A conjoined plea and an outpouring of support by a host of Indianola residents could not persuade the city’s Board of Aldermen to issue a formal apology to Robin Rosenthal or request that she reconsider her resignation from the Keep Indianola Beautiful committee.
The measure failed 3 to 2 upon a motion made by Alderman Gary Fratesi and seconded by Alderman Darrell Simpson. Aldermen Sam Brock, Marvin Elder and Ruben Woods voted no.
The citizen’s appeal resulted from the abrupt announcement published in a recent edition of The Enterprise-Tocsin whereby Rosenthal submitted a letter to the editor pronouncing her dismay with the insinuations and allegations she said were lobbed toward her from multiple members of the board.
In that letter, Rosenthal stated that two members of the Indianola Board of Alderman, who would damage the city for their own political aspirations, had insulted her. She named Brock and Elder specifically and noted that Brock insulted her by stating she was not to be trusted to make purchases for the Keep Indianola Beautiful projects using the city’s Wal-Mart card, even though the purchases were supervised and approved unanimously by the city board.
She stated Elder’s insult came in the form of his objection to the city covering the registration fee for her to attend the training session held by Mississippi Urban Forestry. Rosenthal also reminded the readers of the numerous conferences she has attended at her own expense, the awards the city has received and the countless volunteer hours she has put in, she says, because of her love for the city. On Monday night, former Alderwoman Maggie Barnes, acting as spokesperson for an assembly that was presented as very concerned citizens, took to the podium to urge the city lawmakers to extend the olive branch, give Rosenthal the respect she deserves for the work she does and ask her to continue on in her efforts to beautify Indianola.
She began by stating that the residents expect them as elected officials to “unite” the community and work toward a common goal of improving the city and the quality of life for every citizen and place that above any self interests.
Barnes then extolled on the hard work and efforts that Rosenthal has exhibited to clean and beautify the town.
“Robin Rosenthal has been an unpaid city worker for a long time, she has not worked alone and she has not sought accolades for her many hours of hard work, however she has been the motivator, the uniter and the cheerleader who has brought a broad spectrum of citizens together to improve Indianola,” said Barnes.
The crowd, who stood in support, applauded Barnes’ remarks and then several spoke individually. Each gave first-hand accounts of how they have witnessed Rosenthal give her all for the beautification of the community.
Municipal Court Clerk Teresa Nolden spoke about the assistance and support Rosenthal provides while working with the citizens who are assigned community service to work off their fines. She called Rosenthal lovable, compassionate and a hard worker and added, “It would be a shame if you all let her go.”
Sarah Wood, president of the Southgate Association, spoke of how Rosenthal and the mayor came to assist her and her daughters in cleaning up the Southgate community when no one else would.
“She was always there,” said Wood. Casting her gaze toward the city leaders. “No other male would come to my rescue. If it makes a difference, I would like to see the board apologize to Mrs. Rosenthal.”
Resident Betty Fowler, who formerly served as mayor for the town of Sunflower, vouched for Rosenthal’s character and told the board she understood their position on the use of the credit card but suggested that it could have been handled differently. She said the way the board dealt with it was “not right” and that the lawmakers “persecuted” Rosenthal.
“And if you’re going to persecute her, pay her,” Fowler added.
Alderman Woods then asked her in what way was Rosenthal persecuted and Fowler explained that the credit card matter could have been handled without bringing it before the public and giving the impression that the mayor’s wife had misappropriated funds.
“You all made her look like she was doing something wrong, like she had done something really bad… maybe went bought some shoes or something on the city credit card instead of something for the beautification committee,” Fowler said.
Fowler suggested that Rosenthal should be paid a salary for the work that she does in the community. The mayor affirmed that his wife has never had possession of the card without him signing it out and her bringing back a receipt.
Barbara McDaniel-Suggs, PhD., president of the Concerned Citizens of Indianola/Sunflower County group arose and established that she was neither for, nor against Rosenthal but wanted to acknowledge that she was offended that the group of citizens present referred to themselves as the “very concerned citizens.”
McDaniel-Suggs asserted that her group was established before this current organization.
“And we are very much concerned,” she said. “There’s nobody that has any more concern for this community than we do.”
McDaniel-Suggs said it bothers her that this new group has labeled themselves “very” concerned, although she is glad to see the community come together.
“But it makes it appear as though we were not concerned, but now we have some “very concerned” citizens,” she added.
McDaniel-Suggs said her 2-year-old organization was planning and discussing similar beautification measures, however, they have not been able to implement them. She said they were not given a chance because they were labeled as political when they are not and they are still looking for a place to hold their meetings.
Barnes clarified that those present were not an organized group but an “expression” and that they added the word “very” to simply distinguish themselves from McDaniel-Suggs’ group.
The mayor then stated that McDaniel-Suggs’ group had been asked on numerous occasions to participate in the city-wide cleanups but did not participate as a group.
“Well as an organization, I was not aware of that,” McDaniel-Suggs said.
During the vote there appeared to be some confusion over who did and did not vote since not all of the city leaders appeared to have responded verbally when called upon to vote. And apparently the mayor thought the vote was 2 to 2 and announce that he was breaking the tie, only to be quickly corrected and assured that a third alderman voted no.
Brock, Elder and Woods declined to comment on why they cast the nay ballots.
Before the onset of the session Mayor Rosenthal declared an official public apology to his wife for having been subjected to such an ordeal.
“She didn’t run for office, I did. All of this problem is geared towards me, not towards her so, I want to give my public apologies,” he said.
The mayor also announced that the Keep Indianola Beautiful campaign is up for a national award through Keep America Beautiful. He also shared that his wife had been asked to speak to the Mississippi Municipal League about her program but in light of the current situation, she decided not to attend.
