A lot of controversy stirred up by Starkville aldermen in 2013 — their first six months in office — followed them into 2014, a year marked with an influx of new city administrators, public accusations of ethics violations and ever-growing calls for financial austerity in the face of fiscal concerns.
Here is a look at a few of this year’s biggest stories:
Aldermen fill key positions with internal hires
Aldermen began the year innocuously by filling numerous internal positions created in the previous year by either brute force — board action — or retirements shrouded in controversy.
After dismissing former Chief Administrative Officer Lynn Spruill with their first major order in office, aldermen promoted then-City Clerk Taylor Adams in early January. Adams’ former position was subsequently filled by Lesa Hardin, the city’s deputy city clerk, who previously served in similar roles in Eupora for almost 15 years.
The board also hired its first African-American police chief, Frank Nichols, a month later. Nichols, a 22-year veteran with Starkville Police Department, earned the spot after former Chief David Lindley announced his retirement in late 2013.
Among other plans for SPD, Nichols called for the establishment of police precinct offices and pay increases for officers to help match the city’s growth and to shore up its hiring and retention efforts.
In March, the board filled one of its last remaining vacancies — community development director — with Buddy Sanders, Starkville’s former city planner, after William Snowden resigned due to medical issues.
Sanders’ slot was subsequently filled by an external hire, Daniel Havelin.
School board loses 10-year vet
The year’s first round of divisiveness came after aldermen unceremoniously ended the career of former Starkville School District Board of Trustees President Eddie Myles.
Myles’ seat came up for reappointment in February, but the 10-year school board veteran failed to announce his intentions for another term in a timely manner.
Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman issued a directive to schedule Feb. 19 interviews for both Myles and Juliette Weaver-Reese for the position, but aldermen refused to allow either candidate an opportunity to stump for the position.
Public backlash over the board’s handling of the issue spiked at the meeting, but a coalition of aldermen — Lisa Wynn, Roy Perkins and Henry Vaughn — pushed Weaver-Reese’s nomination forward and approved the matter.
Only three votes were needed to approve the item since Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker and Ward 5 Alderman Scott Maynard, who both have family connections to SSD, recused themselves.
Ethics complaints follow action
After many new aldermen campaigned on transparency in 2013, the board was hit with two ethics complaints following February’s school board fiasco.
An Open Meetings Act complaint against the board — specifically Wynn — alleged the elected officials often participate in secret meetings and asked for a full state investigation into a pattern that dates to July 1, 2013, the day the current administration took over.
That compliant specifically targeted Wynn’s comments during the Weaver-Reese appointment, saying they indicate aldermen are tending to business outside of the public’s purview.
“Sometimes as board members, we have to make decisions behind the scenes that some of you may not understand, and they are quite difficult. Tonight was one of those,” Wynn said during the February meeting.
The city’s defense, filed by board attorney Chris Latimer, said the allegation failed to substantiate its claims and lacked a basis of fact.
All seven aldermen submitted similarly worded affidavits claiming they have never been part of gatherings outside of regularly scheduled meetings, properly noticed recess and special-call meetings or strategic board retreats.
Those submissions also stated aldermen do not come to the table with an idea of how they’re going to vote on city matters, and that they make their decisions after hearing public comments and their peers’ thoughts.
Specifically, Wynn’s affidavit tempered her February board comments by saying they were not meant to allude to behind-the-scenes meetings, which translates into the alderman swearing she misspoke at the table.
An additional complaint was filed against Vaughn after he failed to recuse himself from the vote.
The Ward 7 alderman was warned by Miss. Ethics Commission officials in 2010 to recuse himself from school board interviews and the appointment process.
In January, Vaughn took exception to months of public criticism directed at him and fellow aldermen in 2013 by lashing out and describing the statements as “a disgrace in the sight of God.”
“You elected all seven of us to serve, but you’re so disgraceful and so unfaithful (to the city),” he said in January. “It’s always something bad that this board is doing. It’s a shame on you all.”
Vaughn was charged with DUI first, no insurance and careless driving in June after he missed a city meeting due to a death in the family.
LGBT issues divide board, community
Starkville received national attention once it became the first Mississippi city to pass a resolution denouncing various forms of discrimination against city employees, including discrimination based upon sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, in January.
While January’s resolution passed with little public attention, strong opposition from the city’s religious community gathered later in the year when aldermen extended health insurance options for its employees.
