Fired Columbia Police Department dispatcher Clarence Louge holds EEOC complaint forms he plans to file against the city regarding his termination.
By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher
A former Columbia Police Department dispatcher who was fired this month said he plans on filing a discrimination claim against the city.
Clarence Louge told the Marion County Informer on Wednesday that he feels like he was wrongfully terminated by the Columbia Board of Aldermen on June 1.
Columbia Police Chief Jim Kinslow and Mayor Reed Houston said Louge was fired for not having a GED or high school diploma, but Louge thinks there were ulterior motives behind his termination. Louge thinks the GED issue was just a guise the city used to get rid of him and that he was really fired because he was outspoken about local political issues and is physically disabled.
“I wouldn’t keep my mouth shut about things I knew were wrong,” Louge said.
Louge, 43, said there was nothing about his job performance that would justify firing him, so the city came up with the GED issue to get rid of him. Louge went as far as to say that if he were not disabled he would still be working for the Columbia Police Department. Because of his four back surgeries he is more susceptible to injury and therefore a liability the city could not continue to employ, Louge claimed.
Moreover, Louge said he feels like he was terminated because he did not support every aspect of Mayor Houston’s political agenda. For instance, Louge said he was outspoken after ex-Police Chief Joe Van Parkman and former CPD Capt. David Powell were indicted last year. Louge also said he spoke out after former CPD Detective Sheriann Fortenberry was fired.
Louge said he openly expressed to fellow Police Department employees and members of the general public that he thought Fortenberry, Parkman and Powell were good officers. He says he has nothing personally against Mayor Houston or Chief Kinslow but just does not share their political views. A city employee should be able to express differing political views than the administration, Louge stated, adding, “This is America.”
Columbia Police Chief Jim Kinslow
Houston said he had “no clue” Louge was outspoken politically, and even if he did it would not have been grounds for termination. “Why would I do that?” Houston asked. The mayor added that he would not seek “retribution” against any employee for having opposing political views. “That’s not who I am,” the mayor said.
Louge said if he has a complaint against Kinslow it goes back to something the chief said at a meeting with all the Police Department employees shortly after assuming office. According to Louge, at that meeting the chief told the staff that he was basically a “PR person” for the Police Department and not someone who was going to be out on patrol.
Louge said ex-Chief Parkman was the type of chief who would patrol the streets every night and that Kinslow is “strictly 8 to 5.”
Kinlsow responded to Louge’s assertions on Wednesday, saying Louge “misinterpreted” what was said at the meeting. Kinslow said he told the staff that he was hired as an administrator to make sure the organization is properly run and that people are doing their jobs. Kinslow said he also told the employees at the meeting that he would make sure they have the necessary equipment and means to serve the citizens.
Morale in the Police Department is low because there is no opportunity for advancement or pay raises, Louge said. The fact that there are no raises is not necessarily the fault of the mayor or chief but rather the economy, Louge offered.
Columbia Police Department
However, Louge did say that Mayor Houston promised to give city employees raises when he took office and that those raises have yet to be granted. Houston responded, saying, “I said I would work to get city employees a pay raise, but I can’t promise something I can’t control.” The mayor said if it were left up to him the city employees would have received a pay raise, but the Board of Aldermen has the “control.”
Kinslow admitted there is little opportunity for advancement in the Police Department but said he is working on putting a “promotional process” in place. As far as pay, the chief said he hopes to give raises in the new budget year, which begins Oct. 1, but he does not know if the money will be available. If he does give raises, he said he will start from the patrol level rather than from the top brass.
Louge has filled out complaint forms regarding his termination that he plans to mail to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Jackson. The EEOC complaint alleges that the city committed age discrimination. Asked what his age might have had to do with his being fired, Louge said, “I was the oldest dispatcher.”
Columbia Mayor Reed Houston
Louge said he is alleging the age discrimination complaint because that’s what the EEOC “told me to go with.” In the end, Louge said he does not want monetary gain but simply wants things to be “right.”
Chief Kinslow has said from the beginning that Louge was fired for not having a GED. State statute requires certified dispatchers to have a high school diploma or GED, Kinslow said, adding that the city had “to be compliant with state law.” It is not true, as Louge claims, that he was fired for being politically outspoken or for having a disability, said Kinslow. In fact, Kinslow said he knew nothing about Louge’s being politically outspoken and did not know he was disabled.
