Co-manager of Spruill Property Management and Starkville’s former Chief Administrative Officer Lynn Spruill confirmed she would begin filing an ethics complaint against the Board of Aldermen today.
Starkville’s BOA became the first city in Mississippi to pass an equality resolution in January 2014, which was repealed in private session by the board on Jan. 6, 2015. Spruill first confirmed in January 2015 the filing of an ethics complaint would be pending.
As expected, Spruill said she is filing four complaints with the Mississippi Ethics Commission.
“ I will mail the complaints Friday (today). I am just waiting on signatures for petitions from citizens who agree with the complaints,” Spruill said. “These are being signed by citizens of Starkville who are similarly interested in getting more open government.”
The four complaints being filed feature multiple violations by the BOA in addition to a repeal of  the equality resolution in private session. They include: an open meetings complaint in the matter of the repeal of the equality resolution at the Jan. 6, 2015 regular meeting; an open meetings complaint in the matter of acting on amending the city of Starkville ordinance 2008-05 in the executive session of Jan. 6, 2015; an open meetings complaint in the matter of repealing employee plus-one adult insurance coverage; and an open meetings complaint in the matter of repealing plus one insurance coverage at the Sept. 9, 2014 special call meeting.
Spruill expresses the BOA’s inappropriate use of executive session in her first complaint, which discusses one of the most recent concerns of public trust violations from the BOA.
“I believe that the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Starkville have participated in a course and pattern of violating the Open Meetings Act through the inappropriate use of the Executive Session,” Spruill’s complaint reads. “The specific violation about which this complaint is being filed occurred on January 6, 2015.”
In her first complaint, Spruill goes on to discuss alleged violations the BOA committed.
“Not only was the call of the executive session for the above referenced meeting inadequate based on the prima facie language, but there was clearly no specific and ostensible or recorded reason for the matter to be taken up in executive session,” Spruill’s complaint reads.
Spruill’s four complaint documents each go into detail of the board’s specific ethics violations.