Oktibbeha County headlines were consistently dotted with themes of growth and consolidation in 2015, interspersed with a few surprises and predictable results.
The year saw a planned school consolidation occur, numerous county incumbents hold onto their elected seats and continued economic growth. Counterbalancing these rather mundane occurrences were incidents that shocked and outraged some: A Starkville couple was accused of supporting terrorism; aldermen switched the city’s lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender policies; and the city voted to stop flying the state flag above municipal property.
Here is a look at the top stories of the year:
Couple charged with supporting terrorism
Starkville entered the national news cycle in August after two of its residents were arrested at Golden Triangle Regional Airport and charged with conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
Muhammad Oda Dakhlalla, 22, and Jaelyn Delshaun Young, 20, were arrested before boarding a flight that would have eventually connected with an international airport and taken the couple to Syria, where the duo allegedly would have met with Islamic State operatives.
A criminal complaint shows FBI agents began tracking both Young’s and Dakhlalla’s social media posts and interacting with the couple in May and June. At least one federal investigator posed online as a middleman for IS during their communications.
Their trial date is set for June 6. If convicted, they face a maximum of 20 years in prison each.
Aldermen kill LGBT-friendly policies without public debate
Starkville’s biggest political story occurred in January, with closed-door motions repealing the city’s equality resolution — a non-discrimination policy that included language protecting LGBT employees — and its plus-one insurance option available to workers’ same-sex partners.
The action took place without public discussion.
Aldermen had approved the non-discrimination language in 2013, making Starkville the first Mississippi city to extend such protections.
The plus-one insurance option’s deletion became a moot point after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional. The ruling meant spouses of city and county workers can receive health insurance.
Couples that opt not to join in a state-recognized marriage remain excluded from those same benefits.
After the board’s LGBT policy decision, former Chief Administrative Officer Lynn Spruill filed four ethics complaints against the board of aldermen, charging them with circumventing public discourse and trivializing transparency by improperly holding the closed-door meeting. The state Ethics Commission has not ruled on Spruill’s complaints.
Bonds scrapped ahead of consolidation
Although the state-mandated consolidation between Oktibbeha County School District and Starkville School District officially began in July, the politics behind the merger came to a head in February.
Calls for a major school construction bond were nixed by former OCSD Conservator Margie Pulley in February after a large group of county residents signed a petition opposing a $13.2 million issuance.
The reverse referendum would have allowed Pulley to proceed with the issuance without putting the matter up for election. Historically, OCSD’s voter base has not supported school improvement bonds.
The financing package would have funded the construction of a grades 6-7 demonstration school at Mississippi State University and given OCSD enough money to purchase laptops for teachers and SMARTboards for students ahead of July’s merger.
Since the reverse referendum was blocked, state lawmakers passed a bill creating a single taxing district for the consolidated school system, one that shared SSD’s debt with all county taxpayers.
Information provided by the tax assessor’s office shows residents of SSD’s former territory saw a .54 mill decrease in taxes, while county residents in OCSD’s former territory saw a 7.11 mill increase.
Retail, housing boon continues in Starkville
New developments are dotting the city’s and county’s horizon as investments — both housing and retail — continue at a breakneck pace in Oktibbeha County.
In October, Gov. Phil Bryant arrived in Starkville to formally dedicate The Mill at MSU, a $40 million public-private partnership.
Other retail developments, including the Cotton Mill Marketplace adjacent to the Mill at MSU, opened their doors, and aldermen are expected to discuss a pending $11 million, 65,000-square-foot retail project — disclosed only as a national athletic and outdoor merchandise chain — that would locate behind Sweet Peppers Deli at their next board meeting.
Aldermen also approved a $3 million-maximum tax increment financing package for HPM Development LLC to construct a $21.9 million, mixed-use development along eastern Highway 12, near the university.
A Walmart Neighborhood Market and gas station are also planned for the area.
Several large-scale apartment complexes have either opened or broken ground in the Blackjack community adjacent to campus. Increased traffic, however, has caused problems with Blackjack Road’s quality.
In Starkville, numerous condominium and apartment developments are springing up from the ground in the Russell Street and Lampkin Street corridors.
Most county incumbents hold onto seats
Few changes emerged after this year’s primary and general elections, as most incumbents held onto their seats.