Louge wonders why his not having a GED just became an issue this month when it never was the other years he worked as a dispatcher. Kinslow retorted that he cannot say why previous administrations allowed Louge to continue working in violation of state law.
Louge noted that he is in the process of trying to obtain his GED and said he is upset that the city did not give him an opportunity to earn the certificate before firing him. He would have preferred if the city would have suspended him with or without pay and given him a chance to get the GED. He noted that he could have moved over to the Street Department or Sanitation Department while he was getting his GED.
“I don’t understand why I’m sitting at home,” Louge said, adding that there are other city employees without GEDs and some have felony records.
Houston said some city jobs, such as in the Sanitation and Street Departments, don’t require a high school diploma or GED. As for why the city did not move Louge into another job while he obtained his GED, Houston said there weren’t any jobs available at the time.
And even if there had been jobs available, Louge might not have been suited for them due to his disability, the mayor added, noting that he was not aware that Logue had a disability until the Informer told him today. There is no dispute that Logue was a loyal employee, Houston said. Kinslow has said that he would personally recommend that Louge be rehired as a dispatcher once he obtained the GED.
Louge, who completed the 10th grade and went two years to vocational school at Pearl River Community College, said he has contacted several lawyers about filing a lawsuit against the city. However, he may have little to sue the city for because he was an at-will employee, meaning he could be fired without cause.
Even if he does not have a lawsuit, he still plans on going forward with the EEOC complaint. He said he also plans on contacting the Attorney General’s Office regarding potential issues related to his disability. Louge also said the city is holding up his unemployment benefits, but the mayor denies that: “I don’t see what hold up there is.”
In the end, everything falls back on the Columbia Board of Aldermen, said Louge, adding that every member “needs to be replaced.” “They (aldermen) don’t seem to know what they are doing,” Louge asserted.
The Board of Aldermen voted 4-0 to terminate Logue, with member Cheryl Bourne absent and the others, Wendell Hammond, Todd Pittman, Edward Hough and Renee Galloway, voting in favor of the termination.
Why not just ignore the rules like they did when the chief was hired !!!!!
Amen.
The Columbia Police Departmant is just a crocked place. They will step on anyone just to get ahead and what goes around will come back around it always do. So Mister dispatcher don’t worry the Columbia Police Departmant will get theirs. Just you wait and see. Maybe the Chief of Police has skeltons in his closet they always do
Take care Mister dispatcher. Good luck with the EEOC.
best of luck clarence
I agree with the 1st comment. They IGNORED the rule book when they hired the chief so why cant they do that same thing now. Give the man a break he’s been with department alot longer than most ppl & hasn’t had problems till the new chief gets in the office. Ha that is Discrimatory & prolly POLITICAL too in this case. Hope this man can find a new job & wins the case he plans to file. God Bless
Department policies and state laws are two very different things. The policy of only hiring residents from a certain county is one that promotes the corruption you people are so quick to complain about. It’s a policy that very few departments use anymore for that very reason. Marion 1980, you say the department is crooked. How do you think it got that way?
But the issue at hand has nothing to do with county or city or department policy. It is Mississippi state law that to hold a dispatcher’s position in any branch of law enforcement you must have a high school diploma or GED. The auldermen and chief Kinslow were doing what was right for the city by firing this man. Kinslow is even on record stating that he would personally recommend that Louge be rehired if he met the state requirements. I don’t know what else you could expect them to do. They can’t take the GED exam FOR him.
“He said he does not blame the city for terminating him, saying that the chief of police and Board of Aldermen would be held liable if something bad happened in the course of duties and he was not properly certified.” This is a word for word quote from one of the previous entries on this topic. I wonder what changed? This guy has no case at all. You can’t plead a case for a job you shouldn’t have been hired for in the first place. Oh, and don’t forget that he was hired on the basis that he could be fired without reason(another fact that was in a previous entry). That doesn’t help his case either.
One more time people.
STATE LAW AND CITY POLICY ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. THE LAW IS THE LAW!
I love those “I’m so innocent” remarks from the powers that be.It is obvious from what took place after this man’s termination that more was involved than just a GED.It seems to me that this mayor, aldermen, and police chief base a lot of their dealings on personal likes and dislikes as opposed to what is right and wrong and fair to their fellow human beings.Then, of course, they want to claim that their hands are tied because of rules.Yet, it does not appear that the rules have any real place for these officials.I wish Mr Louge success.May he find comfort in knowing that the scriptures tell us that these people will “fall on their own swords” and even though their apparent success seems to now spread”as a green bay tree,” that soon, “you will consider their place and it shalll be no more.”
