Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman vetoed aldermen’s recent action to limit expanded health insurance coverage to legally married couples, and the four aldermen who pushed for the change are expected to call for an override during Tuesday’s 5:30 p.m. recess meeting at City Hall.
Aldermen specifically removed same-sex partners from the coverage Tuesday after board members were pushed to action by local clergy and criticized by those who self-identified as members of Starkville’s growing LGBT community.
The board must take up the action Tuesday, since aldermen recessed their meeting this week in order to pass the city’s upcoming Fiscal Year 2014-2015 budget next week.
The four aldermen who supported the policy change — Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver, Ward 3 Alderman David Little, Ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins and Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn — are expected to attempt an override of Wiseman’s veto.
Even though five votes are needed to cancel the mayor’s action, the board is expected to reach that threshold if the same votes are cast Tuesday since Ward 2 Alderman Lisa Wynn, who supported the original policy’s cost-savings for city employees, abstained from the vote.
Wiseman said abstentions will count toward the majority, meaning that Wynn’s vote will move to the four override calls if they’re so issued.
In his veto, the mayor said aldermen specifically removed LGBT residents’ ability to receive benefits through their partner’s employment with the city without a true policy merit to back up the move.
“As compared to last year, our employees have an opportunity to save $250-$330 per month on medical insurance premiums for their loved ones. In spite of the fact that the city bears no financial responsibility for the new coverage options, the board amended its original approval of the insurance plan,” he wrote. “I cannot abide by a decision to deny any of our employees the opportunity to see to it that their loved ones can receive medical care when they are sick. It is an opportunity that the city is fully capable of providing, and it costs the city nothing.”
Carver, Little, Perkins and Vaughn repeatedly slammed Wiseman and Chief Administrative Officer Taylor Adams for, in their words, hiding information associated with the expansion before they amended the policy.
Despite these repeated claims, an August report delivered in the city’s e-packets before Sept. 2’s meeting clearly identifies “domestic partnerships” as a beneficiary to the “plus-one adult” insurance package.
Wiseman and Adams both rebuffed the claims at the table last week, saying the same information they had on the matter was given to aldermen before Sept. 2’s meeting, the same one that aldermen unanimously approved the policy after taking it off the night’s consent agenda and discussing the topic.
The two-page letter to the city that was passed onto aldermen from Cox Consulting Services Inc. acknowledges “domestic partner eligibility” with all capitalized letters at the bottom of the first page.
The letter is still available on the city’s website and can be viewed by any aldermen or member of the public. Its submission date from city staff as an agenda item was on the Friday before Sept. 2’s meeting, meaning the document was available for review before the board took action on the matter.
If aldermen did receive the letter, they either did not read it or grasp what entails “domestic partnership,” which also includes heterosexual couples who have chosen not to marry.
“‘Plus-one’ means just that: ‘plus-one,'” Wiseman countered aldermen when they said he was hiding the policy’s full impact.
“Clearly it was in their packets, but they did not bring it up. I took that to mean it wasn’t an issue,” he added after Tuesday’s meeting.
“I’ve lost my faith in the mayor and CAO,” Little said Tuesday.
“That’s not right,” Vaughn said after pounding the table with his hands. “You have everyone thinking we’re bad people because you’re not helping us.”
Alluding to Wiseman’s growing popularity within the state Democratic Party, Carver said, “If you’re going to run for another office, that’s fine. If Starkville is going to be a battleground in the Southeast, I’m still going to vote my way.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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