Tensions flared at the Sunflower County Board of Supervisors meeting Monday morning as District 1 Supervisor Glenn Donald called for the adoption of formal rules to govern board proceedings, citing repeated instances of disrespect and disorder.
The meeting was attended by Supervisors Riley Rice (District 2), Roger Anthony (District 3), Anthony Clark (District 4) and Board President Gloria Dickerson (District 5). However, it was Donald who dominated the discussion, raising a “point of order” and urging the board to adopt Robert’s Rules of Order for meeting conduct.
“Madam President, and I do it out of gentleness, I ask that we adopt a rule of order by which our meetings are conducted,” Donald said, addressing Board President Dickerson. “According to Robert’s Rules of Order, the president is the chair, the attorney is the parliamentarian, and the sheriff is the sergeant at arms.”
Donald emphasized the need for every supervisor to have the opportunity to speak without interruption, stating, “You cannot stop the person from saying something or cut them off because it might not be what you want to hear. That’s what my point of order is—that we set in place a system.”
He criticized current meeting practices, saying, “To holler and say, ‘Let’s move on, I’m the chair’—that’s not order. It’s not the way to conduct a meeting. Most boards in Mississippi use Robert’s Rules of Order.”
Donald’s frustration was palpable as he declared, “And I will not be disrespected any longer by being told I can’t say anything. ‘Be quiet’ or ‘shut up,’ and I’m not going to look like a monkey on TV or Facebook sitting here arguing and fighting.”
He called for the board to revisit previously discussed time limits for supervisor remarks, which he said were implemented only once and never revisited.
“We said that everybody gets five minutes. We implemented it at one meeting and never went back to that,” Donald noted.
The board did agree in principle to a two-minute time limit in August of 2023, according to The E-T reports at that time. No vote was taken to solidify the rule.
Donald warned that ongoing discord could have lasting consequences for the board’s effectiveness and public image.
“It’s going to get worse because nobody’s going to want to come to a place where they’re fighting in meetings all the time—no coordination, no unity,” he said. “And I plead with you all to set in place a system… because you can actually go through the statutes and find out what I just said.”
No other supervisors spoke during the exchange.
The board did not take immediate action on Donald’s request, but the issue may be revisited at a future meeting.
