OCEAN SPRINGS, MS – State officials have weighed in on a controversial email the City of Ocean Springs sent to candidates requiring them to waive privacy rights or not be included on the ballot. According to the Secretary of State’s Office: The city’s mandate is not only unauthorized — it’s illegal.
On Friday, candidates running for Alderman positions received an email from Deputy City Clerk Vicky Hupe. The email instructed recipients to fill out an attached form, stating it was “required for your qualification status.”
However, Laura Courtney, the attorney for the Secretary of State’s elections department, says the city overstepped their authority. While Mississippi law does prohibit candidates with certain felony convictions to run for public office, it does not allow cities to require the candidate to participate in the vetting process — or waive their privacy rights for that matter.
“The city cannot use that form as a requirement or prerequisite to qualify for candidacy,” Courtney said. “They cannot require a candidate to sign a waiver of their privacy rights nor require them to even participate in a background check in order to qualify.”
The form asked candidates to sign away their privacy rights: “I understand my rights under the Privacy Act of 1974, with regard to access and disclosure of records, and I waive these rights with the understanding that information furnished will be used by the City of Ocean Springs for the Elected Official Qualification process.”
Jon Rivera, a member of the Republican Municipal Executive Committee, is advising candidates not to fill out the form. “The city never should have sent that email to candidates,” he said. “It is against the law to require candidates to sign that waiver in order to qualify.”
Forcing political candidates to waive their privacy rights and give City Hall access to their full personal histories raises significant concerns about fairness and misuse of power. This information could easily be weaponized against candidates, especially those running on platforms that challenge or critique the very officials they are handing over their private information to.
City Clerk’s Harsh Response to Criticism
On Sunday, GC Wire published an article that pointed out state law does not require a waiver of privacy rights as a prerequisite. City Clerk Patty Gaston took exception and lashed out publicly.
“You reach out to me on Saturday night while I am helping a friend, and I try to always answer if at all possible. On a phone I sent you some information trying to help you – then you print an article,” Gaston wrote on Facebook. “Call the State if you think we are handling things incorrectly, but from now on don’t ask me any more questions as I will not respond to you any further.”
The City Clerk went on to chastise this reporter. “You do like to interpret items in your own unique way, which seems to always be a negative spin,” she added. “The negativeness from you and others will continue to run employees off and hurt this City. It is hard for the City to retain or hire employees when this is the environment they are coming on to.”
Gaston’s rants continued in private emails to candidates: “The rhetoric pushed out on Facebook and through Mr. Rose is a sad day for the City as it is meant to mislead.”
But there was no misleading. The City of Ocean Springs sent emails to candidates that told them they would not be qualified to run for office unless they signed a waiver of their privacy rights. This act is not permitted by law.
Gaston did not address this fact or take accountability in any of her rantings. Instead, she instructed us to call the state if we thought she was handling things incorrectly. We did. She was.
Candidate Demands Withdrawal of Waiver
By Monday, several candidates had succumb to the unauthorized demand of the City Clerk’s office by promptly filling out and submitting the form. Shannon Grace Pfeiffer, who is running for Ward 4 Alderman, is one of them. But after learning the city did not have the authority, she quickly demanded a withdrawal of her consent.
“The candidate form reflects a waiver of rights but it was obtained under false pretenses,” Pfeiffer wrote in an email to the city. “The letter from the City indicated that the form was REQUIRED and was submitted under that belief.”
Pfeiffer added: “I have subsequently learned that the City does not have the legal authority to require this form and information so my Personal Identifying Information and the subsequent waiver was improperly and illegally obtained. I DO NOT authorize the City or any of its agencies (OSPD) to utilize, copy or store this information. I also withdraw my improperly/illegally obtained waiver. No checks of my information shall be made. If done, I require full disclosure of when, by whom, under what legal authority and what information sources were used. I also require the names of all persons to whom this information was circulated.”
A Troubling Precedent for Election Integrity
The actions of the City of Ocean Springs have raised serious questions about the integrity and legality of its election processes. By attempting to impose an unauthorized requirement for candidates to waive their privacy rights, the city has not only overstepped its legal authority but also undermined public trust in its governance.
While some candidates, like Shannon Grace Pfeiffer, have taken swift action to retract their consent, the fact remains that others were misled into compliance under false pretenses. The city clerk’s refusal to acknowledge the illegality of the mandate — coupled with her public and private outbursts — only adds to concerns about accountability within City Hall.
Primary Elections for all citywide elected positions are scheduled for April 1, 2025.
Well it seems to me that the “rhetoric” or rather lie that is being pushed out by the City Clerk Is not only meant to mislead, but also meant to keep some candidates out of local elections.