Starkville is preparing to defend its airport board from a new ethics complaint lodged by former George M. Bryant Airport fixed-based operator Kenneth Aasand, Mayor Parker Wiseman confirmed.
Aldermen acknowledged the claim in executive session Tuesday, Wiseman said, but took no formal action on the matter.
Few details about the nature of the allegations are known at this point, as a copy of the claim was unavailable Tuesday. Wiseman, however, alluded to possible communication issues between the airport board and Aasand.
“The city attorney (Chris Latimer) will respond in due time on behalf of the airport board,” Wiseman said. “The city has a public records policy in place. With our boards and commissions, sometimes there can be difficulties in communications because, most of the time in the case of commissions such as this, their work is done in an off-site location.”
Last year, aldermen ended a service agreement with Aasand’s Grassroots Aviation for fixed-based operations — fueling, hangar services and other similar airport jobs. The board did not specifically outline why it canceled the contract.
Aasand’s business took over that role from Ratliff Air Services in 2015.
The Mississippi Ethics Commission previously ruled in Aasand’s favor on two separate claims. In December, the commission ruled the airport board improperly entered executive session on Jan. 25, 2016, and failed to keep proper minutes from that meeting. The group also ruled in January that Starkville failed to respond timely to a public records request Aasand made in October.
The ethics commission did not penalize the city or the airport board, instead ordered both entities to comply with state code and refrain from further violations.
Contact information for Aasand was not immediately available Tuesday, and aldermen declined to discuss the claim.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.