LETTER TO THE EDITOR

To the editor,

I hope voters were paying attention this month… Gibson Council raised every tax and fee paid to Gibson, all at once – that’s water, sewer, garbage and property taxes, and that’s after having raised water and sewer rates just months ago. The rates were approved in conjunction with the official budget for the next fiscal year, presented by Mayor Gwen Arrigon at the monthly meeting, June 8. Two budgets were prepared, one including rate increases and another not. The mayor said she had a balanced budget without increases and recommended Council delay the decision till after they see tax revenue levels from the new Dollar General store currently under construction.

Commissioner Eric Stubbs tried to also increase sales tax but got no support from Council… or I suspect anybody else in Gibson. I hope people remember on Election Day that Councilmen Josh Byrd, Eric Stubbs, and Margie Whitlock all voted “yes” to four separate unnecessary rate increases, while Councilman Adam Liles voted “no.” Councilman Jerry Glover was absent, as usual. Glover claims a threat to his personal safety following an altercation with Josh Byrd leaving the meeting the night the mayor was sworn in. He has missed nearly every meeting since December 2021.

In case anyone has forgotten, Councilmen Byrd, Stubbs and Whitlock also voted several months ago to change the Gibson ordinances that authorize the mayor to assign each councilman oversight of specific town departments — streets, water/sewer, cemetery, etc. Byrd immediately refused his assignment. Shortly after, Byrd, Stubbs and Whitlock voted to change the ordinance, essentially voting themselves out of responsibility. This warrants repeating… they went to the trouble of formally changing town ordinances so they could relieve themselves of oversight responsibilities for the town they are elected to serve.

In the Laurinburg Exchange in January 2022, I wrote how Stubbs, Byrd and Whitlock were stonewalling the new mayor – literally skipping meetings to prevent voting quorum. Town Hall closed for a while because the clerk had quit and council wouldn’t meet to replace her. Not much has changed. The running joke is the mayor would accomplish more with this council if she supported the opposite of what she actually wanted! I asked 17 months ago: “What exactly do the mayor’s obstructionist opponents think she will do, to continue stonewalling every effort a year-and-a-half later?”

Are they serving the best interest of the citizens of Gibson? Voters will decide in November.

Jim Arrigon

Gibson