Accounting Contract Leads to Squabble on the Jefferson County Commission
A contentious meeting of the Jefferson County Commission led to verbal sparring in the commission chamber after the meeting ended. Commission President Jimmie Stephens and President Pro Tem Lashunda Scales lingered on the dais Wednesday as most who had been in the session exited. Stephens said he felt he was being disrespected as Scales discussed a proposed extension of the county’s contract with an accounting firm to perform annual audits. At one point, Stephens said Scales implied that he was being racist in performing his duties as a commissioner. “I’m going to administer government in this county like it’s colorblind,” Stephens said as he left the chamber. Replied Scales: “I know dead presidents are colorblind,” referring to money. A resolution seeking a three-year extension of the county’s contract with Warren, Averett, Kimbrough, and Marino, LLC was pulled from the consent agenda for separate consideration. Commissioner Sheila Tyson repeated the concern she expressed during Tuesday’s committee meeting that Warren Averett lacked the diversity that the county should display as it seeks to escape the cloud of a decades-old consent decree for past hiring practices. Read more.