Some might call it a case of southern inhospitality leading to some serious southern discomfort when Mr. Snarly, the alter ego of Lee County Commissioner Gary Long, breaks loose and makes an appearance at a county commission meeting. Such was the case at the Monday, August 14th LCC meeting when during a noise ordinance violations appeal a true Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde moment occurred when Long spontaneously erupted over how the commission would proceed to resolve the matter before them. Long's generally subdued self metamorphized, becoming visibly agitated with exaggerated body language, confrontational hand gestures and a surly snarl upon his face as he hurled invectives and hissed harsh judgement upon the entire proceeding.
At issue was the appeal of a citation for a noise ordinance violation issued by Lee County against Beauregard resident Travis Carlisle. Appearing on Carlisle's behalf was Auburn defense attorney Margaret Brown, who also happens to have a personal relationship with Carlisle and spends time at the residence in question. After an extended back and forth debate over whether discussion of past noise complaints directed at Carlisle were appropriate in the context of the current citation, Commissioner Long lost his patience and transformed unexpectedly into Mr. Snarly while unleashing a tirade upon Brown "So, Ms. Brown has the right to bring up things about Ms. Maples but we can't even think about the number of times that this man has been before us. Actually acted out in one of them. I have a serious issue with all this noise out there. I'm talking about everything, I've got a picture that you would probably love to see. Ohhhh, I'm telling you about Mr. Carlisle and what I know of him. I'm listening to these ladies that have to live with him. So, no, I don't want to table it. I don't want to do anything. I would like to see the citations go through. Now, Mr. Martin may say different, but this has got to stop."
Long's darkened demeanor towards Lee County Attorney Stan Martin hints at a strained relationship between the commission and their legal counsel, having reached the point of public exasperation. Refuting Long's dubious claims in regards to Carlisle previously appearing before the commission, Ms. Brown retorted "I think that you are way out of order, even though you are a commissioner, when Mr. Carlisle has never been before you on anything to do with noise. Period." Subsequent voting on the citation affirmed it 4-1 with Commissioner Langley casting a 'no' vote.
Long is the next cook voters will remove in the primary... his partner in political crime [Ham] was the worst, thank God voters removed him