Four of Oktibbeha County’s five supervisors will return to their elected positions after Miss. Horse Park Director Bricklee Miller, a Republican, defeated District 4 Supervisor Daniel Jackson in November.
Miller is the first female supervisor elected in the county.
Two new justice court judges were also elected. Rev. Larnzy Carpenter, a former U.S. Marine with ties to county law enforcement, defeated District 2 Justice Court Judge W. Bernard Crump in August’s Democratic Primary.
Crump, 79, died in November, a month before his term ended.
C. Martin Haug, the only attorney in the entire field of justice court candidates, defeated long-serving Judge James “Jim” Mills in the Democratic Primary and then won his party’s nomination in a runoff against Cheikh A. Taylor. He would go on to secure his seat in November.
All other incumbents were re-elected.
Aldermen shift focus to police renovations
Aldermen ended months of speculation surrounding the future home of Starkville Police Department when they declined to purchase Cadence Bank’s Main Street branch in March.
In the end, aldermen acknowledged the cost of purchasing the bank — an expected $2.55 million — and minimum renovations would outpace revenue streams.
The board turned its attention back to its former administrative home, approving a $3 million-maximum bond intent notice in June that will renovate old city hall for continued police usage.
The city will hold off on the issuance until at least the spring so it can apply for grants to alleviate costs and could even ask state lawmakers for an appropriation.
Wiseman previously said renovation efforts could conclude by the summer of 2017.
Starkville lowers state flag, county delays action
Starkville joined a number of other Mississippi cities and counties by lowering the state flag from its property in July.
Aldermen approved the motion with a 4-3 vote that mostly followed racial lines.
District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams called upon his fellow county board members to pass a similar motion shortly after Starkville, but the issue was never put into action.
In September, Mississippi State University’s student government group called for the adoption of a new state flag.
Potential industrial park under option
The Golden Triangle Development LINK has identified about 400 acres of land for a new industrial park in Oktibbeha County.
LINK Chief Executive Officer Joe Max Higgins said the land is under option for purchase, and the organization has handshake deals in place to bring 60 megawatts of power and a speculative building to the site.
Both agreements represent $6 million of projects that won’t be funded by taxpayers. About $14 million in bonds is needed to fund the project, and Higgins is expected to go before city and county boards for an intent notice in the first quarter of 2016.
Each $7 million bond issuance would add about 2.5 mills to the tax rate. Since they fall under both city and county taxing authorities, Starkville homeowners would pay about 5 additional mills in taxes if the bonds are approved.
LINK officials have continuously said a new industrial park is needed because Oktibbeha County lacks the space for large-scale developments.
Public officials’ drama plays out in court
Two public officials found themselves moving through the county’s judicial processes this year.
Special Prosecutor George Mitchell, who was recently appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant as a Fifth Circuit Court Judge, pushed a driving under the influence case against Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn up the chain after Oktibbeha County Justice Court Judge Tony Boykin issued a directed verdict in his September trial.
Directed verdicts are issued before a trial has formally concluded when a judge determines the prosecution has failed to prove the elements of the underlying offenses.
Vaughn was originally charged with DUI first, careless driving and no proof of insurance in 2014.
Boykin issued his ruling after deputies testified that Vaughn smelled of alcohol, had red eyes, struggled with fine motor skills and admitted to being under the influence.
A hearing is expected to be scheduled for January.
Mitchell is also the special prosecutor for a case against SOCSD Superintendent Lewis Holloway and his neighbor, Roy Couvion.
Holloway was arrested in August and charged with simple assault via threats. An affidavit alleges he fired a gun into the air during a dispute with Couvion.
Couvion was also arrested that month after Holloway filed an affidavit alleging his neighbor hit him in the jaw and pushed him to the ground in May. He, too, was filed with simple assault.
Mills recused from the case this month after Mitchell, in a motion seeking a new judge, alleged the outgoing judge contacted the father of a minor who was present between the August incident.
According to Mitchell, Mills contacted Lt. Brett Watson, who serves as the lead investigator with the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department, three days after the incident and informed him that he’d been in contact with Holloway regarding the criminal charges.
Mitchell’s motion states Mills discussed with Watson “the possibility of all parties dismissing the charges.”
Watson’s daughter was present during the Aug. 9 altercation.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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