If you go What: Long Beach Board of Aldermen meeting. When: 7 p.m. today. Where: City Hall annex. On the agenda: Aldermen will decide whether former Police Chief Tom Bishop will be placed back in the Police Department in another job or if his civil service classification will be changed to fit his current job in code enforcement and municipal court.

LONG BEACH - Nobody will confess, but one member of the Board of Aldermen wants to circumvent the city's hiring process and appoint former Harrison County Sheriff Joe Price as police chief.

Nothing surprises me now about Long Beach, Mississippi politics,
just look at all of the Fraud, Waste, & Abuse has been aired all ready.

But is nice to know that up coming elections can change the way the city operates. 

I ran for Mayor in 1989 because of the way I was dealt with by the city and its cliques, and you never no I may run for Mayor again. 

All of the aldermen deny being that one.

Like this is a surprise, remember the $650,000 per year savings our elected officials voted 5 to 2 against.

I will remember that when the Mayor and Alderman in my Ward ask for my vote.

Jerry West, chairman of the Civil Service Commission, said last week that an alderman approached him and asked about the procedure to bypass the 20 applicants and give Price the job.

The Civil Service Commission, now their is a service which does not work with the community in Long Beach.

But if you are Tom Bishop, the Civil Service Commission is what you must have to keep a job after being fired.

The worst thing Long Beach, Mississippi did was to allow this Civil Service Commission to exist.

West will not say which alderman it was or if Price submitted an application. Price has not returned phone calls.

This reminds me of a secret organization, but I thought politics was suppose to be open to the public.

House gets open-meetings law
click here

Although none of the aldermen will admit to talking to West, a couple have said they think Price would make a good police chief.

If I were going to hire a new police chief, I would hire a person which qualified for the position and had no ties with anyone in Long Beach, Mississippi.

But they won't, they will hire someone they know, someone which will be able to get them reelected.

It all comes down to, "I must get reelected no matter how."

"To say that I went to anybody isn't true," Alderman Allen Holder said, "but I think (Price) would be a great choice. His reputation precedes him, and I wouldn't even need to see his resume."

Joe Price has lived in Long Beach for many years, and has been a good neighbor, he was the Harrison County Sheriff for many years.

Joe lost his race for reelection as sheriff, and I thought he retired, and I am surprised he would come out of retirement to get involved with the Long Beach Police Department.

A four-member committee will interview the applicants March 21-22. The commission will present the top three candidates to Mayor Robert Bass and the board at the April 2 meeting.

I as a citizen would like to read the resumes of all the candidates and I believe should be open to the public.

E-MAIL REQUEST

Subj: Resumes of candidates for police chief  Date: 3/5/02 10:46:21 AM Central Standard Time From: Mccaleb5thdist To: cityclerk@cityoflongbeachms.com

Becky, what does the law say about me being able to read the resumes/applications of the pending police chief of Long Beach, Mississippi.

Also, you have not answered my question I asked about the past police chief's being paid the salary as a police chief.

Please answer both of my questions

House gets open-meetings law

No one's fessing up in L.B.

STEVEN A. McCALEB
www.mississippiwebsite.com

Bass said he isn't concerned about an alderman wanting to bypass other applicants.

It is nice to no the Mayor is not concerned, but perhaps someone should be.

"The only way you can get past (the commission) is if they grant a special exception," he said. "I'm not going to interfere with the Civil Service Commission."

What does (the commission) have to do with hiring a new Police Chief, I thought that was the Mayors and Aldermen's job.

In fact who is running Long Beach, (the commission) of our elected officials?

West said if an alderman wanted to appoint someone without going through the process, he would have to make a formal request to the commission, and the three members would vote on it.

I guess this answered my question of who is running the City of Long Beach, Mississippi.

No one has made such a request.

That makes me warm and fuzzy all over.

Melissa Scallan can be reached at 896-0541 or at mmscallan@sunherald.com.