After possibly violating state open meetings law last week, the Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau appointed a committee Monday to look at hiring a board attorney.
The board voted unanimously to make Interim Executive Director Nancy Carpenter head of the committee, which also includes board members Mark Castleberry and Nadia Dale.
They will look over the CVB”s finances and needs to determine whether the board needs an attorney, and if so, whether he or she should be employed full-time or only as needed.
A board attorney would answer any legal or procedural questions, attend the CVB board”s monthly meetings and handle litigation, among other duties.
A deadline for the committee”s investigation and recommendation was not set at the special meeting Monday, which was called by Chairwoman Whirllie Byrd.
In discussion about an initial motion to hire an attorney, some board members questioned whether it would be simpler and cheaper to have an open meetings specialist — possibly from law schools, the Mississippi Bar Association or public policy centers — explain the finer points of the law.
“We just want to get it right,” said CVB board treasurer and secretary Bart Wise.
Carpenter has already contacted Mississippi State University officials about holding a training seminar, she said.
“All of us need, as (board members) said last night, training to serve on a public board,” Carpenter said.
Byrd said she was “disappointed,” “puzzled” and “disturbed” about why some board members didn”t want to hire an attorney.
“To me, it”s almost a no-brainer,” she said, pointing to other public boards that have attorneys at their meetings.
But attorney DeWitt Hicks Jr., who represents the city”s historic home owners on the board, said he wanted to approach the issue cautiously.
“If we jump to conclusions because of publicity, I think we”d be precipitous,” he said.
He also said there was a “lack of harmony” on the board, and criticized Byrd for speaking for the board — a charge she denied. “I don”t have a dog in this hunt,” she added.
The “publicity” Hicks was referring to were reports of possible open meetings violations by the still-new board that arose at a May 16 meeting.
In that meeting, Byrd began discussion about two “potential litigation” items that had been discussed wrongly, according to her, in executive session April 25.
Mississippi Center for Freedom of Information attorneys agreed with her that both items did not meet the “potential litigation” exception in state law and should have been discussed in public.
The exception should only be used when litigation is “reasonable” or “likely to occur in the foreseeable future,” according to a 1983 Supreme Court opinion in a lawsuit against Vicksburg.
One of those secret items was about asking former board member David Sanders, at attorney with Mitchell, McNutt and Sams, for a partial refund of $17,3320.50 his firm received from the CVB while he was serving on the board.
Some board members wanted a refund for what they said was “duplicated work” between him and another attorney, David Dunn, on legal issues surrounding the acquisition of the new CVB office at College Street and Third Street.
But in that discussion, questions arose about whether Sanders could ethically work for the board. According to state ethics law and the state Ethics Commission, he cannot.
Acknowledging the error, the firm — which had already been in internal discussion about possible violations — returned the whole amount last week after The Dispatch reported the possible ethics violation.
In that same secret session April 25, the board also discussed asking a former CVB executive director, James Tsismanakis, to return some items he took from his office when he left for another job earlier this year. Tsismanakis has since returned the items — which include a plastic, silver-colored harmonica and a framed photograph of himself — to the CVB.
According to MCFOI attorneys, neither of those cases involved threats of immediate litigation.
Board member and local attorney DeWitt Hicks Jr., disagreed. He said he”d spoken to other lawyers and knew from personal experience that the board was in compliance with open meetings law.
You can help your community
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 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
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 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
READER FAVORITES
Related Photos
Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau board member DeWitt Hicks Jr., who represents the city’s historic home owners, argued at a specially called meeting Monday that the board should be cautious about hiring a board attorney. Photo by: Luisa Porter
