Government is to Represent and Serve the People

Are we keeping them in check?

In November we voted on a new mayor and new aldermen. The people of the city sent a LOUD message with their choice in mayor. Jana Spicer ran unopposed, and in Ward 1, the choices were between two men that live at home with their mothers. One was a young man, barely in his 20’s, and the other a man in his 40’s. One had aligned himself with a particular mayoral candidate, and the other did a lot of complaining about the noise from trucks driving by his home. A few months later, the new board chose Linda Silver to serve as alderman in the place of John Corbitt, our new mayor.

One of the questions asked at the candidate forum was this one.

Since this question was asked at the interviews, I assumed that all candidates who ran for office were asked this question or at least had the understanding that board service is required. Apparently that is not the case. Sam Matthews from Ward 1 does not want to serve on the library board where he was appointed by the mayor, but did not say anything publicly at the BOMA meeting last month. The appointments were made by Mayor Corbitt in the lead up to the March 16th meeting.

Corbitt served on two boards and as alderman. Silver was on the library board, but has termed out. Silver and Matthews were appointed each to a board, and Spicer to two. Board of Zoning Appeals meets 4-6 times a year. Leisure Services Board meets every other month. The beer board meets once a month. The Library Board meets 5-6 times a year. Both Mayor Corbitt and Alderman Hutson serve on the Planning Commission, they meet every month. Alderman Matthews is the only alderman to have complained about his appointment.

This letter is just the first of many that start to show you who Alderman Matthews is. This was the letter that was sent to the city administrator after Matthews was notified of his appointment to the library board. Here is the response from the city.

Notice, in the response from the city administrator, he recommends that Matthews speak to the Mayor about this issue. The first thing Matthews did, was write an email, he did not bother to speak to the mayor.

I have learned, that Mayor Corbitt did speak to Alderman Matthews after this email. Mayor Corbitt worked with Matthew’s scheduling conflicts and offered to move the library board meetings to another day. The response from Matthews was “That will be fine.” However, just a few hours before the March 16th meeting, he changed his mind and declined the appointment via text. The agenda was set, and the appointments were on the March BOMA meeting. Alderman Matthews said NOTHING publicly. He did not speak up nor bring up his reluctance to serve on the library board. Instead, he once again picked up the fight via email.

Matthews was appointed to the board. He gave scheduling conflicts as the issue. The conflicts were resolved, and hours before the meeting he changed his mind. At any point during the meeting, he could have brought up the scheduling conflict. Instead, he voted to approve all board appointments, including his own. (see last month’s article on BOMA)

These are the email responses from Mayor Corbitt. It seems that Matthews had ample opportunity to speak publicly and did not. This is not the first time that Alderman Matthews has declined speaking to someone in person and instead sat behind his computer.

Next door to Alderman Matthews, the Shoultz family purchased a home. They bought this home with the intention to renovate and rent it out. The front porch was a serious disaster when they purchased.

Mr. Shoultz and his family removed the deck and began the clean up of the property. That cold snap hit, (you know winter) as did Christmas. The front yard remained filled with debris that did not fit into the dumpster. Alderman Matthews did not walk over and introduce himself to the new neighbors. He did not ask them when they would have the porch debris removed. Instead, he sent them a certified letter.

Once again, at this point he has not even met the Shoultzs, he sent them a certified letter and referenced that his attorney has the letter as well. In January Matthews turned the Shoultzs into the city for the mess in the yard. The city came out and gave Shoultz ten days to clean up the mess. Shoultz went to the planning department to find out who had turned him in to the city. It was Matthews. At this point, Shoultz got a permit and put up a sign in his yard.

(Shoultz was not being the most mature I will agree) It turns out that Matthews also called the police multiple times about noise ordinance violations. It wasn’t until the middle of January that Matthews met his new neighbors. The Shoultz’s teenage son was in the back yard cleaning, and Matthews came over to yell at him about the volume on the radio. Once Mr. Shoultz showed up in the yard, Matthews had very little to say. Once again, Matthews was back complaining. This time he submitted a written complaint to the White House Police Department.

The Shoultzs are not the only family that has had issues with Matthews and his complaints. There are complaints lodged against the neighbor across the street. If you read through this complaint, you will notice that Matthews has photos and videos of his neighbors. I have reports in pdf form from the police department and EMS dispatch if you would like them.

Finally, here is the letter that Mr. Shoultz sent to Alderman Matthews.

You may be asking why it is that I’m bringing you this information. Here is my take. This Alderman is not acting in the best interest of the citizens in White House. In fact, it seems that he is quite hostile to those that live around him. We all went into the 2022 elections wanting change. Many of us saw the growth as unchecked and mismanaged, but most that I talked with were not against the growth, simply the way in which is was done. Matthews was also opposed to the mismanaged growth, but it seems he is just opposed to anything that disrupts his status quo. From loud trucks to home renovation to backyard music to library boards, Alderman Matthews is simply against it.

If you live in Ward 1, maybe you need to start asking who exactly Matthews represents? Is it you, or his own best interests? We have been down this road before with politicians. This time, let’s keep these representatives in the light.