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OCEAN SPRINGS, MS (GC Wire) – What began as a publicly funded partnership to build a downtown parking garage has spiraled into a years-long controversy involving contradictory grant applications, unapproved contracts, forged documents, hidden revisions, altered public records, and growing questions about who was ever supposed to own the garage in the first place.
Now, a public statement by the private developer behind the project appears to directly contradict a central factual claim used to secure the $8 million in state grant funding.
The following timeline is based on public records, meeting minutes, executed contracts, public statements, and documents obtained by GC Wire.
2019–2020 – The Promise That Secured the Money
The City passes a resolution to create a public-private partnership with OHOS Land / Development LLC to be co-applicants for a grant that would fund a downtown parking garage linked to the OS1515 hotel project.
Applications for $8 million in state grant money are later submitted, each promising grant makers that the garage would be owned by The City of Ocean Springs if the State would award the funds.
The applications specifically state:
“OHOS Land, LLC has entered into an agreement in which it will transfer ownership of the parking garage and amenities to the City upon completing construction.”
And:
“The City of Ocean Springs is in full support of the project… and will be the owner of the proposed parking garage.”
2021 – The Deal Gets ‘Reworked’
Newly elected Mayor Kenny Holloway moves into a rental home managed by local developer Joe Cloyd and attorney Erich Nichols. Holloway’s first order of business is to tell the Board the garage deal has been “reworked” and the garage would now be owned by OHOS with the City leasing and paying for all maintenance costs. Cloyd lobbies aldermen privately to accept the changes. Nichols gives a public presentation.
In August 2021, the Board approves a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) laying out the framework of the proposed arrangement. But the document describes itself as a letter of intent and non-binding, stating it is merely “preliminary” discussion meant to guide future negotiations toward a possible lease agreement.
The MOU also contains contradictory language regarding ownership and control of the garage. While portions describe a long-term lease arrangement where OHOS would retain ownership, other sections state OHOS would “transfer the completed parking garage to the City,” while describing the arrangement as “effectively transferring the parking garage to the City for the useful life of the structure.”
The same paragraph further states the City would receive the completed garage “at no cost.”
Those contradictions would later become central to disputes over whether the publicly funded garage was ever intended to belong to the City at all — or whether the structure was intentionally designed to preserve private ownership while still presenting the project to the State as a public asset.
May 17, 2022 – The Agreements Are Approved
Holloway announces the State had approved the grants and asks the Board to authorize him to execute grant agreements with MDA. Then-City Attorney Robert Wilkinson said he reviewed the agreements and recommended the Board approve. Aldermen vote unanimously to authorize the mayor to execute. All parties – the City, OHOS, and MDA – sign the agreements in August, weeks after the May 17 approval.
Joe Cloyd, who was not a City official, strangely signs at the attester for both the City and OHOS, affirming both have authority to execute. In the agreements, the City and OHOS certify statements made in the original grant applications that the City will own the garage are still “true and correct.”
July 2023 – The Contracts Quietly Change
Holloway signs a new set of “amended and restated” grant agreements with the state. City records reflect the Board of Aldermen never authorized him to take this action. This new set of agreements added language that binds the City to the lease arrangement mentioned in the 2021 MOU, while simultaneously including contradictory language that the application ownership statements are also still true and correct.
The agreements also add language agreeing to pay OHOS attorney Erich Nichols ten percent of the $8 million in grant money.
Despite never have been approved by the Board of Aldermen, Holloway certified in writing that he did indeed have their authorization. The public was not made aware of these new agreements being signed. The revisions never appeared on any public agendas.
2023–2025 – The Garage Gets Built — Without Bids
Construction begins on the OS1515 hotel and parking garage. All versions of grant agreements signed by the parties require the construction be “bid out” – a requirement that demands repayment of the grant money if not performed. But OHOS skips the public bidding process and hires Orocon Construction LLC to build the project. OHOS and Orocon are both owned and operated by John Oropesa. After construction is complete, OHOS submits financial records for reimbursement by the state grant. OHOS immediately uses the garage as collateral for a multi-million dollar bank loan.
That financing arrangement reinforced concerns that the project was being publicly presented as effectively belonging to the City while simultaneously being privately leveraged as a financial asset by OHOS – one that effectively put millions of dollars in their hands.
Summer 2025 – Questions About Relationships Intensify
Holloway loses his bid for re-election. Alderman-at-Large Bobby Cox wins the seat and becomes the new Mayor. Several aldermen also lose their elections. A new Board and mayor is in place.
The rental home Holloway lived in – managed by Cloyd and Nichols – is transferred to a trust bearing Holloway’s name. The house goes up for sale with Holloway listed as the listing agent. It later sells for just under $1,000,000.
