The Mendenhall Mayor and Board of Aldermen held their regular scheduled meeting on Nov. 6. This meeting would last nearly four hours.
Several items were on the agenda, and Mayor Todd Booth decided to start with Bruce and Brian Barlow, who were there to question the purchase of the new 2018 F-150 truck that was purchased for the Mendenhall Police Department. The truck is to be used by Chief Candy McCullum.
Bruce Barlow was the former chief of police of Mendenhall before McCullum took over. Barlow has a documented history of misconduct and abuse of power which led to his arrest and sentencing in 2014 to five years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit extortion, bribery, and theft during his tenure as the Mendenhall police chief.
According to Booth, Bruce Barlow and his son Brian came to City Hall on Nov. 2 requesting documents concerning the purchase of the truck. The Barlows received invoices and board minutes on the truck. Bruce and Brian Barlow appeared before the board with claims that the truck was purchased illegally.
Before delving into the truck issue, Mayor Booth said Bruce Barlow made some “off-color” comments towards Chief McCullum and the city of Mendenhall. Bruce Barlow accused the board and McCullum of purchasing the truck illegally on state contract.
Bruce Barlow said, “Candy McCullum told the board that they were buying the truck on state contract and the board went along with him, which is illegal. It was not on state contract and they needed to get at least two quotes.” The Barlows provided documentation to support their claim. Board minutes reflect that McCullum did provide the board with two bids for the truck. Booth explained after the meeting that “Candy was under the impression we were buying the truck under bid, and the board was under the impression of buying it under state contract.”
Bruce Barlow acknowledged that McCullum acquired two bids, but said the city did not accept the lower of the two bids. He later said, “Candy got two bids but he made a statement that he ‘wasn’t ‘gon buy no truck from a Barlow.’”
Brian Barlow said the city overpaid for the vehicle, but he was more concerned with the contractor identification number used to purchase the truck. The contractor number used on the state contract belonged to Brian Barlow, but he did not sell the vehicle to the city.
He said, “I don’t know how they got the number, but I want to know where it came from because it belongs to my son.”
Alderman Tim Gray moved to take the issues presented to the board under advisement until they could be properly researched.
Booth later explained that the truck was purchased from a dealership in Jackson which provided the contractor number. Booth said the salesman who provided the number was a former coworker of Brian Barlow. The salesman has since quit and relocated to another dealership in Hattiesburg. Booth explained that the owner of the dealership said that similar problems have been associated with this salesman in the past. He said, “We have never had to second guess a contractor ID given to us by a dealership in the past.”
Board Attorney Wesley Broadhead investigated the matter and spoke with the owner of the dealership. According to Booth, the owner said that the dealership would do everything in its power to make things right. The Board has since voted to return the truck and get the city’s money back. A request has also been made of the dealership to provide a replacement vehicle for Chief McCullum until a new truck can be purchased.
Bruce Barlow said that he did not attend the meeting as a former police chief but instead as a concerned citizen. He said, “If you got somebody in a position who is defrauding the people then you have the wrong person for the job.”
Booth said that the board thoroughly questioned McCullum, City Clerk Tiffany Wallace, and Purchasing Clerk Latasha Millis individually, and found no wrong doing on their part. Board members did say that the contractor number should have been verified, and a point should be made to do so in the future.
Lily Hardy appeared before the board to request the use of the Mendenhall Armory for the upcoming Toys for Tots campaign in December. Hardy described the program and explained the positive impact Toys for Tots has had on the community. The board unanimously agreed to allow the armory to be used for Toys for Tots free of charge. The armory was also discussed in terms of insurance. Booth did not think the building needed structural insurance. He stated that a lot of repairs could be made for the cost of insurance. He said that the building is still covered by the city’s blanket liability.
Alderwoman Sandra Wees Stein agreed that as long as the armory was covered under liability insurance then the building was good. Alderman Robert Mangum had a different opinion. He questioned why the city would continue to put money into the armory and increase its value without insuring it. Mangum moved to table the issue until the board could confer with Benny Palmer and get a better explanation. The motion was accepted by the board after an amendment that allowed Wallace to pay the insurance bill so there wouldn’t be a lapse in coverage.
Booth discussed moving forward with the onogoing frontage road project. He explained that he would be advertising for dirt work to get an idea of what was needed to move forward.
The board also moved to amend the city’s commercial driver’s license policy for the grass cutting crew. Booth stated that the city was struggling to keep people on the city crew as grass cutters, because after obtaining their CDL they would leave for better opportunities. The board agreed, and also gave Booth the authority to hire people to the city crew in accordance with the pay scale.
The City Board entered into executive session to discuss personnel before adjourning.