Okay, Here is what I can’t understand about the mindset of some of the people posting to this forum.
One minute, you want the city government to act like a private business such as in their spending practices.
Then you whine about the city firing someone because they do not like them, which, by the way, is completely unsubstantiated.
But even if true, the last time I checked, in private business, if you do not make your boss happy, you have to hit the road.
My question is, do you want the city to act like a private entity or do you want them to act like a government entity?
I expect the answer is, whichever can best be used to take pot shots at the city. No need to be consistent because nobody knows who you are.
This could be such a productive forum if Josh would do like a other publications and REQUIRE those posting to give their real name. Look at the rules for Letters to the Editor in any newspaper. You usually have to give your name and your address and sometimes a contact phone number for verification. They do this to stop silly unsubstantiated and completely unproductive chatter.
Letters to the editor in newspapers such as the Hattiesburg American do require a name. Comments on those letters or comments on any other column or news article posted does not require the person’s name be published.By the way, whether it be private sector or city or county government, if you don’t do your job, then you hit the road, as you stated. However, there is a difference in that and firing someone for personal reasons such as you just don’t like them, their religion,etc.In the private sector, such is called discrimination and action can be taken by the employee for unjustly being fired because the boss wants to hire his nephew,cousin,etc.It seems that in city and county government, there is no such recourse. The powers that be can act as unfairly and unjustly as they want.
First of all, this is not the newspaper. I do not believe it is law that you must submiti your name. Some newspapers require it, but you can request your name to be withheld. This is a productive forum as many people are educated by it. They also have the ability to voice their opinions without reprocusions. Josh is doing an outstanding job on this and his reporting. By allowing people to voice their own opinion, he has made publc the opinions and voices of Marion Countians and people from other areas. I don’t understand your way of thinking about the pseudnyms’s, but, it seems like you must comment about them in every article that you have a comment about. You talk about beating a dead horse in one of your comments about the MCSD. Why don’t you practise what you preach?
All I have to say is the Chief had someone in mind for that position. The worst part is the Mayor and Board sit there and let this happen. I personally think they have given the Chief too much authority. Sit back, the BEST is yet to come.
yeah i remember reading in an earlier article that the clarence. that just that they need is to be culled like sick cattle.. get the bad out the herd and send em packing back to where they know what their doing in the jobs!
WOO HOO CLARENCE GOT FIRED. SO NOW UNEMPLOYMENT HERE I COME.
HAS ANY ONE EVER STOPPED TO THINK THAT THE CHIEF MIGHT JUST BE TRYING TO GET THE COLUMBIA PLOICE DEPT BACK IN GOOD GRACES WITH THE PEOPLE. WHY BLAME THE CHIEF NOW. IF THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR 13 OR 14 YEARS AND CHIEF KINSLOW IS TRYING TO GET THE DEPT BACK IN ORDER AND EVERY BODY WANTS TO PUT HIM DOWN. WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM OR REASON THE LAST CHIEFS DIDN’T CATCH THIS PROBLEM? IT PROBELY WAS BEING IGNORED. ANY WAY THE CHIEF CANNOT FIRE SOME ONE. IT TAKES THE APPROVAL OF THE GREAT ALDERMAN AND WOMEN TO DO THAT. ALL THE CHIEF CAN DO IS JUST WHAT THE ALDERMAN AND WOMEN SAY.I JUST HOPE THAT THE TWO NEW POLICE OFFICERS THEY HAVE COMMING IN WILL GET A LITTLE WAMER WELCOME THAN WHAT I HAVE READ. I DONT CARE IF THEY CAME FROM TIM BUCK TWO,THIS MAY BE THE WAY TO GET AWAY FROM THE GOOD OLE BOY SYSTEM. THAT IS WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE DEPT. NO BODY WANTED CHANGE OR TO MESS THEIR LITTLE WORLD UP.AS FAR AS GETTING PEOPLE FROM COLUMBIA OR MARION COUNTY,I FEEL MOST SURE THAT THEY HAVE APPLICATIONS AT THE DEPT FOR THEM IF THEY WANT TO APPLY,THEN THEY CAN GO OUT AND CHANGE THE CITY AND THE WORLD.
Wow, tim buck two? Really? Timbuktu. Look it up.
