Alderman calls for removal of police lights from Wiggins mayor’s vehicle
Ward 3 Alderman Derrick Gates found himself in the minority at last Tuesday’s Board of Aldermen meeting.
Gates called for the removal of the radio and strobe lights from Mayor Jerry Alexander’s city-owned car and said he thought the mayor’s responding to emergencies in the vehicle constituted a liability for the city.
“On the 12th of November, I was eating at Waffle House and saw the mayor going in reverse in an opposing lane of traffic on the Frontage Road with the strobes on in the mayor’s car,” Gates said. “Going up that hill like he was, there could’ve very easily have been a car at the top of that hill.
“The correct thing to do would be to be at the top of that hill with strobes on to warn oncoming traffic.”
The mayor’s Ford Crown Victoria is equipped with white strobe lights, as opposed to the red or blue strobes on standard emergency vehicles. The vehicle also has a two-way radio allowing Alexander to communicate with city workers during the course of the day.
Jody O’Hara
Stone County Enterprise
12/10/9
Magnolia Tribune
