Alderwoman Elizabeth Thomas said the city’s most recent board minutes were incorrect, adding that motions she made, along with one by Mayor David Starling, during the Sept. 25 board meeting were not properly recorded.
Following executive session in the September Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, the minutes presented to the city council states that Mayor David Starling “moved to hire and appoint Kaneilia Williams as the City Clerk in the Office of the City Clerk at an annual salary of $60,000.”
It was a motion that was approved by Aldermen Macklyn Austin and Jammie McCoy with Alderman Charlie Jenkins and Thomas in opposition.
But Thomas said Starling’s previous motion included Williams’ hire with a higher salary and her own motion to appoint Lorinda Stewart to serve as interim city clerk for 90 days was completely omitted from the minutes and not reflected.
“My understanding of a board package is that when a motion is made, it is to be documented,” Thomas said. “When we came out of executive session…the mayor made a motion that Kaneilia Williams be named city clerk at a salary of $70,000.”
Thomas said that motion was not approved following the second by Austin because there were concerns over Williams’ possible $70,000 salary amount. However, that motion was not documented in the minutes.
“I then made the motion to make Lorinda Stewart as the interim city clerk, and I was cut off and told we had to wait and discuss that Williams was making $70,000 or $75,000 from where she was working,” Thomas said. “I made the statement, ‘well, why is she still not there?’”
Williams resigned from her post as Indianola’s city clerk last March, citing “a hostile work environment.”
Thomas’ motion to hire deputy clerk Stewart as the interim city clerk was also not documented in the minutes.
“At the end of the day, these minutes are not in order,” Thomas said.
“They are in the order provided by Lorinda (Stewart),” replied board attorney Lilli Evans Bass.
“These minutes are supposed to reflect that Mayor Starling first made a motion of $70,000,” Thomas said.
“I sure did,” replied Starling. “We don’t have to worry about Mrs. Stewart making any more minutes. I don’t know what you would like for us to do.”
Thomas continued to stress that the minutes should accurately reflect what motions and votes were taken during the board meetings.
Starling then made a motion to approve the minutes despite Thomas’ reservations.
“I am not finished yet,” Thomas said.
“No,” Starling replied. “The Robert Rules of Order says this is happening. You know that for sure. I will call…”
According to the Robert Rules of Order, minutes should include all main motions, except those withdrawn. The Robert Rules of Order states that even defeated motions constitute a decision of the assembly so they should be recorded as well. Even motions which die for lack of a second should be included. Minutes should record main motions, whether passed or defeated. Only motions that are withdrawn are not recorded.
And Thomas said Jenkins seconded her motion to appoint Stewart as interim clerk, thus stating that her motion should have been documented properly in the minutes.
“I am not finished,” Thomas replied, to Starling. “Also, a motion was made after we came out that I wanted to know why the (police) chief was not being paid. Attorney Bass that he was not being paid because he had not finished his prerequisites, and I then advised her that was not factual because on April 21, 2021, a motion was made…to waive pre-employment testing for those certified officers currently working in law enforcement...”
Thomas said Police Chief Terry Gann was hired on Sept. 11 and sworn in for duty on Sept. 25. But she said he has yet to receive a paycheck, adding that Evans-Bass told her he would not be paid until prerequisites are met. But, according to the minutes from a special call meeting in April of 2021, the then-city board, approved an “order to waive conditional hires’ pre-employment testing for those certified officers currently working in law enforcement and upon hire must take drug test and stress test within 60 days of working for the City of Yazoo City.”
“You have not paid him,” Thomas said. “I don’t know why y’all are trying to push this under the rug. But all of that was supposed to be in these minutes. Now, are y’all going to tell me this did not happen? I want the record to reflect that these minutes are incorrect. And the motions were not carried out as it was done. Let the record also reflect that I made the motion as to why Chief Gann has not started getting paid. These minutes are our records. These minutes speak for this board.”
However, even after the heated discussion, the current minutes were approved with Thomas and Jenkins in opposition.
“We have, on several occasions, sat in on (the Mississippi Municipal League) in the ethics commission training,” Starling said. “They specifically speak about what minutes should entail. Minutes are only to entail if you vote ‘yes or no’. Any other things that go along with it are at the leisure of the clerk. Yes, it is common practice that we provide word for word, but if it is not word for word, then it is certainly not irregular or wrong. That is according to the Mississippi State Ethics Commission.”