October 2025 – The Forged MOU Surfaces
The newly elected Board and Mayor are presented with a copy of the August 2021 MOU, along with a proposed lease agreement authored by newly appointed City Attorney David Harris. The lease is based on the wording of the MOU, requiring the City to pay tens of thousands of dollars annually to cover insurance required by OHOS’s lending bank.
But the MOU is fake. The original August 2021 MOU approved by the Board contained no such language.
The version Harris gave to aldermen had a forged first page that was attached to the original second page that contained the original signatures. The Board did not vote on the lease agreement that evening, tabling the issue for a later time.
November 2025 – City Hall Admits the MOU Was Altered
After GC Wire brought the document differences to the attention of aldermen, City Attorney Harris distributed a confidential memorandum to Board members admitting the lease was based on a forged version of the MOU. Harris did not say who drafted the forged document, only stating he received it from the “past attorney.”
Official minutes of the November 18, 20225 Board meeting state that City Attorney Harris “clarified that the grant agreements were between OHOS Development and GCRF, not directly between the City and GCRF.” It is unknown why Harris told Board members and the public this when grant agreements and prior authorizations clearly show the City is a party in the agreements with MDA for the GCRF funding.
March 15, 2026 – Oropesa Contradicts the Grant Applications
In an interview with the Sun Herald, Managing Member of OHOS Development John Oropesa stated that “at no time was there any discussion of garage ownership being transferred to the city.”
But the grant applications submitted to MDA in 2019 and 2020 repeatedly stated the exact opposite, claiming OHOS “has entered into an agreement to transfer ownership of the garage and related amenities to the City upon completion of construction” and that “the City would be the owner of the garage.”
Both grant applications were authored by OHOS attorney Erich Nichols.
The contradiction strikes at the heart of the controversial project because the executed grant agreements specifically state that MDA relied upon the truthfulness of the application materials when awarding the public funds.
April 1, 2026 – The State Learns About the Unapproved Agreements
Aldermen Shannon Pfeiffer and Karen Stennis meet with staff of the Mississippi State Auditor’s Office in Jackson. GC Wire Publisher E. Brian Rose also attended. The three present their findings in the garage controversy. Rose points out that grant agreements executed in 2022 invoke the language of the grant applications and point out the certified statements that the publicly funded garage would be owned by The City of Ocean Springs, not OHOS.
However, Auditor staff points to a clause in 2023 versions of the agreement that incorporates language from the 2021 MOU showing all parties agreed that OHOS would own the garage and the City would lease it from them, while paying for all maintenance costs.
This was surprising because the 2022 agreements presented by the Ocean Springs crew were the only versions ever approved by the Board of Aldermen and they did not contain this language. This was the first time we were made aware the state was relying on agreements executed by former Mayor Holloway that were never approved by the Board of Aldermen.
April 7, 2026 – The Lease Gets Rushed Through Executive Session
Alderman Shannon Pfeiffer raises the issue that City officials have stated a lease agreement must be signed prior to June 30 or the City is at risk of an $8 million clawback of the grant funds. She proposes a dedicated work session so the Board could hash out the details and avoid any penalties. The Board votes unanimously to schedule the work session for the following week.
Mayor Cox and City Attorney Harris remained silent during that deliberation. However, minutes later in executive session, the aldermen were informed by Cox and Harris that a final lease agreement had already been sent to OHOS and now the Board must retroactively approve what had been sent.
The lease authored by Harris contained no protection from OHOS selling the garage and the City losing access. The agreement also contained a subordination clause, which made clear the City would lose access if OHOS were to default on their loans.
The motion to approve was made by Alderman Rob Blackman, who had previously recused himself from votes regarding the garage due to his professional entanglements. Yet, he motioned and voted for the lease on that day. The lease passed 4-3. Harris did not allow the aldermen to leave with copies of the document, despite the document later being available to residents as a public record. This gap left aldermen unable to verify if the document they approved matches what is later presented to the public.
April 15, 2026 – The Nine-Minute ‘Work Session’
The Board held the work session they had unanimously voted to schedule the week prior. But Mayor Cox opened the meeting by telling aldermen state law required these discussions to be held in private executive session. The meeting ended nine minutes later. No Mississippi law states lease discussions are required to be held privately.
While the Open Meetings Act does allow a narrow list of topics to be discussed in private, none are required by law.
Since inception of the garage concept, all meetings had been discussed publicly in open meetings, despite the option of closed door sessions. Cox put an end to that.
April 16, 2026 – The Historical Record Stops Making Sense
The City Clerk’s office finally responded to a month old public records request. GC Wire asked specifically to identify and produce minutes from any meeting MDA grant agreements related to the parking garage were approved by the Board of Aldermen. The City eventually produced one set of minutes: May 17, 2022.
However the documents attached were not the agreements reviewed by the Board and executed weeks later by all parties. Instead, they were swapped out with 2023 versions. This created an impossible scenario where the City was trying to say the Board approved in May of 2022 versions of agreements that were not drafted until July 2023.
