PARMA, MO – As the town voted in its first African-American, female mayor, almost all of Parma’s police officers resigned from the small Missouri town’s police force, along with several city officials.
Former city clerk Tyrus Byrd was officially sworn in as the mayor on Parma on April 14, after winning the election by 37 votes. (The town only has a population just breaching 700.)
During the week leading up to last Tuesday’s ceremony, five out of the Parma, Missouri police force officially resigned from their positions, along with the city’s attorney, its clerk, and the supervisor of their water waste treatment plant.
Then-Mayor Randall Ramsey claimed the mass-resignation was due to “safety concerns”, of which the newly-elected Mayor Byrd still has not been able to find information. This may be partly due to the fact that, upon taking office, the resignation letters were found to be missing, and all of the city’s computer records were wiped clean.
Given that Mayor Byrd claimed prior to being sworn in that her first order of business was to clean up the city, some suspect the mass-resignation to be evidence of corruption. Prior to the latest election, the previous mayor, Randall Ramsey, had been the mayor for 37 years.
Either way, Parma’s residents do not seem exceptionally concerned about the resignations, with locals being quoted asking why the tiny Missouri town even had such so many officers in the first place.
Plans to replace the resigning officials are currently unknown.