By Byron Wilkes
As light snow flurries began falling Monday, things heated up inside the Lauderdale County Raymond P. Davis Courthouse Annex at the first meeting of 2010 for the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors.
Supervisors voted to take away supervisor-issued credit cards; District 4 Supervisor Joe Norwood is the only remaining supervisor to carry and use a county credit card.
Tempers flared as District 5 Supervisor Ray Boswell, who introduced the motion, indicated Norwood had used the card for "not county-related" expenses.
After the meeting, Boswell said, "If he's using county money for personal uses, it ain't right."
Norwood disagreed with the motion, saying, "The reason I use the credit card is public record so it's no secret what I'm spending the money on, unlike other members of this board."
Norwood said other supervisors use per diem reimbursements as a way to hide how they spend their money. Using a credit card makes it easy for taxpayers to see what the money is spent on, Norwood said.
"Boy, if ya'll knew how backwoods ya'll sound up here right now in 2010 about a $2,500 credit limit, credit card to operate a $50 million operation and you guys are up here crying over it," Norwood said. "You'll spend that much in grass seed out there planting your oat fields."
Boswell questioned Norwood's use of the card. Receipts from the Chancery Clerk's office show that Norwood used the county credit card in May of 2009 for $69.49 at Deville Camera & Video in Jackson, and in June at the Horseshoe Casino & Hotel in Robinsonville for $110.
Norwood also spent $122.17 at the Silver Star Hotel in Choctaw on Sept. 30, and on Dec. 12 used the card to purchase $26.86 of gasoline in Shorter, Ala. According to a memorandum from County Administrator Mike Sumrall to Norwood dated Dec. 28, there was no approved trip to that area on that date. The memo asked Norwood to reimburse the county $26.86 for the gas purchase.
"[The credit card] is very beneficial for things like airfare and hotels," Sumrall said. "But we can use private credit cards and pay them back... [Travel vouchers] are really the correct procedure."
New President:
The Board of Supervisors elected a new president, District 2 Supervisor Wayman Newell, Monday but postponed the vice presidential election. District 3 Supervisor Craig Hitt, who some have said will be the new vice president, was not at Monday's meeting.
