Commissioner Delreese Simmons of Mount Olive censured from board after voicing concerns to the public

MOUNT OLIVE — District 2 Commissioner Delreese Simmons of Mount Olive was censured by the town board during a vote between members.

This censure came as a surprise to both Commissioner Simmons and Mayor Dr. J. Jerome Newton. The information was provided secondhand to Commissioner Simmons from an undisclosed source that was a close family member of one of the three people who enacted and voted in favor of it.

Censures are made for governing bodies to condemn and warn another member that their actions are not in alignment with the majority of the group with hopes of either a change in behavior or expulsion.

Commissioner Simmons claims that the Board of Commissioners did not follow protocol, specifically “Robert’s Rules of Order” which is an American book written by Henry Marytn Robert amongst others to establish proper parliamentary procedure.

“I’m not censured. They don’t even know what a censure is…they didn’t understand Robert’s Rules of Order.”

When it came to explaining the information to Commissioner Simmons, the process was indirect and added to an agenda. “They were supposed to give me something prior to this and they were supposed to let the public know.”

Commissioner Simmons noticed that since the beginning of his elected position, the commissioners were not as open to working with him and would usually rush the process of meetings and not give Commissioner Simmons enough time to speak.

“All they did was commit defamation and basically try to infringe on my first amendment right and freedom of speech.”

The Board of Commissioners had unusual requests for Commissioner Simmons. They supposedly requested Commissioner Simmons to fire town officials and he would not do it since it was not in his power as a commissioner or under the correct regulation for his title.

When they did provide a formal censure statement to Commissioner Simmons, the Board of Commissioners specifically utilized racial language which Commissioner Simmons did not state himself prior.

The censure states that the “Mount Olive Board of Commissioners is aware of habitual, long-term inappropriate behavior on the part of Commissioner Delreese Simmons which has created an atmosphere of intimidation and compromised the integrity of the Board to which we were elected and on which we serve.”

Commissioner Danny Keel shared a comment on the issue stating that “The censure speaks for itself.”

“The censure pretty much you know explains my issue, my opinion — on the situation,” said Commissioner Keel.

Commissioner Simmons disagrees with the views of the board and claims to honor all residents that come to him for help. His district includes the south side of Mount Olive.

“In that censure resolution that they put against me, they said the ‘black community.’ They said that I have created a racial situation but they called us the ‘black community.’ I’ve never called the south side the ‘black community’ because we have white people that live on the south side, black people — we have all kinds of races on the south side of town.”

“They made it a racial situation.”

“I’m just firm on taking care of my district and my south side of town. My side of town has been basically put on the back burner for decades. Now I’m going to fight and continue to fight to get what we deserve,” said Commissioner Simmons.

“I’m going to continue. My fight is not fighting them. I’m fighting for the south side of town.”

The Board of Commissioners also works with the Chamber of Commerce for the annual Pickle Festival. The earnings should fall under tourism money and has been collected for 28 years now.

“They generated hundreds of thousands.”

“They’ve been going to Wayne County collecting that check every year. They’ve been doing it. It has not been coming to Mount Olive. It’s supposed to come to us but it does not,” said Commissioner Simmons.

President of the Mount Olive Chamber of Commerce Julie Beck was out of the country at the time of the request to receive a comment on the ongoing friction between the town but provided an email response.

“The only statement I will make per the town board and the Mount Olive Chamber is that we value the long standing partnership between the Town of Mount Olive and the Mount Olive Chamber of Commerce. Together, we can make a difference for our community,” said Beck.

As tensions may or may not subside, Commissioner Simmons is willing to continue his work for the county.

His most recent project is working on getting water pipes updated as they are unclean and falling apart. He noticed that when he brought up pipe issues to the Board of Commissioners that they would not make these vital changes for the town and instead focused on the airport, Pickle Festival, and downtown revitalization.

“We’ve got to get these pipes replaced.”

“I fight for every single person in this town,” he said.