BENTON HARBOR, Mich — Heavy is the head that wears the crown. That's the phrase that'll describe the position Benton Harbor's Mayor Marcus Muhammad is in.
The small southwest Michigan community is facing two crises at the same time: an ongoing coronavirus pandemic that's plagued the world, and now a water crisis. The city's water contains high levels of lead, making it unsafe to drink or consume.
With the city facing these adversities, all eyes are on Mayor Muhammad. One of his loudest critics is Rev. Edward Pickney, who is also the President and CEO of the Benton Harbor Water Council.
Pickney said the mayor isn't leading the city as it goes through these troubled times.
"He’s been missing in action," said Pickney. "His level of wisdom is really unacceptable for what has happen to the community. He has failed the community."
Pickney added, "He has failed this community, and he’s going to continue to fail this community until someone calls him out.”
A second recall petition was filed against the mayor just last week. Though criticism is growing louder on the ground in Benton Harbor, Mayor Muhammad sat down one-on-one with 13 ON YOUR SIDE and addressed those critics directly.
"As the mayor my role is to use the bully pulpit that I have to call in all hands on deck to solve problems. I think that we have done that," said Mayor Muhammad. "Would I like to have seen everybody here in 2018? Sure. Getting the job done ultimately is how I will be judged.”
The mayor spoke candidly about his own adversities he's faced. He said he too was without water and has young children. He condemned the idea that he knowingly hid anything from his residents.
"I'm not leading in a glass jar, or looking through some crystal ball removed from the residents," said Mayor Muhammad. "I have young children, so the idea that the mayor hid something, he concealed something, and I have babies myself is slanderous, and it's ridiculous."
Politics aside, both the mayor and reverend Pinkney said the goal is to come through this water crisis on the other side.
That starts with the replacement of the lead service lines.
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