ROFLMAO!!! How about ‘COMMING’ in for a ‘WAMER’ welcome?!! (And that is probably a city employee.)
It kind of makes me feel sick the way folks want to fall back on the difference in law and city ordinance. I think I’m gonna throw up.
The obvious question that comes to mind here is, “Have you started working on getting your GED, Clarence?”
All sentimental and emotional questions aside – The law is the law and if this doesn’t work out then a GED certainly makes strides towards plan “B”, whatever that is. I’ve got a good idea that plan “A”, which involves getting the job back through intimidation is doomed to failure even if it works!
I am gratified to see all of the interest in local governmental proceedings though; it keeps our aldermen on their toes and lets them know that not a lot of stuff flies under the citizens’ radar!
How can a physically disabled person, as the above article describes this person, be on the city payroll? His picture doesn’t show him in a wheelchair, so what sort of “physical disability” does he have?
Just another disgruntled former employee being fired for not possessing the qualifications set by STATE LAW to hold his job trying to bilk the taxpayers out of money not owed to him.
Mr.Louge i see you have no trouble in getting the necessary paperwork to file a suit,have you also completed the paper work necessary to get a ged?I somehow doubt it.Close your mouth and start doing what you need to do and get your job back,that should have been the first thing you done.That would have been a sweet victory for yourself.
I agree, he should go after the GED, but you must have missed it:
“Louge noted that he is in the process of trying to obtain his GED”
That is in the article; maybe you should apologize to Mr. Louge for being so hateful.
I missed it too and I thought I’d read the article closely; I went back and found it though. Thanks for pointing it out.
In the end, everything falls back on the Columbia Board of Aldermen, said Louge, adding that every member “needs to be replaced.” “They (aldermen) don’t seem to know what they are doing,” Louge asserted.
By the above statement, Louge says all Aldermen needs to be replaced because in his words, they don’t know what they are doing.
Let’s look at a few things.
First Alder group to try to update the city employee manual since 1981.
First Alder group to look at driving city vehicles safer.(cell phone issues)
First group to fire city employees for not abiding by state statutes and not letting city be open to lawsuits through claims about unqualified dispatcher.(Louge)
First group to fire police officers and show reason.(not good ole’ boy back boardroom politics)
Let the public decide next election cycle if the Aldermen know what they are doing.
If this Louge person would have gotten his GED and applied for the next position, he would probably would have been rehired. Does he really think after the comments he has made he has a snowball’s chance in hell of being re-hired by the city?
Didn’t the article mention that he was disabled? He can prob. file for disability and draw a check. I do agree that they should have offered him another position until he completed his GED or put him on probation for “X” time to allow him to obtain his GED.
According to Mr. Logue’s statements the job of dispatcher is/was the only one he was physically capable of performing so I’m guessing any job requiring record-keeping or accounting have an educational or equivalancy requirement so there’s no position available that he’s physically capable of performing.
I just hope, for his sake, his attorney is taking the case on contingency because I have suspicions Mr. logue isn’t financially able to retain legal counsel… Good luck, Mr. Logue but I don’t see it happening for either reason; just keep plugging on that GED so perhaps your life can return to some order and you can obtain a measure of satisfaction in the future.
I Thank citizen 1661 is one of those jailhouse or wanna be lawyer’s Maybe he should run for aldermen since he thinks he knows so much about the law and if he read the article it said Mr.Louge had 4 back surgeries not the he was wheel chair bound
It’s pretty simple what the law is here pertaining to Mr. Louge. He already admitted in a previous article that he didn’t blame the Aldermen for firing him due to State law. The only reason I mentioned his disability was it was mentioned in the article, and not made known what his disability was. The wheelchair comment was due to the picture supplied and that you could see he was not in a wheelchair. No,I am not a lawyer, one does not have to be a lawyer to read and understand laws as they are written. No, I will not run for public office yet due to my full time job of which I am out of town often with. An Alderman position doesn’t pay well enough for me to support my family.
Agree with you citizen cain. And what if he is disabled?Is there anything wrong with hiring a disabled person to be a dispatcher?I like that idea better than hiring felons.If I recall, one of the greatest US presidents,FDR, was severly disabled.He managed to save a country.As far as 1961’s assertion that this is the 1st administration “to update the city employee manual since 1981,”etc,that would all be great if done with proper motivation instead of as a means to have ammo for getting rid of people who are not yes men so you can hire friends or those who are willing to “amen” everything.
