Is it about race? Pelahatchie mayor and aldermen in power struggle

In the nearly nine months since Ryshonda Harper Beechem took office as mayor of Pelahatchie, the Board of Aldermen has cut her pay 75 percent without prior notice, given her access to the vault with the city's books only if she agreed not to take anything and approved her request for a fundraiser for a community project as long as she cleaned up afterward.

Beechem is Rankin County's first African-American mayor.

In the parking lot of Fred's Pharmacy, area barber Dion Lewis wondered if the board would be as opposed to the mayor if she were white.

"I'd hate to say it's based on race because it's easy to do, but you have to wonder if the runner-up in the election (a white candidate) would be having any of the same difficulties as the mayor," Lewis said.

"I hope it's not," Beechem, who was born and raised in Pelahatchie, said. "I don't like to remotely think like that, so it's hard for me to say that's now what it is."

The 38-year-old Beechem beat out two other candidates, both white, last year in the majority white town.

Since then, she says she has been unable to accomplish basic city duties and has repeatedly accused the board of withholding vital city information from her.

She said the board only recently approved her access to a town vault that she didn't know existed, which includes the town's financial documents.

The mayor has taken to Facebook to push back against what she views as board overreach, publishing numerous mayoral vetoes of board decisions and her reasoning behind them.

The ongoing feud escalated at a recent meeting when the board — without warning — voted unanimously to cut Beechem's pay by 75 percent, from $1,000 to $250 a month. The board unveiled the decision without consulting the mayor or putting it on the city agenda.

"I learned during the board meeting when they announced it. I had no clue," she said.

The board also voted to cut their own pay by 50 percent, from $500 to $250 a month. The cuts mean the part-time mayor and aldermen will make the same amount, which comes out to $3,000 a year.

Although part-time, Beechem said she spends between 40 to 50 hours a week on her mayoral duties, which includes working the weekends.

Recently, she's had to fill in for the outgoing city clerk. The board on Monday agreed on the salary of the soon-to-be-hired city clerk at $42,000, which comes out to 14 times what the mayor now makes before taxes.

"As a first-time mayor, it's really a full-time position. I've got all the administrative responsibilities, and, if I'm going to put my name on a paycheck, I'm going to need all the information that is available," Beechem said.

Aldermen didn't give an explanation to the public concerning their vote during the board meeting and explanations have remained elusive.

After a special meeting March 12, longtime Alderwoman Margie Warren said the salary decisions stemmed from budget concerns, which Beechem, an accountant, disputed.

The mayor said she sent out a message to aldermen in January that recommended a freeze on salary cuts.

Beechem noted the town had already cut about $262,000 in payroll, which includes the $82,000 salary of its former city clerk.

She also noted the board raised the recommended salary of the new city clerk from $42,000 to $45,000.

"They weren't needed," she said of the cuts made to her and the aldermens' salaries. "We were already saving money on payroll. I said that we're OK right now. But I never heard back."

Warren didn't return calls for a comment.

Alderman James Harrell would not comment to the Clarion Ledger on the decision or on any other town business.

But in December, Harrell said the board couldn't support some of the things Beechem wanted. When asked to elaborate, Harrell would only say, "She wanted outrageous stuff, just stuff we couldn't support. "

One of the mayor's priorities has been to finish construction on a recreational facility for children in the community called Milltown Park.

The project includes playground equipment; ballfields; a half-mile, 10-foot-wide asphalt diversified use trail; and a 3,536-square-foot FEMA Community Safe Room capable of protecting 612 people, according to the town's comprehensive plan.

The board approved a Princess Ball fundraiser to help with completion of the project, but not before Warren asked if the mayor planned on cleaning up afterward.

"I mean who asks that — the mayor to be personally responsible for cleaning up?" Beechem asked later.

In another matter, Warren said she's OK with the mayor having access to the town vault as long "as nothing was taken," drawing a gasp from some of those attending the meeting.

