Mayor Laurence Leyens apologized Tuesday and said he will back off issues concerning city and county government relations.

“I think I’ve beat this horse dead,” Leyens said. “I’m no longer going to be posturing the city versus the county. I won’t discuss these issues anymore unless prompted by the community.”

Leyens’ statement before the city board meeting and aired on Cable Channel 23 came four days after he met with mayors and representatives from five other municipalities. During that meeting, the mayors discussed the possibility of bringing civil action against the counties for what was described at a press conference later as “taxation without representation.”

Vicksburg and Warren County officials have been at odds for nearly 19 months, since Leyens took office, over issues including 911 funding, road maintenance and animal control. County supervisors responded to Friday’s announcement from City Hall by saying they have been acting in accordance with state law.

“I’m being too aggressive,” Leyens said. “I’m not interested in fighting Richard George or the supervisors or the school board. Nobody wins that way.” George is supervisor from District 5 and president of Warren County’s governing board.

Leyens also apologized to the school board and county board for “shoving the camera down their throats,” and said he will remove TV23 cameras from their meetings if they do not request that they stay. Leyens had sent the cameras to their meetings under the Mississippi Open Meetings Law, which states that anyone can attend and record public meetings.

While Leyens said he will back off, his fellow board members said they still support Leyens’ actions with the county board.

“These posts are not owned by individuals,” said North Ward Alderman Gertrude Young. “We sang the same songs in the (Joe) Loviza administration and in the (Robert) Walker administration about the lack of representation of the citizens of Vicksburg. It’s just in the Leyens administration we sang it louder.”

In a guest column Sunday, Leyens, Young and South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman wrote that it’s unfair for city residents to pay the county 65 percent of all county property taxes and have most of that money spent outside the city limits.

Officials during previous administrations have also complained about county spending inside the municipal limits and about funding for joint projects. During his last year in office, Walker objected to the funding formula used for the 911 dispatch center saying it put too much of the burden on city taxpayers.

“We never intended nor will we ever intend to run their business,” said Beauman. But, “We are (county) citizens as well as elected officials, and we have a right to question things.”

Leyens said he will now refocus his energies on city projects, but said he will still vote against any interlocal agreements with the county he feels are not equitable.

Vicksburg and Warren County have longstanding cooperative agreements on ambulance and rescue services, 911 dispatching center operations, tax collections, voter registration, Riverfront Park and library and regional airport operations.

Areas of overlap and dispute include road and bridge maintenance, law enforcement, including jail operations, and recreation.

More than a decade ago, when the boards were not able to agree on how to fund fire protection, a network of county volunteer departments was created. This year, when a city-county agreement on animal control was elusive, supervisors signed a contract with the local humane society for $125,000 annually to accept the responsibility.