Actually, grass is greener,
FDR lied about his disability until he was president. By most economist’s take on the great depression and FDR’s role in the new deal, his actions supposedly prolonged the recovery by as much as 8 to 10 years.
Sort of like Obama is doing now borrowing money to “create” jobs. No govt. can create jobs. You can’t create a job by taking tax money and paying a person. That’s called wealth redistribution, or a “dictatorship”.
I see two things here.
1. He wasn’t qualified under state law.
2. I quote – “However, he may have little to sue the city for because he was an at-will employee, meaning he could be fired without cause.”
AT WILL people, he could be fired WITHOUT CAUSE. End of story.
As for the age discrimination, there is at least one officer on the force that is old enough to be his father.
I have mentioned countless times that putting our names on these posts would be significantly more productive that hiding behind these silly pseudonyms.
Here are some examples of what I am talking about.
Knowing who wrote the posts above would make a difference in how much weight a reader would give to the post.
For example, look at the post from “Just Thinking” posted June 24, 2010 at 12:51 pm. Pretend it was posted by Chief Kinslow and read it again. See the difference in the way you see those words? Who wrote them is very important.
Now read the same words pretending they came from a regular citizen of Columbia. You weight them differently don’t you?
Look at the “No Case” post near the top and pretend it was written by the Mayor. Changes everything doesn’t it?
If nobody puts their real name on this forum, then the comments are almost worthless because, without knowing who wrote it, the reader has no good way to determine the value of the words.
Flattering comments about City Government from the Mayor is one thing. The same words coming from one of the recently fired workers would have an entirely different meaning to a reader.
“Columbia is the greatest city in the world” the Mayor said.
“Columbia is the greatest city in the world” a recently fired worker said.
See what I mean. Who said it really makes a huge difference.
The value of this form will never be reached until those posting have the guts to put their name on their posts. Until that happens, posts will have very little weight.
I agree with you.
WHo said it means nothing. It is the content that matters. Why would it matter to you unless it is is some of the good old boy clan to which you obviously give credence?Words have value, regardless of whose name is attached.I can enjoy poetry without knowing the author. Whose name is attached has nothing to do with the beauty,truth, or meaning of the words read unless you are one that attaches significance to names that carry some sort of prestige,family connection, or the like.
I’m finding value in the anonymous posts. IMHO, critical thinkers can figure out which ones might hold a bit more credibility than some. Personally, I ignore the comments from people who insist on making personal attacks. In other words, I’m just not interested in anything the attackers have to say since they seem so very angry at the world.
MR.ADAMS,WHY ARE YOU SO HUNG UP ABOUT SOMEONE PUTTING THEIR ” REAL ” NAMES ON THE POST? NO MY POST WAS NOT WRITTEN BY CHIEF KINSLOW,BUT I HAVE KNOWN HIM SEVERAL YEARS. MY POINT BEING IF THE ALDERMAN AND ALDERWOMEN WILL LET HIM RUN THE POLICE DEPT.WE MAY ONCE HAVE A DEPT WE CAN BE PROUD OF.AND AS FAR AS CLEVER SCREEN NAMES POST AND EVIL TWIN POST ABOUT MY SPELLING AND WHERE THEY COME FROM,MY POINT BEING MABY BRINGING PEOPLE IN FROM OUT OF THE COUNTY MIGHT HELP GET RID OF THAT GOOD OLE BOY THING.CSN WEATHER I SPELLED IT RIGHT OR NOT,I DONT CARE WHERE THEY COME FROM AS LONG AS THEY CAN DO THE JOB.AND EVIL TWIN,I AM NOT A CITY EMPLOYEE. I WAS JUST THINKING OF ALL THE TALK OF THE TWO POLICEMEN COMMING IN,HOW WOULD EITHER ONE OF YOU LIKE TO GO TO A STRANGE TOWN WITH ALL THE PEOPLE AGAINST YOU? PROBELY NOT TO GOOD.IM SURE IF THERE WAS ANY BODY THAT WANTED TO APPLY WITH THE POLICE DEPT,THEY HAVE APPLICATIONS READY,THEN PEOPLE CAN POST COMMENTS ON HERE ABOUT HOW BAD THEY ARE DOING. THANKS JOSH.MR,ADAMS,AS FOR AS POSTING “REAL” NAMES. A PERSON MAY BE IN A POSITION THEY CANT USE THEIR REAL NAMES BUT WANT TO POST COMMENTS ALSO,THANKS AGAIN JOSH FOR FREE SPEECH
to all the citizens of this town that allowed me to serve and protect them for 13yrs yes i am disable and Yes im working on getting my G.E.D. but at No time have i or will I make any negative statement about the Police Chief Kinslow or Mayor Houston but,just because we don’t share the same views doesn’t mean we couldn’t have worked together .I DO FEEL like i was don’t Wrong all you loud mouths out there that work tell me you wouldn’t feel the same as i do if this Happened to you and i will say you Lying .THE Board of aldermen did this to me Not them .thank you
No, Sir, the board of Aldermen didn’t “do this to you”. They were simply following state law. The Board of Aldermen take an oath of office to follow all laws of our state. Did you take an oath? They are simply looking out for the best interests of the City of Columbia.
