Poor Jackson is on a roll of bad mayors and it looks like Mayor Yarber is up there with the worst of them, according to two recent sexual harassment suits filed against him.
The mayor is defending the suits and who knows what the result will be, but there are some ominous signs that things aren’t right in the mayor’s office.
We had high hopes for Tony Yarber, but in retrospect his marital problems and managerial inexperience should have been red flags.
Former Mayor Harvey Johnson is looking good by comparison. At least he avoided scandalous lawsuits. Problem was, he did not maintain our streets and now they are crumbling.
Former Mayor Frank Melton was all hat and no cattle. He could launch a great stemwinder. Problem was, if the facts didn’t suit the speech, he just made them up. And he had a problem with his ego, especially when imbibing.
Former Mayor Chokwe Lumumba embraced bizarre Afro-centric utopian ideology. He at least acknowledged the magnitude of Jackson’s infrastructure problems. He died in office from an illness he should have disclosed during the campaign.
Now we have Tony Yarber who seems more preoccupied with chasing women and rewarding cronies than tackling Jackson’s huge challenges.
The reality is this: The political process in Jackson is not going to produce a mayor with the skill set needed to turn the city around. We need a pro.
The solution is to adopt the most popular form of city government in the country: A council-administrator form. We need to get rid of an elected mayor and replace him with a professional hired by the council. This is how almost every private company and non-profit board operates. Our city should operate the same way.
All Yarber had to do was one right thing: He should have immediately hired an executive recruiting company to find the best city manager in the country. Instead, he hired a bunch of politicos with little real managerial experience and talent.
The two sexual harassment lawsuits do not paint a flattering picture. Bear in mind, anyone can file a lawsuit. It is just one side of a story.
The lawsuits not only accuse Yarber of sexual harassment, but they intimately link him to Mitzi Bickers, who is embroiled in an ongoing pay-to-play scandal in Atlanta. One contractor has already pled guilty to paying more than a million in bribes to a yet-unknown city official.
Kimberly Bracey filed the first lawsuit in August 2016. She was Yarber’s executive assistant.
The lawsuit states in 2014, Bracey was separated from her husband and started a consensual affair with Yarber. At some point Bracey reconciled with her husband, but Yarber wouldn’t take no for an answer.
The lawsuit states: “Around this time Defendant Yarber began forcing Plaintiff to continue the sexual relationship by making it clear that she could be terminated if she did not have sex with him.”
Even worse, “Defendant Yarber has requested Plaintiff to encourage another female to give Defendant Yarber oral sex in exchange for guaranteed employment.”
If true, this is bad, but it gets much worse in light of the recent contracts-for-cash scandal unfolding in Atlanta. Jackson political operative Mitzi Bickers is a focus in that scandal. Bickers is also front and center in both Yarber lawsuits.
The Bracey lawsuit states:
“In May or June 2014, Plaintiff was required to attend a fund-raiser arranged by Marshand Crisler in New Orleans, Louisiana. Mitzi Bickers, who is a campaign contributor for Defendant Yarber, hosted a dinner at a restaurant in New Orleans where numerous city staff members were in attendance. Later that evening Plaintiff, Defendant Yarber, Jason Goree, Torrence Mayfield and Jackie Anderson Woods met Ms. Bickers at a stripper club where Ms. Bickers paid for everything. Plaintiff and Mr. Mayfield were required to watch the door where Mayor Yarber and one of the strippers went into to be alone.
“In August 2014, Plaintiff was required to attend another fund-raiser for Defendant Yarber in Atlanta, Georgia that was hosted by Mitzi Bickers. After the fund-raiser Defendant Yarber, Plaintiff, Jackie Woods, Artie Stuckey and Jason Goree rode by boat with Ms. Bickers to one of her friend’s house. Prior to arriving at the home Plaintiff had been informed they were going for a dinner. Instead, Plaintiff and others were greeted by strippers wearing only body paint.
“In August or September 2014, Plaintiff was required to attend another fund-raiser for Defendant Yarber and Tyrone Lewis in Atlanta that was hosted by Mitzi Bickers. After the fund-raiser Plaintiff was required to go with Defendant Yarber and Aaron Banks for another gathering at Ms. Bickers’ home. Again strippers wearing only body paint greeted them at the door. Ms. Bickers had arranged for a woman to have a sexual relationship with Defendant Yarber while Plaintiff was attending a fund-raiser in Atlanta, Georgia.”
The second lawsuit was filed this month by Stephanie Coleman, Jackson’s Equal Opportunity business manager.
Like Bracey, Coleman accuses Yarber of sexual harassment but claims she was also pressured to give preferential treatment to Mitzi Bickers’ companies as they competed for city contracts.
“On or about May 1, 2015, Ms. Coleman received a telephone call from a person who stated that her name was Mitzi Bickers and that she was a friend of Mayor Yarber. She further stated Mayor Yarber instructed her to call and set up a meeting with Plaintiff to discuss government contracting opportunities.
“Ms. Bickers requested that they meet the following day after 5 p.m. at Parlor Market on Capitol Street in Jackson. Ms. Coleman accommodated her request.
“When they met, Ms. Bickers told Plaintiff that she was a major campaign donor and a close friend of Mayor Yarber. She stated that the Mayor wanted to express his gratitude for her service by allowing her to participate in a few upcoming contracts.”
The lawsuit states: “Ms. Bickers stated that Mayor Yarber had decided that she would get the EPA Consent Decree Management Contract with a partner of her choosing. Ms. Coleman’s help was needed to make sure the paperwork looked good enough to justify awarding the contract to the Bickers team.”
The lawsuit goes on to describe several instances where Coleman was instructed by Yarber or his staff to favor Mitzi Bickers.
Last year, the Sun reported how bid evaluations on a $16 million biosolids disposal contract were altered to favor the mayor’s campaign finance chairman.
The lawsuit states: “When stories began circulating that the Bio-Solids scoring sheets had been altered to favor Denali-Garrett, Mayor Yarber confronted Plaintiff and instructed her to publicly state that she changed the scoring sheets ‘because she had nothing to lose’ by doing so, but Public Works Director Kishia Powell could lose her license as a professional engineer if it was determined that she altered the scoring sheets.”
The lawsuit states that when Coleman refused to be a part of these conflicts of interest, she was fired, but only after she refused to provide sexual favors to keep her job.
You can log on to the Northside Sun website to see both lawsuits in their entirety.
