The city is waiting to hear from the Mississippi Ethics Commission before deciding whether to hire the human resources director’s daughter as an accounts payable clerk in the finance office.
During the executive session of Tuesday’s meeting, the council voted to table the hire until it obtained more information. City Attorney Jeff Turnage confirmed Wednesday he was seeking an ethics commission opinion on hiring the relative of a City Hall administrative employee.
Mayor Keith Gaskin, at a Wednesday press conference at City Hall, said he agreed with that decision.
“Any time you’re hiring somebody that is related to somebody that works within the city, you have to look at that closely,” Gaskin said. “… We need to make sure we’ve got everything in order there.”
Speaking to The Dispatch on Wednesday, Vice Mayor Joseph Mickens, who represents Ward 2 on the council, confirmed the prospective hire is the daughter of Human Resources Director Pat Mitchell. Further, Mickens said it “didn’t look good” that Mitchell was involved in the interview, and he skewered the mayor for allowing that to happen.
“Nobody told us she was trying to hire her daughter,” Mickens said. “We did some digging around (Monday), and that’s how we found out. … This is why we are disappointed in this mayor. … He should have been in on these interviews and made the council aware of what’s going on. He should have stopped it.”
Gaskin confirmed he was not in those interviews and usually doesn’t participate in interviews for non-supervisory positions.
Chief Financial Officer Jim Brigham said the city received 16 applicants for the accounts payable clerk opening, selecting three finalists from the field. Of those three finalists, he said the recommended hire has a master’s degree and is the most qualified.
However, speaking to The Dispatch, Brigham never acknowledged the candidate’s relation to Mitchell. He also falsely claimed he was the only one who interviewed those candidates.
Mitchell, though, said she and Brigham interviewed those candidates, which is commonplace for that position.
Though Mitchell is the HR director, she would not be her daughter’s direct supervisor. Brigham would. The city eased its nepotism policy in 2023 to line up with the state’s, which only prevents elected or appointed officials from hiring relations of at least the third degree to work as a clerk, stenographer, deputy, assistant and officer. Otherwise, it simply states an employee cannot be directly supervised by a relative.
Mitchell said she would never recommend a hire that would violate nepotism or ethics policies. She said there’s been several instances of interviewing family members of employees.
“We have interviewed fathers, their sons, and hired them, and Councilman Mickens never said a word back then about that going on,” Mitchell said. “The fire chief has interviewed fathers and sons. Nobody has inquired about that.”
The council did hire another position – an accountant – for the shorthanded finance department, which Brigham said would be a “big help.”
He said working essentially with a half staff had made properly segregating duties impossible, and it had also led to mistakes that delayed paying vendors.
“We have a small staff anyway,” he said. “And the work doesn’t go away because there’s not people.”
One more trip out of the city?
At his press conference, Gaskin sounded off again on the council’s vote to travel to Washington, D.C., in June to ask for federal funds, pending advice from the city’s lobbyist, Worth Thomas Consulting, on whether there is a more appropriate time to take that trip.
That trip, he argues, should be planned by the next administration and council.
Gaskin was particularly critical of Mickens’ insistence on going, since his time on the council expires June 30.
“Do I think that will be helpful for us to bring the money back that he himself goes? … No I don’t,” Gaskin said. “Do I think he’s trying to get one more trip out of the city? Probably. Why else?”
Mickens told The Dispatch he was offended by the mayor’s comments, before calling Gaskin “the worst mayor the city has ever known.”
“The early bird gets the worm, not the late bird,” Mickens said. “… It’s insulting to me to say that I only want to go for a free trip. … “This is about Mickens trying to give the city all he can. I’ve been a loyal supporter of the city for 16 years. … I have accomplished a lot since I’ve been up here. What has he accomplished in his four years? Can he put his name on anything he’s done in four years?”
Gaskin said he does not intend to go to Washington next month unless people with congressmen or senators’ offices say he should. He ballparked the taxpayer expense for that trip at about $2,000 per traveler. Brigham said that would be “the minimum” cost.
Reporter Emma McRae contributed to this report.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
