Jackson Jambalaya

Credit: The Columbus Dispatch

Harold Lathon believes he''s more than just a character to the voters of West Point and Clay County.

While the two-time mayoral candidate and would-be chancery clerk candidate acknowledges he''s not the most popular man in the area, he believes his talents are sorely needed.

Lathon is perhaps best known as the man who disrupted the November meeting of the West Point Board of Selectmen -- the meeting at which Mayor Scott Ross returned from a brief unexplained absence -- and had to be dragged from the room by police for refusing to be silent, incurring charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He would later be disqualified from running for chancery clerk by the Clay County Democratic Executive Committee due to questions over his place of residence.  

More recently, Lathon has appeared in West Point Municipal Court represented by noted civil rights lawyer Chokwe Lumumba, saw his open meeting complaint against the West Point board thrown out, skipped one meeting with the Clay DEC and attended another Wednesday at which his disqualification was upheld. 

Now the possibility of removing Lathon from Clay County''s voter rolls altogether has circulated among election officials. 

Through all of this, Lathon remains undeterred in his desire to hold public office in Clay County. He''s not ruling out appealing the DEC''s decision in court because he sees no other candidates on the horizon with his experience in economic development to attract jobs. 

"If not me, then who? If not now, then when? I tried to find another individual I could get behind and support. I didn''t try to hold myself out as the only one. But when no one else stepped up, I stepped up," said Lathon. 

After two failed attempts to become mayor, Lathon set his sights on chancery clerk position. 

"It reminds me of when I was living in Memphis in the late 80s and 90s. Memphis has a city mayor and (Shelby County has a) county mayor. When I looked at it, the chancery clerk, who serves the county board of supervisors, would be akin to being county mayor," he said. 

He points to history to illustrate his legitimacy as a political candidate. 

Regarding his arrest: "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went to jail. Nelson Mandela got out of jail and became president of South Africa." 

Regarding his two losses to Scott Ross: "Barack Obama lost his first congressional election." 

"I may not be popular. I may not win the political skins game. I know plenty of leaders who have not won that game and to this day still are not popular," said Lathon. "I may not ever get elected. Should that cost me the right to run for office?" 

Regarding his meeting Wednesday with the Clay DEC, Lathon said he expected to receive the same ruling, claiming he had already provided all the documentation they requested. DEC Chair Pat Cannon said Lathon provided no additional information not presented during the initial inquiry. 

Lathon claims his driver''s license and voting record should be enough to prove he lives in West Point, although he maintains homes in several other cities. 

He and his sister are co-heirs of a home left to them by their parents at 209 N. Eshman Ave., but his sister filed a homestead exemption on the property. 

"The Mississippi Supreme Court is clear, homestead exemption in and of itself can not be the sole determining factor. And if we don''t use a driver''s license, where would that leave the rest of qualified electors. Ninety percent of people who vote use their driver''s license to qualify their residence," he said. 

Those doubting Lathon''s claim that he spends the majority of his time in West Point point out that he and his wife jointly filed a homestead exemption on a house in Jackson in 2005 which was switched to his wife''s name just this year. Furthermore, his children don''t attend school in Clay County and all of his phone numbers are based outside of Clay. 

"My kids are not running for office," Lathon shoots back. "The effort to remove someone from the voting roll when they have not missed two consecutive presidential elections would be a clear violation of the Civil Rights Voting Act and the Department of Justice might have a little something to say about that." 

He went on to say the focus on his place of residence is bordering on obsession. 

"Am I being stalked? There are such a thing as absentee ballots. This is just political gamesmanship," he said. 

Lathon''s family has deep roots in Clay County. He says his mother, Paulette Richmond Lathon, was the first African American teacher to integrate the school systems.  

Credit: The Columbus Dispatch

Lathon has established a scholarship in his mother''s name for the children or grandchildren of his high school classmates attending Rust College in Holly Springs or Mississippi University for Women. He also contributes to the Bryan Library, where a reading program was established in his mother''s name. He created the nonprofit St. Paul Community Development Corporation, serves as a mentor in various communities and supports medical research in honor of his mother''s struggle with diabetes. 

He said he intentionally doesn't promote his philanthropic work unless asked. 

"I don''t do it for notoriety. I subscribe to Matthew 6:3, never let the right hand know what the left hand is doing," he said.