Underlying fear

Pelahatchie is a small, rural town on the eastern edge of Rankin County, about 14 miles from the county seat of Brandon, and about a half an hour drive on I-20 from Jackson.

Part of the charm of Rankin County cities and towns, many officials have said openly in meetings, is in its an antithesis to Jackson and Hinds County, the largest city and most populous county in the state.

Like many cities, Jackson has seen its population drop over the years, while surrounding cities, towns and counties — like Rankin and Madison counties — have experienced rapid growth.

There's an underlying fear and concern that crime and corruption will wash over them as many believe it has in Jackson.

In town Friday, several white residents objected to race being a root cause of the rocky relationship between their mayor and Board of Aldermen. But none would say so on the record.

One longtime, white downtown Pelahatchie businessman, who repeatedly said he didn't want his name used, noted that every board decision has been 5 to 0, not 3 to 2, referring to the board's racial makeup of three white and two black members.

Shemecka Johnson, who lives in a predominantly African-American ward, said she believes her ward alderman, Frank Boyd, consistently votes against the mayor to go along with the rest of the board.

“You might not get the votes, but you should at least go on the record. I don't feel like he's representing the people of his ward," she said.

Johnson, who has lived in Pelahatchie 43 years, said she was encouraged by the election of Beechem, but that began to change as she sat in on town meetings.

“It’s very surprising. I never imagined there would be this much attitude,” Johnson said.

She's disappointed in a lack of transparency at the meetings she's attended.

Johnson mentioned the board's recent decision to ban cellphones from the public at town meetings, which also went without explanation.

"It’s a public meeting. We really need to know what’s going on. We have a right to know,” she said.

Beechem vetoed the move, one of the few decisions that wasn't overturned by the board. The mayor said she believes residents have the right to take video and record meetings with their cellphones.

'They don't like change'

Catherine Porch, a customer service manager at the local retail outlet Country Boys Farm Construction & Hardware, chalked up the ongoing feud between Beechem and aldermen as a fundamental fear of change.

"People make it about race. Really, this is a good ole boy town. They're set in their ways and don't like change. That's the bottom line," she said.

That the first African-American mayor would usher in a such a change looks and feels like a racial dog whistle to some residents, however.

Beechem, who once lived in Jackson, said she's seen social media posts that refer to her as a "thug" and imply she would bring negative aspects of the capital city with her.

Meanwhile, Jamie Hartwell, like many residents said she hopes the two sides can put their differences behind them and work together.

"I like her," Hartwell, who is white, said of Beechem. "She's just getting her feet wet and from what I can tell she's trying to do a lot of positive things here. They need to give her a break."

The March 19 meeting saw a refrain from the usually heated dialogue. Porch said she hopes it's a sign of civility to come.

"Let's hope that's where we're headed. She's still there. I appreciate her dedication and persistence. Maybe they can meet in the middle."

Friday, it fell on the mayor's shoulders to alert the interim city clerk that the new pay scale would need to be updated in the city computers.

"This is sad. I'm responsible for putting in these pay cuts, which I don't even understand," she said.

Beechem's campaign message was, “It’s time for progress: Expect more.”

Since taking office, she now feels the opposite has taken hold.

"I feel like we're moving backward," she said.

"But I also believe God puts people in certain positions at certain times and for certain reasons."

Mayoral salaries

Cities and towns in Rankin County and across the state typically pay mayors a higher salary than aldermen given the larger share of responsibilities — even in localities where aldermen have larger oversight roles, which makes the Pelahatchie salary decision exceptional.

The town of Marion in Lauderdale County, for example, pays its mayor $24,000 as a part-time salary. Marion's population of 1,479 residents is similar in size to Pelahatchie, which has 1,353 residents, according to the U.S. Census. Similarly, the part-time mayor of the town of Ackerman in Choctaw County makes $24,000. Aldermen in the town of 1,510 residents make $4,930.