The board’s original action, which was approved unanimously on consent in September, created two new insurance tiers: single employee and whole-family options remained, but workers could then choose to add an adult dependent or just their children for rates cheaper than the family option.
After the Human Rights Campaign, a pro-LGBTQ rights organization, championed Starkville’s new policy, pushback came from board members and residents.
Aldermen discussed the issue throughout the month in special-call and regular sessions. Some even accused Adams and Wiseman of hiding information — the fact city employees’ same-sex partners could receive health insurance — despite the board’s packet specifically contained wordage clearly outlining the impact of the change.
Contentious public debate followed at the city’s meetings, as self-identified clergy and members of Starkville’s religious community read from scripture and attacked homosexuality, while others defended the policy change as one that would bring equal opportunities to Starkville’s employees.
The comment sessions reached its high watermark when even Wynn’s pastor spoke out against the move to the board and directly to his parishioner.
Four members of the board of aldermen — David Little, Ben Carver, Perkins and Vaughn — nixed the policy change, but Wiseman vetoed their decision. Wynn, who previously abstained from the vote that canceled the insurance extension, physically left City Hall during the veto override, and Wiseman’s decision stood.
Moreland leaves parks as financial woes continue
Embattled Starkville Parks Commission Chairman Dan Moreland resigned his post, effective Wednesday, after his city-independent organization continued to suffer from financial issues this year.
Since his failed 2013 election bid to become mayor, Moreland has found himself at odds with Wiseman and other Democrats.
Funding issues became an election issue that year when an April audit revealed fiscal anomalies, including an unauthorized, Moreland-issued cashier’s check to pay the department’s J.L. King Splash Pad construction bill, a continued depletion of Parks’ 2 percent food and beverage fund and growing late fees to Starkville Electric Department.
Although election changeover replaced four aldermen with enough Moreland-Parks sympathizers, who would go on to authorize an almost $100,000 funding increase in the last fiscal year, money woes followed SPC into 2014.
Aldermen were forced to approve a $60,000 bailout after the autonomous organization fell short of its yearly budget in September and could not meet payroll, retirement and bill payments.
Parks also ran $2,000 over budget in October, the first month of the new fiscal year, and a November report showed SPRD still owed SED about $61,000 in late electric bills.
As part of the board’s bailout conditions, the city will decrease Parks’ overall funding by $5,000 each month beginning in April. To pay off the entire loan, the decrease needs to be extended into the next fiscal year.
Aldermen ordered an in-depth review of Parks’ finances after approving the bailout and slated its presentation by the end of the calendar year. Such a report, however, failed to materialize by the final December meeting.
Board sets eyes on Cadence bank acquisition
Starkville is likely to purchase Cadence Bank’s Main Street property next year and convert the three-story facility into a police station.
The city is expected to offer $2.55 million for the building, although it appraised at approximately $3.15 million.
A financial shell game is developing to potentially fund the purchase. First, aldermen approved a series of motions at the end of the year that will put up City Hall and lagoon property north of Starkville for bids beginning Jan. 1. Sales of those two properties could get the city halfway to the $2.55 million mark. Another $1.3 million in certificates of participation earmarked for City Hall renovations could then be shifted to cover the purchase and any upfront renovations.
How aldermen program the property after an acquisition could impact renovation costs. Although the board is likely to nix its idea of moving Starkville Municipal Court to the property since such a move could cost an additional $1 million, aldermen indicated a willingness to allow Cadence continued operations of its drive-thru area.
Aldermen snub prior board with plaque
Even though many sitting aldermen either actively campaigned or voted against constructing a new City Hall at the end of Main Street, the board ordered a plaque installation that would feature their names on the corner of the new structure.
Aldermen voted 4-3 this month to honor themselves, not the prior administration, for helping plan, finance and build the facility. Four of the current seven board members were not in office at the time the prior administration approved the facility, and the three aldermen who were — Perkins, Vaughn and Carver — opposed the action in its entirety.
In his last official business of the year, Wiseman vetoed the board’s order and suggested three plaques be erected to honor the current board, prior administration and members of the public-private partnership — the Golden Triangle Public Buildings Corporation — that holds the property’s lease.
His veto also states others, including West Brothers Construction Company and architect Briar Jones, should also be listed on a future plaque.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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