As we remember great leaders during Black History month, the jury is still out on Blytheville's first African-American mayor.
Mayor James Sanders has basically 20 months to win over voters and convince patrons that he deserves a second term.
A lot can happen -- good or bad -- between now and then.
Sanders, who was also the first African-American sheriff in Mississippi County, can cement a legacy over the next several months with an opportunity to be remembered, historically, as more than an answer to a local trivia question.
Undoubtedly, some have made up their minds already, both critics and supporters.
Supporters may argue that Sanders delivered the city from perhaps the biggest financial crisis of its 130-plus year history. The multimillion dollar IRS debt didn't cripple the city as some feared it would. That's most likely because Blytheville patrons passed the 15-month, 1-cent IRS tax to pay the $3.1 million owed for unpaid payroll taxes and incurred fees.
Sanders was called delusional for thinking the tax stood a chance of passing -- but it did, 60 percent to 40 percent, last March.
In December, the IRS finally accepted the tax as the repayment method, and the matter has been resolved.
Supporters will also say that Sanders is a good, Christian man, who can relate a Bible story for nearly every situation, along with being the leader they envisioned him to be when casting their votes two years ago.
They will point out he is at countless functions and works tirelessly at representing the community well on numerous boards, even conducting a City Council meeting just hours after laying his sister to rest earlier this year. Sanders has been active with such groups as the State Economic Development Board and East Arkansas Planning and Development, forging some pretty important relationships between the city and those entities. He has a knack for connecting with people on a human level.
Sanders has put together a plan to restructure sanitation in a way that could slash significant expenses in the future. He has also convinced the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality that the city can do needed sewer repairs for $1.5 million instead of the original $2.5 million that it laid out in the original Milestone Schedule a few years ago.
On the flip side, Sanders' biggest critics disagree that he has brought integrity to the office, one of the third-year mayor's avowed biggest goals.
They argue the county jail fee bill continues to mount, though it seems the city and county could be making some headway in that area.
Detractors question Sanders' hiring practices, most notably finance director LaVera Kuykendall, parks and recreation director Elroy Brown and Waterworks manager Gary Phillips.
Kuykendall was hired in July 2011, but was not bonded until last month because of incidents in her past, including a guilty plea to unemployment fraud.
Sanders also bypassed the City Council when hiring the finance director. Ordinance 887, adopted Feb. 20, 1973, says the finance director "shall be appointed by the Mayor and approved by the City Council and may be removed in like manner."
The Blytheville City Council has yet to affirm the appointment.
Critics also argue Sanders didn't go before the Council to amend the budget when hiring Phillips in the spring of 2011 at $40,000 per year.
Although regarded as the one who has turned around the water department, Phillips has come under fire recently when telling the Courier News that a vendor gave his employees $100 gift cards at Christmas time, then later saying that he himself paid for them.
Phillips actually gave three accounts on the gift cards.
Initially, he told the Courier News that Searcy-based Henard Utility, which supplies the city with water meters and other equipment, paid for the gift cards, which would have been a violation of state law, according to city attorney Mike Bearden.
Henard Utility owner Mike Henard denied the claim, and Phillips later retracted the statement, saying he personally paid for the gift cards and the Waterworks Christmas party. Phillips produced city records that indicate no city money was used. Phillips' personal Paypal account shows he made two $1,000 withdraws on Dec. 6, and he said he used that money to pay cash for the 20 $100 gift cards. Phillips said he also paid for the two $50 gift cards and the Kindle Fire given away at the Christmas party.
The vendor did apparently give Phillips three $50 gift cards to hand out to Waterworks employees.
A few days before the initial CN story, Phillips gave a different version to Blytheville City Councilwoman Missy Langston.
He texted her: "I gave $100 gift cards to my employees at Christmas. This was paid for from a number of donations from several of our vendors. Because I did not want that money to pass through the water company, those vendors gave me the money in prepaid VISA cards to pay for not only the $100 gift cards, but also pay for the party itself. I received a total of $2500 in vendor donations from 6 vendors. I believe something similar was done by public works for their Christmas party. I also gave away by random drawing 2 $50 gift cards which I paid for personally and a $129 kindle that I also paid for personally."
Also, the water department apparently didn't take the proper steps when scrapping two trucks at Blytheville Iron and Metal on Dec. 7, 2012.
Records show two water department 1997 Ford F-150 trucks were scraped for $325 and $320, respectively. The check, made out to Blytheville Waterworks, was for $644.02 on Dec. 7. A Waterworks bank statement shows a deposit of $644.02 on Dec. 10.
Mayor Sanders said he didn't know the Water Department scrapped the truck. Some, if not all, Council members knew nothing about it either.
The city of Blytheville handbook, adopted by the Council in February 2012, says: "No City owned, leased or licensed equipment or documents may be removed from City premises without prior written approval from the Mayor. No equipment deemed inoperable or scrap will be sold without written approval of the Mayor and notification made to all City Council members. All transactions will be made by check with the checks payable to the City of Blytheville."
The other somewhat controversial hire was Brown. Fairly or unfairly, I've heard comments that the city could have found a more qualified parks and recreation director than Brown, who critics contend can't adequately oversee the Parks Department when he continues to serve as chairman of the Mississippi County Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Arkansas.
Criticism comes with any public job, that's just part of it. As with any leader, one could find strengths and weaknesses with Sanders.
Local politics can be as slimy as on the national level, at times -- something, undoubtedly, the mayor has learned well by now.
Fortunately for Sanders, he has several months to convince patrons that he is the right person to continue moving the city forward. And I believe he deserves a fair shot to improve the city.
Sanders has a pretty strong Council to work with now and an opportunity to put his objectives in place since his days are no longer consumed by the IRS situation as they were much of the first two years.
One way or another, these next several months will define the Sanders administration.
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com