in the office will then

and has had a contentious relationship with the city council and Clerk Cynthia Conner.

Jones also enacted a new policy requiring residents to sign in at city hall stating the reason for their visit.

The police department has been a source of turmoil.

Upon taking office, Jones fired four white police officers and replaced them with four black officers.

Two of those officers are suing the city.

One of the new hires, Demarcus McPherson, was later arrested by State Police on drug charges and also later faced charges in Shelby County for impersonating a police officer, kidnapping, and robbing a man.

Another officer, Derek Fleming, Jr., posted comments on Facebook claiming it was “game on” and threatening to take “one life or five lives” to clean up the streets of Earle.

Jones also suspended Police Chief Tyrone Smith for 30 days pending the outcome of charges against him for harassment stemming from an incident which took place in Parkin in June.

Smith claims he was suspended because he fired Capt. Fitzgerald Couch, who was asleep on duty.

The charges against Smith were subsequently dismissed and he has retained an attorney and is threatening to sue the city.

Under Jones, the city has also been unable to keep up with mowing, picking up debris, and trash collection, and they were late spraying for mosquitoes because of broken equipment, which Jones blames on the previous administration’s neglect of maintaining the equipment properly.

One of the city’s police cars, a 2014 Dodge Charger, recently had to be repaired because it blew an engine rod because the oil was low, despite the fact that Jones hired a mechanic for $4,000 to maintain and fix the city’s equipment.

The city’s finances have also declined since Jones took office. The city had to cash in a $50,000 certificate of deposit to pay its bills for the rest of the year because of overspending.

Six out of eight city council members agreed to take a salary cut in order to help Earle balance its books entering 2016.

If the signatures on the petition meet the necessary requirements, the county clerk will then forward it to the county election commission who must then set an election date no later than 90 days from when the petition was certified.

If voters decide in favor of recalling the mayor, a vacancy

in the office will then

be declared.

Wallace said she believes the voters have had enough of Jones.

“We didn’t have a hard time getting the signatures,”

Wallace said. “Carolyn Jones is just one big

lie.”

Calls to Mayor Jones were not returned.