Editorial
The Mayor George Flaggs two-step; or how to avoid accountablity for crime in your community

Here we go again.
Once again the news is not what Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs wants to hear so he is trying to kill the messenger. Killing the messenger is a goto action of leaders who can’t fix a problem, so they try to silence those who talk about or report the problem. In this case, Flaggs’ problem is crime and a local news source that he can’t tell what to say.
The Chocolate Cake was divine
At Wednesday’s Chamber of Commerce luncheon Mayor Flaggs talked about many topics and things that are going well in Vicksburg. And most things are going very well in Vicksburg. We are in a golden era of development and growth with inspired leadership. Unfortunately, crime is not one of those things going well according to everyone except Flaggs and his sycophants.
sycophant – noun – a person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain an advantage. “because he is high-ranking, he’s surrounded by sycophants”
They are ignoring the opinion of the community and act as if the people on social media, you and me, don’t count. To wit, this poll from Tuesday where 94% of the (currently)580 people who responded said things may not be entirely up to snuff:
It’s not a scientific poll but 94% is a larger percentage than 6%.
Social media is the problem according to the people responsible for the problem
In Monday’s Board of Mayor and Alderman Meeting they all three came together to declare crime is not a problem. They even heartily implied the problem was people on social media talking about crime because it gives the impression that crime is a problem.
They characterized the crimes that occur as being largely domestic violence. As if that is not an issue.
They also talked about how the other violent crimes and murders were between people who knew each other and had a beef with each other. Or, put another way, your chances of getting killed in Vicksburg are minuscule if you don’t have any friends.
“Crime is minuscule compared to…”
One of them even went so far as to say that crime here is “minuscule” compared to surrounding communities. The Vicksburg Daily News sincerely hopes that is accurate information and will gladly print every bit of data they provide to prove it. Alderman Monsour, you have our email, please source your info.
Here’s the newsflash for the Mayor, the Aldermen and those who kiss their behinds, you’ve lost the support of the community on crime. The community holds its elected officials accountable for the success and failures of the community. Your attempts to shift the blame are noted.
At the Vicksburg Daily News, we will report the news of what you do and how you choose to do it. Attack the press, smear the publisher and try to kill the messenger if you choose. Regardless, we are going to report the news.
The second step in the George Flaggs two-step
The second step in the George Flaggs two-step is to try and make it personal by attacking the publisher of the Vicksburg Daily News. The reason the lifelong politician will do that is to distract you from the crime problem perceived by the community.
If you believe the issue is personal between the publisher of the Vicksburg Daily News and George Flaggs then you will lessen your perception of the impact of crime in our community. Without a doubt, there are those in positions who will gain an advantage from people in high-ranking elected positions who will believe the issue is reporting about crime, not the crime itself or those responsible for managing it. Bless their hearts.
The personal attacks from George Flaggs on the publisher of the Vicksburg Daily News included personifying those attacks as being on Chief Penny Jones. We cannot find a single time that has happened, but the source of that information was a lifelong politician trying to smear a local news source who doesn’t do as he says. So, you decide.
Seriously, you decide
Go onto your search engine and type in or talk to your device and ask it the crime rate in Vicksburg. Ask it to compare to surrounding communities.
Once you’ve done that, decide if the Mayor and Board of Aldermen are being forthright with you, a person on social media.
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