Within the last couple of years or so the city has been at a standstill with no clear direction on where the city stands or going. This point the city should address the accomplishments we have made in the previous year, but there is none to report on. Instead of advancing, the city is moving backwards and it is all due to the lack of leadership at city hall. Prior to the present mayor, the city was moving forwards with improvements to the city’s infrastructure. We had new traffic equipment installed, lights, signage, streets were being paved, the city was clean, downtown was improved. The old mill site got cleaned up, it still needs some attention but it is better than what it was. Not to mention, attracting Tractor Supply to the old mill site as well as there was more plans to do more for this city and its citizens but we came to a standstill at this time.”
Providing further context, Malone noted “During this standstill, let’s see what has been taking place. The utility rate has increased and I am pretty sure many citizens have noticed the increase in their recent bills. Citizens’ water and sewage rates have increased. We have so much confusion at the airport. There is no solid plan for paving much needed streets which is needed in all districts. In the previous years, we used to have a street paving schedule or list that this council usually voted on. This council hasn’t voted on any such street paving since this man took office.”
He went on to continue “When the man took office in 2021, he asked the streets in each council district that need paving. I submitted several streets for district one and to this day, none have been paved. I asked the question ‘why?’ There is no funds. When the mayor took office, there was a surplus of money in the bank. After two years or so, there is nothing. Is it because the mayor dropped the ball by not getting the necessary paperwork in to keep the police jurisdiction sales tax money within the city? Some seven-hundred and fifty thousand dollars lost by not being on top of this and, really, there is no excuse for not getting the paperwork in.”
Summing up his thoughts, Malone remarked “Councilwoman Thomas has been for a long time talking about the many stray dogs and cats that are freely roaming the streets throughout the city and still we have no plan of action. We must address the upsurge in undocumented people coming into the city. Has Lanett become a safe haven city allowing the undocumented to just stop and pop in and infringe on the city’s already broken down infrastructure without any consequences? We must find a way to fix this. If we continue to let this happen, Lanett will not get on the right track but will continue to move backwards.”
Malone concluded by stating “As I close, I do hope that we find a way to work with citizens who have received such high bills. Especially our senior citizens and those with disability, we must work with them. I have some people who tell me that they have come down to city hall and they have been told that there is no payment plan. I don’t know if it is true or not. Where do we go from here? Despite the many things that we didn’t do or haven’t done, I still believe that we have a wonderful city and an opportunity to get Lanett back on the right track. But we must start now.”