Last spring, the city faced losing its top police officer because of unneeded pressures coming from the Indianola Board of Aldermen.
The fight to keep Chief Edrick Hall raged on through the summer, and though he had given his resignation to the city, the community and Mayor Steve Rosenthal convinced him to return to his post.
Aldermen Marvin Elder and Sam Brock, in particular, attacked Hall during public meetings.
By July, Hall had his job back with the city.
Members of this board, however, have a propensity to cut off the city’s nose to spite its face.
The situation with Hall was completely unnecessary, and the situation involving Robin Rosenthal is also avoidable.
Robin Rosenthal wrote a Letter to the Editor, which appears below, offering her resignation from Keep Indianola Beautiful, along with a detailed explanation of why she is leaving the successful organization.
In the case with Hall, the city at least had an opportunity to interview seasoned law enforcement officers to replace him as chief.
This situation poses a challenge for the city, because Rosenthal’s position was strictly voluntary.
In what world do you run off a person who is working full time to keep the city clean while collecting zero salary for it?
I realize that the aldermen listed in Rosenthal’s letter could say they have not asked her to resign, but how long can a person spend hours and hours volunteering, collecting cuts and bruises, only to be thwarted at every turn by these members of the board?
It was discovered that Robin Rosenthal had used the city’s Wal-Mart credit card to make purchases for her projects, and that was indeed improper, but there is no evidence that she used it for personal gain, nor is there proof that she has ever benefitted monetarily from her role in the volunteer organization.
I’ve been in Indianola for a little over a year, but I cannot count the times I’ve seen her and her crew cleaning entire neighborhoods, with diverse groups of volunteers, just to make the city look better.
The city recently won the Mississippi Municipal League’s Spirit Award because of her Christmas decoration project last year.
If her resignation sticks, and Indianola loses these valuable volunteer hours, I fear that much of the progress the city has seen in upgrading its appearance will wither like the flowers at the intersection of 82 and 49.
Those flowers were planted by Rosenthal and her volunteers by the way.
No one, including Rosenthal, has asked the city to open its checkbook and hand her a blank check. She has made reasonable requests for travel to conferences that could lead to even better things for Indianola’s look.
Over the past couple of months, this board has proven it has the ability to run dignified meetings, and it has the ability to make informed decisions for the citizens of Indianola.
Consider meeting with Robin Rosenthal, ironing this situation out, and asking her to reverse her decision to resign.
