Sikeston signs agreement with minority community leaders

SIKESTON, Mo. -- An agreement between the city's government and representatives of the city's black community will improve communications and community relations, according to city officials.

The Sikeston City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding during Monday morning's special city council meeting.

During the Nov. 4 election, the Sikeston Department of Public Safety held training exercises in the front of the fire station on North West Street while the rear was in use as a polling place. "The city admits that an error in judgment was made," the memorandum reads.

Brokered by William Whitcomb of the U.S. Department of Justice's Community Relations Services, the memorandum is an agreement between the city and the Sikeston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Pastor's Community Action Association and the Community West End Empowerment Association.

"There are occasions in which, for whatever reason, actions that may be taken or policies that we have in place are misinterpreted," City Manager Doug said. "Through this Memorandum of Understanding we now have a local contact person by way of the president of the local NAACP, which is Jesse Bonner, by which we'll try to structure better communication."

A series of meetings with representatives of the minority community including Bonner, Bishop Charlie Green, the Rev. Ron Williams, Harry Howard and Agnes Mason, have been conducted over the last few months, Friend said, "to try to address problems in communication and this is the end result of that."

According to the memorandum, "the city agrees to issue an apology for the Election Day situation."

Other issues addressed in the memorandum include unsolved homicides, police/community relations, a citizen complaint mechanism, recruitment and hiring, racial profiling, and condemnation and housing.

The document, which was signed by Mayor Jerry Pullen, Bonner and Whitcomb, ends by stating "Nothing in this Memorandum of Understanding shall be taken as an admission of wrongdoing, and the conditions contained herein are non-contractual."

Pertinent address:

105 E. Center St., Sikeston, Mo.