Those we elect to public office should not stoop to petty political tricks to get things done.
Clarksdale is not Washington. Every man on your Board of Mayor and Commissioners has grown up in this town and watched their fellow elected officials grow up here, too. Let’s be noble, honest and wise.
So why did Clarksdale Mayor Chuck Espy decide this week to start using a parliamentary procedure on people he calls his friends?
We think it is simple. Mayor Espy saw his political buddies kicked out of county offices in January. His favorite Judge resigned this month. Crime is a crushing problem in his hometown. Clarksdale property values are plummeting. Litter and blight cover this town. We haven’t had a major job announcement in more than two years.
Chuck Espy sees his legacy slipping away and he is clutching at straws.
The addition of a new personality in the form of Ward 2 Commissioner Jimmy Harris, along with the veteran understanding of how things work by Ward 1 Commissioner Bo Plunk are evident.
Ward 3 Commissioner Willie Turner is absent and, as a possible pick for Mayor in 2025, he is trying to make everyone happy. Ward 5 Commissioner Ed Seals is holding on, and we will say he still shows the signs of a Southern gentleman.
But the winds of change are blowing across this community. Espy has repeatedly said in public he is not running for Mayor in the Spring of 2025.
We hope the events detailed on Page One of today’s Clarksdale Press Register are not evidence of anger and frustration.
The Espy name carries a lot of honor and heritage in this town and in this state. We urge Mayor Espy to rise to the occasion, work across the aisle and not resort to desperate, petty political ploys.
Your Clarksdale Press Register urges Espy to look further than the end of his own nose and pocketbook and see the problems Clarksdale faces.
The events of the past three meetings are not about a Municipal Court Judge, they are about retaining power. And the good, noble and wise people of Clarksdale see that.
-30-
