Mayor Hal Marx proposed that three ordinances - one regarding targeted picketing that would stop the harassment the mayor says he has been experiencing at his home - be put on the agenda during Tuesday's meeting of the Petal Board of Aldermen, but board members voted not to add those ordinances for discussion.
Marx, who has come under fire in recent weeks for social media remarks he made about the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, said he has had protestors come to his home, threaten his wife and family, and place disparaging signs in his yard. He also said he thinks it's "pretty sorry" the way the board has handled the situation since the outcry against the mayor began, as aldermen recently put out a statement against Marx's remarks before recently asking for his resignation.
"You're not the one whose family has people in front of their house every night making them nervous," Marx told the board. "Ya'll have not lifted one finger to defend me and my reputation when all that was happening, but I put that behind and was willing to work.
"You don't even have the decency to discuss an ordinance that could possibly help my family have less stress, help people in my neighborhood, quicker rather than later. All I wanted to do is discuss them; you don't have to vote on them or pass them if you don't want to. It's never been a problem to have something on the agenda before, but now it is."
Targeted picketing is defined as when someone goes into a residential setting and pickets against a specific person. The other two ordinances dealt with barbeque or propane grills on public streets and permits for parades.
Ward 3 Aldermen Clint Moore said the board voted to not add the ordinances because the targeted picketing ordinance would limit when and where people can and can't host certain forms of protests. While those types of ordinances are common in bigger cities, the City of Petal doesn't have a mechanism for that measure because the city generally hasn't dealt with protests in the past.
"But we just felt, as a board, that we needed more time to think through and look at the legal precedent behind it, and see what the best course of action is to keeping these protests peaceful and available for people," he said.
In addition, Moore said the board had not had enough time to review the ordinances going into the meeting, as aldermen did not learn of the measures until the day of the meeting.
"We don't want to get things at the last minute and then have to vote on them an hour after we get them," he said. "I don't even remember what time we got those proposals; I know it was later. I didn't see them until at least 4:30 or so.
"Something of this magnitude, when you're talking about the free speech of people ... I hope people take more than a few hours about it to have some conversations, see what their citizenry wants from it. It's a big decision."
The backlash against Marx began after he made a handful of comments regarding Floyd's death, including a Facebook post that said "If you can talk you can breathe. Think about that before you rush to judgment. #thinblueline." In the days following, the board put out a statement saying it did not agree with Marx's comments, and held a special-called meeting to ask Marx to resign. The mayor has so far refused to step down.
Marx said the negative attention that Petal has received from around the nation has been exacerbated because board members made a big deal over the matter and handled it poorly.
"That's just my two cents worth; that's how I feel, and I hope everybody in Petal takes note of that," he said.
Marx's wife, Mindy, spoke at the meeting, saying she had previously told her husband to get off social media. At the same time, she said she's seen other board members post things on social media that she didn't agree with.
"I think it's absolutely absurd that you will sit there and make it okay for people ... that are harassing me," she said. "It's not even about (my husband); it's about I have a right to feel safe in my dead-end-street neighborhood.
"I think you're despicable, because I don't understand why anybody sitting on the board would allow and not want to do this ordinance. What if it was your family? Your wife is just going to be okay with people planting outside your house, just sitting there, with signs that say 'kill the Marx family?' That is happening."
Moore said he expects the ordinances to be added to the agenda and considered in the near future.
"Tons of municipalities have these type of laws; it's not uncommon at all," he said. "But we want to make sure that we revisit this in a way that affects everybody positively."
