McComb city officials voted to reprimand a city employee after an extended executive session Tuesday night.
After an closed door meeting between the board that lasted about an 90 minutes, city officials announced they were reprimanding an unidentified official and voted to pull a job advertisement from city hall boards.
City officials did not identify the disciplined employee, although the Mississippi Open Meetings Act requires personnel matters to be discussed behind closed doors to be related “to the job performance, character, professional competence, or physical or mental health of a person holding a specific position.”
Board attorney Marcus Williams said city officials indicated they’d like to keep the employee name private and he would review the Open Meetings Law.
“I’m going to look into it because we always want to follow the law,” Williams said.
The board voted 3-2 to issue the reprimand. Selectmen Ronnie Brock, Donovan Hill and Devante Johnson voted in favor or the action, while selectmen Micheal Cameron and Ted Tullos were against it. Selectman Shawn Williams recused himself from the vote.
There was also a vote to pull advertisements for an unapproved payroll administrator’s position created by Human Resources Director Donjurea Davis. Brock, Hill and Johnson voted to pull the advertisements, while Cameron, Tullos and Williams voted against the action.
Mayor Quordiniah Lockley broke the tie in favor.
Also discussed in the closed meeting was the claims docket, which at Brock’s request was pulled from the consent agenda due to one item that he declined to divulge.
The board discussed this matter in closed session as well, although the Open Meetings Law gives no provision for discussing such matters in private.
Williams said that the claims docket discussion was tied to another personnel matter, although the motion to take the issue into executive session did not state that.
After returning to open session, Williams made a motion to retroactively pay Tim Baylor for his work disinfecting the police department after a coronavirus outbreak.
The board had another split vote with Cameron, Tullos and Williams voting to pay Baylor, while Brock, Hill and Johnson voted against it. Lockley broke the tie in favor of paying Baylor.
Though the board settled the matter of Baylor’s bill, the board did not vote on the rest of the claims docket.
The city was expected to meet today to approve its final budget amendments and accept the claims docket.
Baylor’s $500 invoice had been a sticking point for the city for some time, after there was a mix up in his paperwork. The board orignally voted to hold him payment until the paperwork was corrected, but the bill had been paid before board approval.
Johnson previously said the issue wasn’t paying Baylor but that he believed proper procurement procedures had not been followed.
Police Chief Garland Ward noted at the time of the first discussion of the payment that the paperwork had already been fixed.
Though city officials did not name the employee who was chided, the only two employees to be asked to go into the closed meeting with the selectmen were Davis and deputy city clerk LaToya Bates.
