Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman vetoed a board order Monday that called for the installation of a plaque honoring sitting aldermen, not the prior administration, for helping plan, finance and construct a new municipal headquarters on Main Street.
Last week, the aldermen voted 4-3 to recognize themselves with the installation of a plaque, even though the previous board approved roughly $6 million facility.
It is not known when aldermen will take up a potential override of Wiseman’s veto — no special-call meeting has been scheduled — but the city will tend to its first regular agenda of the year on Jan. 6.
Since five votes are required to overturn a veto, aldermen will not be able to nix Wiseman’s order if last week’s margin holds.
This is the third time this term Wiseman has vetoed a board order. His first veto came during the board’s first month in office last year, nullifying incoming aldermen’s ousting of then-Chief Administrative Officer Lynn Spruill. The board eventually regrouped and overturned his veto.
This year, Wiseman’s second veto canceled a resolution that nixed the city’s ability to offer health insurance to employees’ same-sex partners. Aldermen previously approved the matter unanimously, but pressure from the city’s religious community brought them back to the table with the adjustment.
That veto stood in effect after the ban’s supporters were not able to garner enough votes, as Ward 2 Alderman Lisa Wynn backed down from her previous stance and left City Hall during the override.
Construction of the facility began after the prior administration approved a 2012 public-private partnership that utilized certificates of participation to fund the project and renovations to the current City Hall for Starkville Police Department usage.
Turnover from the 2013 municipal election replaced the four votes — former Aldermen Eric Parker, Sandra Sistrunk, Richard Corey and Jeremiah Dumas — key to the plan’s approval. Their replacements — Aldermen David Little, Jason Walker, Scott Maynard and Wynn — inherited a project they not only were not in office to support, but also one that some actively campaigned against during the election cycle.
The three current aldermen who were in office during the 2009-2013 administration — Ben Carver, Roy A. Perkins and Henry Vaughn — all voted against the new City Hall’s construction and financing plan; however, they all three voted with Wynn last week to support installing a plaque. Specifically, Perkins single-handedly spearheaded the charge against the municipal complex plan, saying it would negatively affect Starkville’s finances.
Wynn’s motion and Perkins’ subsequent second Tuesday set the table for the plaque order and subsequent
Wiseman, whom the board previously designated as the project’s day-to-day manager, told aldermen last week he was about to authorize the city’s purchase of plaques that would honor the current board, the prior administration and members of the property’s lease-holding Golden Triangle Public Buildings Corporation.
His veto also states others, including West Brothers Construction Company and architect Briar Jones, should also be listed on a future plaque.
Maynard attempted to amend Wynn’s resolution to at least install a second plaque honoring the prior board, but his peace-making order was defeated by the same coalition that would go on to approve the original plaque.
Plaque installations at two separate projects completed in the last term — the construction of Starkville Electric Department’s new headquarters and Starkville Fire Station No. 5 — honored different administrations, Wiseman said last week, due to how much influence the individual boards had on each effort.
“The rule of thumb I use is that this is a historical marker. The most important thing for the marker to do is recognize the history of the project and how that building came to be,” Wiseman told aldermen last week. “In my mind, it’s clear and easy to put the names of those three boards on (the City Hall plaque), and it will accurately reflect the history of the project.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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