Jackson Jambalaya

This one is well-deserved.

Here is the video of the meeting. Nothing exciting as most of the time was spent on housekeeping issues such as contracts, awards, and reports. There is one interesting discussion at the beginning of the fourth clip over the upgrading of radios and mobile units for the Sheriff's office. The radios are upgraded to Phase II. Such an upgrade makes them compatible with the statewide (MSWIN) radio system. The term used in the dicussion, "flash" means changing the internal parts for the upgrade. The contract is with Motorola and Supervisor Fisher had made sure Airwave or Northstar was not involved.

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An exhibit recently filed in Ricky Moore vs. Hinds County Board of Supervisors claims Supervisor Doug Anderson made racist statements concerning the denial of Mr. Moore’s application for the position of the Director of Emergency Operations Center. Mr. Moore filed suit after the board hired Jimmie Lewis to replace a retiring Larry Fisher in 2009. The plaintiff was employed as Assistant Director of Emergency Management for twenty years by Hinds County. Mr. Lewis was the director of the Permits & Zoning Department and had a Master’s in Physical Education. Mr. Lewis is black. Mr. Moore is white. Mr. Moore claimed he was denied the position due to his race.

Mr. Moore submitted a sworn affidavit by Rosalind Longino. Ms. Longino has served with EOC since 1976 and is currently the Deputy Director. She claimed Doug Anderson “remarked to me that Ricky J. Moore would not likely be hired for the position of Director because of his membership in the Caucasian (White) race. Mr. Anderson plainly stated ‘how would you feel if Ricky were to get the job as Director.” Ms. Longino replied “it would be favorable because he was the proper person for the position.” The affidavit states Mr. Anderson replied “We are a majority Black board- do you really believe that we aren’t going to put a Black in the position of Director?”

Doug Anderson made the motion to hire Jimmie Lewis. This is not the first time Mr. Anderson would have made such statements if true as earlier this year the long-time supervisor told WJTV he did not want more white voters in his district.

The exhibits posted below contain the transcripts, affidavits, and professional histories of Mr. Moore and Mr. Lewis. Dale Danks represents Ricky Moore. Mr. Moore resigned shortly after his application was rejected. He filed suit on June 17, 2010 after the EEOC gave him permission to do so. Mr. Moore claims Mr. Lewis is unqualified for the position.

The Supervisors hired Charles Graham, the brother of Robert Graham, to replace Mr. Moore. Jimmie Lewis later fired Charles Graham. Mr. Graham currently has a lawsuit in federal court alleging discrimination by the county based upon his age. Mr. Graham is black. Mr. Moore also submitted a transcript of a conversation between Mr. Graham and EOC Director Jimmie Lewis regarding the hiring of his brother. The transcript is posted below (page 8) and discusses where Mr. Lewis can interview Charles Graham away from scrutiny. There is one little interesting aside where they discuss how to avoid giving any information to the Jackson Free Press.