April 21, 2026 – ‘Those Documents Don’t Exist’
At this Board meeting, Alderman Karen Stennis raised the issue of the impossible scenario. Mayor Cox, Project Manager Sarah Harris, and City Clerk Christine Millard gave lengthy explanations, eventually settling on one story: The documents approved by the Board on May 17, 2022 were not actually signed until July 2023. “Sometimes these things take time to get signed,” they told aldermen and the public.
But the City’s explanation did not account for the fact that the documents reviewed and approved on May 17, 2022 were actually signed by all parties and notarized just weeks later in August of 2022. The City was claiming these documents did not exist. But GC Wire had copies.
To test the City’s claims and integrity, GC Wire made a public records request. It was specific:
“I am requesting two contracts related to grants for the parking garage:
1) Mississippi Development Authority Gulf Coast Restoration Fund Grant Agreement GCRF-20-09. This agreement was signed and notarized by all parties in August 2022.
2) Mississippi Development Authority Gulf Coast Restoration Fund Grant Agreement GCRF-21-09. This agreement was also signed and notarized by all parties in August 2022.
For clarity, I am not seeking similar agreements that were signed at a later time, only the two agreements listed above that were signed and notarized by all parties in August 2022. Both agreements show a creation date of January 27, 2022 in the first line after their respective cover pages.”
Despite clear instructions, the City doubled down on their claim the 2022 documents did not exist. Without further explanation, the City responded to the request by sending the 2023 versions.
GC Wire replied to the City Clerk. We attached the 2022 executed documents and once again asked the City to produce them, as requested. City Clerk Millard did not respond.
May 5, 2026 – The Board Refuses to Correct the Record
Alderman Karen Stennis presented evidence of the documents the City claimed did not exist. She presented a timeline that shows the previous Board reviewed and approved the documents executed in August 2022, not the 2023 versions the historical record shows. Her presentation proved someone altered that historical record.
Stennis then made a motion to correct the minutes to show exactly what that previous Board had actually approved.
But City Attorney Harris snapped back, calling Stennis’s motion a collateral attack on the previous Board’s actions. It wasn’t. It was just the opposite. Someone had changed the records to show that previous Board authorized agreements it did not. Stennis’s motion was to correct the record.
At one point, Harris seemed to acknowledge the existence of the 2022 agreements, but said they were never “activated.” He stated this is why they were replaced by later amended versions.
But state law requires each amended version of a municipal contract to be reviewed and authorized by the Board of Aldermen separately. The 2023 versions were never authorized, yet Harris maintains they are the operative agreements.
Despite the clear evidence presented, the Board voted not to correct the record. Only Stennis and Pfeiffer voted to make the correction.
Alderman Steve Tillis later posted on FaceBook that he agrees there were “many misappropriated documents,” but voted against making the correction “to avoid a full investigation.”
May 11, 2026 – The Documents Suddenly Reappear
Less than one week after the failed vote to correct the historical record, the City Clerk’s office reversed course. GC Wire sent one more public records request, asking for:
“All versions of the grant agreements attached to the May 17, 2022 minutes packet, including: The agreements executed following the Board’s authorization and any amended, restated, or substituted versions included in the packet.”
In addition to the 2023 unapproved versions of the grant agreements, City Clerk Millard responded this time by also including the original 2022 versions – the very agreements she told the Board and the public did not exist.
This production effectively admits the 2022 agreements were in fact once correctly attached to the minutes of the May 17, 2022 Board meeting – and that sometime after, they were swapped out with the unapproved versions.
A Departing Wild Card Gift from Holloway
For months, City officials and attorneys have insisted the 2023 “Amended and Restated” grant agreements were the operative contracts governing the downtown garage project — despite those versions never being approved by the Ocean Springs Board of Aldermen.
But the story may now be evolving again.
GC Wire has obtained evidence of additional agreements executed in 2024 titled “Second Amended and Restated Grant Agreements” — documents that also appear to have been signed by former Mayor Kenny Holloway without authorization from the Board of Aldermen.
Like the earlier versions before them, the 2024 agreements contain certifications presented to the State as valid and operative contracts tied to the publicly funded garage project.
The discovery raises an entirely new question City officials may soon have to answer:
If the 2022 agreements approved by the Board were later replaced by unauthorized 2023 “Amended and Restated” agreements, and those were later followed by unauthorized 2024 “Second Amended and Restated” agreements, then which contracts does the City actually believe govern the project today?
And perhaps more importantly, which versions did the State rely upon when approving, funding, and overseeing the $8 million garage project?
For now, one thing has become increasingly clear: every time City officials appear to settle on a final explanation for the garage controversy, another document surfaces that throws the entire narrative into question once again.
