In a special call meeting on Monday morning the Sunflower County Board of Supervisors voted to rescind a previous order to allow Sheriff James Haywood to purchase three new Dodge Pickups in lieu of a new motion to purchase three Dodge Durangos instead.
The county leaders voted to void the purchase order and reissue a new one for the SUVs. Haywood said orders for the trucks, which cost $30,234 each, were backlogged and rather than wait, since he needs vehicles now, he switched to an alternate automobile.
District 3 Supervisor Dennis Holmes made the motion based on the prerequisite that the Durangos would be purchased for the same price as the trucks and that Attorney Johnny McWilliams concurred with the change.
However, Holmes said, “If we could get a Ford pickup for that price, I would say get the Ford, because they would have a lot better resell. The Dodges, you’re more or less going to be married to these, because you’re not going to get rid of them, you’re not going to be able to get anything for them when you get ready to sell them.”
Holmes implied that the Ford or Chevrolet pickups would have a better remarket value. The measure passed unanimously following a second by District 5 Supervisor Gloria Dickerson. District 4 Supervisor Anthony Clark was absent.
Haywood reasoned that the purchase is a savings to the county, since normally the Durangos are priced higher than the pickups and the deal is selling these to the county for the pickup truck price.