How much would it cost the taxpayers of Columbia for not having a qualified dispatcher(STATE LAW) in a civil suit action against the CPD?
If you don’t think this is a problem, you are delusional.
Clarence,
I, too, would feel wronged if I had been accepted into an institute of higher education (your community college), only to be told that I had to have a piece of paper to keep a job I had held for years. This is just the death of common sense! I’m sure you’ll pass that GED with flying colors.
to all the citizens of this town that allowed me to serve and protect them for 13yrs yes i am disable and Yes im working on getting my G.E.D. but at No time have i or will I make any negative statement about the Police Chief Kinslow or Mayor Houston but,just because we don’t share the same views doesn’t mean we couldn’t have worked together .I DO FEEL like i was don’t Wrong all you loud mouths out there that work tell me you wouldn’t feel the same as i do if this Happened to you and if you say that i will say you Lying .THE Board of aldermen did this to me Not them .thank you
You gotta be kidding me. Surely you know who really “did this” to you. . . the new police chief! Do you think the Board of Aldermen just happened to think of checking something like that, out of the blue? No. He brought it to their attention. (And I don’t think he did it just because ya’ll ‘don’t share the same views.’)
I would like to thank all my supporters and to let them know im working on my G.E.D. and to Citizen 1961 Yes sir i did take a oath of office as a police officer and a deputy sheriff so i do know about the Law and since you know who i am i challenge you to put your real name on here . I mean im disable so its not like i would or could harm you . I just think your a jail house wanna be lawyer or is it maybe i arrested you before and to answer your Question yes the board of aldermen did this to me I NEVER LIED to them and said i had either finshed high school or had a G,E,D and if they had done there job right we wouldn’t be talking about this today now would we?
Which aldermen were in office when you were hire? So what your saying is if they didn’t catch it then, that you were unqualified, it’s OK now? You’ve admitted you were unqualified by state law, so are you okay with the taxpayer’s of Columbia footing the bill because of a possible lawsuit with the city over your status while you were on duty these years?
And please tell us all what the Board of Aldermen “did to you” as you put it, other than to be compliant with state law as soon as this was brought to their attention?
It’s mighty funny the guy is deemed smart enough to have a community college take his money, but not smart enough to have a different public body pay him!!!
yes Mr. Louge i think you were done wrong .I can’t understand why they would Fire you with out givin you the opportunity to get your G.E.D. after you worked there all those years and had a good work record,in my opinion Columbia board of aldermen don’t take pride in there employees ,especially the city and sanitation dept .works that work hard everyday to keep Columbia beautiful .yet the paid only 7.50 cent a hour .what a disgrace.they haven’t even had a raise in 3yrs . Thanks aldermen.
when you can’t even get a raise the economy the way it is i see why the crime rate is getting out of hand ,When you have Hard working men and women doing there job and can’t buy there kids food or clothes its sad ,before this administration took over they were getting at least a little raise every year and that STOPPED!!!!!!!! guess this administration don’t Care about any of there employee’s . THANK YOU for letting me state my opinion buy you can believe the mayor and aldermen find budget money for there own raise’s and work shop trips .
WHAT I don’t understand in these tough economic times why these men and women that work so hard to keep Columbia the beautiful city its is can’t even afford to by there kids clothes or food or even once in a while a toy that’s Heart breaking .Yet these men and women are out everyday rain sleet or snow or even Hot weather doing there jobs basicly for Nothing ,but Like they say the rich get richer and poor get poor like the Mayor said THANKS Aldermen,at least the Mayor tried to get them a raise.