Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman issued a veto Friday to overturn a 4-2 board of aldermen decision severing ties with its long-serving insurance agent of record.
Led by Ward 2 Alderman Lisa Wynn, the board effectively fired Tim Cox, of the Columbus-based Cox Consulting Services, and agreed to replace him with the Integrity Group’s Debbie Jaudon in March after Wynn alleged Cox concealed information from the board regarding the city’s controversial plus-one insurance option.
Five votes are needed to override a veto, and only six aldermen voted in Tuesday’s decision since Ward 5 Alderman Scott Maynard recused himself from the debate.
At the time, Cox served on a board of trustees on which Maynard’s brother sat.
Friday, Maynard confirmed he would vote if an override is called after Cox left his position from the board.
Maynard did not say how he would vote in an expected override but did say he agreed with the mayor that a process seeking proposals from outside organizations should be attempted before aldermen change insurance agents.
Cox, who has served as the city’s insurance agent of record, authored Starkville’s self-funded insurance policy for Fiscal Year 2014-2015. Within that policy was an option that extended coverage to adult dependents of employees’ choosing, including their same-sex partners.
In his veto, Wiseman wrote the board’s decision would unfairly deny Cox the pay he’s due for tediously preparing the policy and allow a new agent to poach the pay, all while the city continues operating under the same plan.
Cox is not a salaried employee, nor did he receive hourly wages for his work, the veto states.
“Rather, Mr. Cox worked on the good faith principle that if the city accepted the plan he created, eh would receive a monthly commission as the city’s insurance agent for the entire year,” Wiseman’s veto states. “I have no objection to the city soliciting proposals for health insurance coverage and agents in advance of the next year; however, I strongly object to changing agents with no bidding process in the middle of the year.
“It is by Mr. Cox’s efforts that the city of Starkville maintains excellent health benefits and low health insurance premiums,” he added.
Contentious debate about the plus-one insurance extension followed after aldermen approved the policy in September. City leaders were pressed to repeal it and Starkville’s statement of inclusion, the first Mississippi municipal non-discrimination policy that extended protections to members of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community.
Without warning and behind closed doors, aldermen repealed the statement of inclusion and amended the plus-one policy to apply only to employees in state-recognized marriages – heterosexual couples.
Wynn previously targeted costly insurance fees passed to workers as the reason driving the change, but Tuesday she claimed Cox knowingly withheld “crucial information the board needed to make an informed decision” on the policy.
“It is evident Mr. Cox does not want to be transparent or accountable with his business relationship with the city,” she said in the board’s last meeting. “Mr. Cox was present during one of the board meetings as our discussions arose, but (he) failed to request recognition to clarify any misunderstandings board members clearly had relating to the health coverage’s contents. Mr. Cox, in my opinion, can no longer be trusted as it relates to his business relationship with the city.”
Cox, in preparation of delivering the proposed policy to the board, met with Maynard, who serves as the city’s budget committee, and was available, along with city staff, to answer questions as aldermen decided its passage.
Cox also sent a letter to the city, including the seven aldermen, outlining Starkville’s proposed insurance policy.
The two-page letter from Sept. 2’s meeting is present on the city’s website and shows his organization acknowledged “domestic partnership eligibility” with all capitalized letters at the bottom of the first page. It was submitted to the city in late August and added to the Sept. 2 e-packet four days before the meeting.
“There was an implication that Mr. Cox hid something from you. That is absolutely not true,” Wiseman said, countering Wynn’s allegations Tuesday. “Mr. Cox would not have been doing his job if he did not write the policy city staff asked him to write. Ultimately, the decision on that policy was yours. It is more wrong to insinuate he did something wrong or hid information from you, because he absolutely did not, than to replace him as the agent of record for the policy he wrote.”
Both Ward 3 Alderman David Little and Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker attempted to delay Wynn’s motion after Jaudon spoke of offering city employees a better experience with customer service.
After Jaudon delivered documents outlining her company’s services to aldermen at the table, Walker said he was unable to make an informed decision on the matter because of how late the information was presented.
Little, who works in the industry, said aldermen would be prudent to issue a request for proposals to companies interested in serving the city.
“The Integrity Group has a lot to bring to the table, but I’d like to extend the option of coming forward to others,” he said. “It’s good to look at your options.”
No other alderman commented from the board on the matter, other than Little, Walker and Wynn.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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