OCEAN SPRINGS, MS – A secret recording from inside Ocean Springs City Hall reveals how elected officials set the tone for new hires, shaping their views on which residents and property owners should be treated as problems.
The recording, obtained exclusively by GC Wire, captures Alderman Jennifer Burgess and Mayor Kenny Holloway speaking separately to Community Development Director Carter Thompson on her first day on the job.
Burgess made it clear which property owners she saw as a nuisance, calling landlords “slumlords” who should be “run out on a rail.” Moments later, during a city tour, Holloway reinforced the message, pointing to a local citizen’s home and calling her “public enemy number one” simply for requesting public records.
The remarks paint a disturbing picture: City officials aren’t just managing governance — they are actively grooming new officials to see certain people as enemies.
Step One: Identify Which Property Owners Should Be ‘Run Out on a Rail’
In a closed-door meeting, Burgess wasted no time telling Thompson which properties in her ward she found unacceptable.
“I am like totally burned,” Burgess said. “I have Fort Bayou Estates Apartments, I have Chateau Bayou Apartments, and then I have the Oak Glenn Marina Condos. And the people that own those should be run out on a rail… because they’re slumlords.”
Historically, the phrase “run out on rails” refers to forcibly removing someone from town, often through public humiliation and violence.
Her frustration was particularly focused on Oak Glenn Marina Condos, a waterfront development that she felt was wasting its prime location.
“The biggest heartburn I have is that Oak Glenn Marina, because it’s right on the water. It’s prime real estate, and these condos are just terrible,” the Ward 1 Alderman continued. But her words didn’t stop at criticism. Burgess expressed a clear preference for what she wanted to see happen — an outright redevelopment of the area.
“If you go into my ward, at the very back of Fort Bayou Estates, along the bayou, there’s apartments, and you go through those apartments, and there’s a marina,” she explained. “And it used to be really cute. They had a putting green. They had the boats. It’s a total crotch now. It’s frustrating. I would love to see a condo developer that would just get rid of the apartments altogether and just do condos.”
The implication was clear — Burgess wasn’t just concerned about property conditions. She wanted certain property owners gone, their apartments demolished, and new condos developed in their place. And she was telling this to the city’s new Community Development Director on her first day.
Burgess is being challenged for the Ward 1 Alderman seat by Steve Tillis, who had sharp words after learning of the recording.
“Hearing these comments from an elected official is shocking and completely unacceptable,” Tillis said. “When an alderman dismisses entire communities as ‘slums’ and calls for property owners to be ‘run out on a rail,’ it’s not just an attack on landlords, it’s an insult to all the residents and voters who live in these neighborhoods.”
Step Two: Identify Which Residents Should Be Treated as a Threat
Just minutes after Burgess outlined which property owners should be pushed out, Holloway took Thompson on a driving tour of the city. The new Community Development Director might have expected to hear about zoning priorities or upcoming projects. Instead, the mayor pointed out a private citizen’s home and identified her as a problem.
“So this right here is public enemy number one, Julia Illane,” Holloway said as they drove past her house. “She puts public records requests in two or three times a week just trying to catch us doing something.”
A public records request is merely the act of asking City Hall to send a document that is supposed to be made available to the public.
Thompson responded casually, saying, “I’m sure I’ll meet her.”
Holloway dismissed the idea. “I don’t know, she likes to hide behind that keyboard.”
The message to the city’s new development director was unmistakable: certain citizens were to be viewed as enemies, not constituents. This wasn’t just an offhand remark — it was a sitting mayor identifying a citizen as a nuisance simply because she requested too much government transparency.
Ms. Illane says she was taken aback when she first heard the recording of Holloway proclaiming her as an enemy. “I approached him at the mayoral forum and asked why he said that about me,” Illane told GC Wire. “At first, the mayor denied ever saying it.”
Illane says after assuring him several times she had heard him saying it, Holloway finally justified his comments before dismissing her. “He said I cost the city money and then told me I should walk away and go drink my wine,” she added.
City Hall’s Playbook: Grooming New Officials to Follow the Agenda
These two conversations, on the same day, to the same new hire, expose a deeply troubling culture inside Ocean Springs City Hall.
- Certain property owners are to be targeted for removal.
- Certain residents are to be treated as enemies of the city.
- New officials are expected to adopt this mindset.
The fact that Burgess and Holloway delivered these messages independently of each other suggests that this isn’t just personal bias — it’s institutional, it’s systemic.
A Pattern of Alleged Abuse and Control
This latest revelation fits into a larger pattern of how Ocean Springs officials manage power behind closed doors.
- City officials have been caught silencing journalists who report on government wrongdoing.
- The city is facing multiple lawsuits, including one active federal First Amendment case over its handling of free speech and another pending.
- Burgess has previously been accused by other officials of using city employees to push election-year projects in her ward.
- Now, the mayor has been caught labeling a citizen a “public enemy” simply for asking for too much transparency.
The message from city officials is clear: If you own the wrong property, if you ask too many questions, if you demand accountability, you become a problem.
Will it Matter on Election Day?
With the Primary Elections set for April 1st, the people of Ocean Springs will soon decide who they trust to lead their city. The mayor and all aldermen seats are on the ballot, giving voters a chance to weigh in on the leadership and culture inside City Hall.
The recorded conversations from Burgess and Holloway offer a rare, unfiltered look at how city leaders operate behind closed doors. The question is: Do Ocean Springs residents approve of this kind of leadership?
While Jennifer Burgess only faces one challenger on April 1st, Steve Tillis, Kenny Holloway has three challengers vying for his mayoral seat: Jon Hitchcock, Jerry McGrevey, and current Alderman at Large Bobby Cox.
For many, this election won’t just be about roads and infrastructure — it will be about transparency, accountability, and whether government power is being abused for political or personal agendas.
On April 1st, voters will have the final say.
Listen to the Recordings
Mayor Kenny Holloway speaking with Carter Thompson in a secret recording on March 28, 2024:
Ward 1 Alderman Jennifer Burgess speaking with Carter Thompson in a secret recording on March 28, 2024:
