City Hall Scandal: Ocean Springs Officials Go Too Far To Avoid Accountability

(EDITORS NOTE: All evidence referenced in this article is included below.)

OCEAN SPRINGS, MS — Just hours after The Ocean Springs Weekly Record published a critical article about city leadership, City Hall’s response wasn’t a statement of clarification — it was an onslaught of personal attacks, threats, and attempts to discredit the reporter by the City Clerk and an Alderman.

The article, which ran last week, exposed growing frustration among residents over the city’s handling of zoning changes, public meetings, and a troubling decline in transparency under Mayor Kenny Holloway’s administration. The report highlighted a heated Planning Commission meeting where concerned citizens were brushed off by officials. Most damning, however, was the revelation that the city had blatantly violated its own ordinance by failing to notify residents properly about proposed zoning map changes.

Planning Commissioner Kevin O’Connell voiced his concerns in the report, stating, “It does feel like the city is doing a lot of things behind the residents’ backs.”

The piece also featured quotes from residents who spoke at the meeting to express their concerns, including one resident’s description of the discomfort they felt with Community Development Director Carter Thompson.

The article then provided background on Thompson, who began her position with the city earlier this year after being controversially fired from her previous job in Georgia — a firing widely covered by local media due to the serious accusations regarding her poor treatment of the public. Thompson threatened legal action against that city, and this was not an isolated incident.

It was later revealed that this was the second municipality in a short period to fire Thompson under controversial circumstances, both times resulting in media coverage and her publicly threatening legal action against the cities.

While the article sparked significant discussion among residents, the reporting struck a nerve in some within City Hall – and they acted out in retaliation against the reporter. Unfortunately, I know this, because I was that reporter and the target of their attacks were against me.

CITY CLERK’S RETALIATION CROSSES THE LINE

Shortly after the article went live, City Clerk Patty Gaston sent a series of troubling text messages to The Record editor, Leigh Coleman, who is also my employer. In these texts, Gaston launched personal attacks on me, seemingly in an attempt to undermine my employment. She began with, “Your new writer is a piece of shit.” Later, Gaston sent another text to my boss indicating that she was actively gathering dirt on me and was ready to share it with my employer. “I just received some texts about him. I do have some funny and interesting things to tell you,” she wrote.

Gaston went on to call my editor several times demanding the story be retracted or removed from the Internet, although she was unable to point out any inaccuracies when asked. Gaston demanded the information about Thompson be removed and not reported on again, despite the topic being of legitimate public interest and concern.

These egregious actions were just the beginning of a pattern of much more serious events to come.

SEEKING HELP FROM ALDERMEN

The city’s apparent efforts to damage my career and silence truthful reporting didn’t just violate basic ethics; it may be a violation of constitutional protections.

Retaliating against a journalist for accurately reporting on public matters is a direct violation of the First Amendment — a protection meant to ensure that government officials can be held accountable without fear of intimidation or reprisal.

As the harassment from City Hall continued unabated, I realized that this issue was far bigger texts and phone calls. It was an attack on the public’s right to know. I reached out to the Board of Aldermen for help.

I carefully drafted a letter to each Aldermen, outlining the series of retaliatory actions taken against me by City Clerk Patty Gaston. In the letter, I highlighted the personal attacks, threats, and ongoing attempts to undermine my employment, simply because I reported the truth. My goal in reaching out to the Aldermen was simple: to seek help in addressing these illegal and unconstitutional actions by a city official.

The letter emphasized the urgency of the situation, as Gaston’s actions weren’t just inappropriate — they were designed to intimidate and silence me as a reporter. I reminded the Aldermen of their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution, including protecting the freedom of the press. I requested they take immediate steps to investigate the situation and for my letter to be entered into the official record for the upcoming September 17 Board of Alderman meeting.

I provided clear evidence of the retaliation, including quoting the texts where Gaston used vulgarities to describe me and admitted to having personal information about me with the intent to harm my reputation and interfere with my employment. I also made it clear that this issue wasn’t just about me — it was about the broader implications for freedom of speech in Ocean Springs and the ability of residents, or the press, to criticize city failures, without the fear of retaliation.

I asked the Aldermen to initiate a formal investigation into Gaston’s conduct, urging them to take the disciplinary actions they deemed necessary (including up to termination), to restore trust in the city’s leadership, and uphold the democratic values we all cherish.

After getting word of the letter, Gaston continued what appeared to be her ongoing path of retaliation. She made several more calls to the editor asking for the article to be removed. She even took to Facebook to call my reporting “misleading.” When faced with simple follow-up questions regarding the failure to properly inform citizens of pending zoning changes, Gaston wrote on Facebook that she was “tired of my attitude” and that she had wasted too much time on the topic.

ALDERMAN’S CALL: A SHOCKING TURN

I hoped my letter to the Board would result in assistance or, at the very least, a fair investigation into the City Clerk’s retaliation. Instead, Alderman Jennifer Burgess called me, not to offer help or address my concerns, but to lecture me on how I should be conducting myself as a journalist and to defend the very city official I had reported.

“I guess what I’m trying to figure out is how I can help,” she began.

During the call, Burgess made it clear that she didn’t see the issue as retaliation or a First Amendment violation. She referred to City Clerk Patty Gaston’s actions as simply her right to express a “private opinion,” even though they were sent to my employer with the clear intent to undermine my job.

Burgess told me that Gaston had every right to text my boss that I was “a piece of shit” because, according to her, it was a personal conversation between acquaintances. She dismissed Gaston’s promise to share information about me to my employer by simply saying, “She would never do that.”

Burgess made it clear that she disapproves of the content I had been writing, including informing citizens about the prior controversial terminations and legal concerns of a key city official, despite already widespread news coverage and it being of legitimate public concern.

“We all go to church together,” she said, implying that the small-town nature of Ocean Springs should somehow exempt its officials from accountability. In her mind, my article was the real issue — not retaliation for the accurate reporting.

In fact, Burgess went as far to say it is “unfortunate” that the First Amendment would allow me to write such things.

But Burgess didn’t stop there. She proceeded to lecture me about the “courtesies” she believes journalists should extend to the city before publishing stories. “We have courtesies with the media,” she said. “They say, hey, we’re going to write this article,” implying that the press should run their stories by the city first for approval. This stunning admission revealed an unwritten rule designed to control the narrative and prevent unfavorable reports from ever seeing the light of day.

As if that weren’t enough, Burgess continued to downplay my concerns, telling me that “just because the First Amendment says you can print something, it doesn’t mean you should.” The arrogance was breathtaking — here was an elected official, sworn to protect the Constitution, outright dismissing its protections when it came to a journalist reporting on government accountability.

Burgess accused me of being “on a ledge” and said she was trying to “talk me down.” It was an insult to my professionalism, implying I was irrational for simply doing my job. She ended the call by telling me she regretted even speaking to me, as if my seeking help for retaliation had somehow made me a villain.

Burgess’ most egregious and ironic act came after we hung up. Instead of helping me address the retaliation from Gaston, Burgess did the very thing I had sought her help to prevent. She called my boss and told her, “I heard he was very bad news. All you have to do is look into him and you won’t have to look very far,” trying to sabotage my job simply because I reported on the city’s failure to follow its own laws.

The level of disdain and disregard for the Constitution was staggering, and it became clear that this was not just an isolated case of one city official going rogue — this was systemic corruption and suppression of the truth at the highest levels of Ocean Springs government.

ALDERMAN BURGESS ATTACKS REPORTER ON THE RECORD

A few days later, at the September 17 Board of Alderman meeting, Burgess escalated her defense of Gaston in a public forum, attacking my character and credibility in front of the Board, Mayor, and audience.

I delivered a three-minute comment addressing the city’s lack of transparency with zoning issues and the retaliation I faced for reporting on the issue. Despite the sensitivity of the situation, I did not name City Clerk Gaston in my remarks. I simply gave a brief description of the retaliation by a city official and summary of Burgess’ phone call. However, Alderman Burgess took it upon herself to publicly reveal Gaston’s name and, in a stunning display of dishonesty, made a series of false claims about me in front of a large crowd, despite clear evidence to the contrary.

Following my remarks, Burgess asked for three minutes to respond. “The only thing that I’m guilty of is doing my diligence as an Alderman and reaching out to a ward resident to try to help you with an issue that you are clearly upset about,” she opened with. “You were very upset and my intent was to try to help you and try to talk you off of the ledge that you were on,” Burgess added, in an attempt to once again paint the picture that I was irrational.

“The accusations you made about our city clerk were false,” she publicly stated, despite having seen the actual screenshots and Facebook posts made by Gaston. “She did not attack you on social media. She did not threaten to expose any information about you. None at all.”

She told the audience she was “genuinely scared” of me during the call, insinuating again that I was unhinged. Fortunately, the call was recorded to prove otherwise. “Speaking to you on the phone, I began to regret it almost immediately,” she said. “The way you twisted my words, I became genuinely frightened because it was not a rational conversation at all.”

Burgess ended her string of lies by saying, “We are not going to fire a city employee because you had your feelings hurt and that’s precisely what happened,” showing further dismissiveness of the unconstitutional act of government officials trying to suppress reporting of their actions.

A PATTERN OF INTIMIDATION

These actions by Ocean Springs officials reveal what many see as a troubling pattern of intimidation and bullying coming from City Hall. Rather than addressing the concerns of transparency raised in my article, city officials chose to launch personal attacks and spread false information in an attempt to discredit the reporter and the newspaper, as well as attempt to sever the reporter’s employment.

The irony is that the very article they retaliated against highlighted this same pattern of dismissiveness and suppression of public criticism, especially at public meetings. By responding with personal attacks and threats, City Hall has effectively proven the point of the original piece.

THE PUBLIC DESERVES TRANSPARENCY

The described incidents raise serious questions about the current administration’s willingness to be held accountable. Residents and the press have a right to voice concerns, ask tough questions, and report on the actions of public officials without fear of retribution. When city leaders resort to intimidation and lies, it not only undermines the trust of the public but also weakens the very foundation of democratic governance.

In a sane world, government officials have to take responsibilities for their actions. In Ocean Springs World, they just make up a new version of reality and try to eliminate media that dares report about it.

RESOURCES & SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

LINK TO ARTICLE

Here is a link to the article that published in The Ocean Springs Weekly Record on September 12, 2024. This is the article that sparked a series of questionable ethical and legal decisions by Ocean Springs officials.

LETTER TO ALDERMAN

Here is a link to the letter that was sent to each member of the Ocean Springs Board of Alderman by E. Brian Rose.

AUDIO OF TELEPHONE CALL

The following is an audio recording of the phone call between E. Brian Rose and Alderman Jennifer Burgess. She later stated on the record at a Board of Alderman meeting that she had to talk Rose “off a ledge” during the call and that she was “genuinely frightened” of him due to his hostile tone. The audio proves otherwise.

VIDEO OF PUBLIC REMARKS BY E. BRIAN ROSE

The following video is of E. Brian Rose delivering his remarks to the Ocean Springs Board of Alderman on September 17, 2024.

VIDEO OF REMARKS BY ALDERMAN JENNIFER BURGESS

The following video is of Alderman Jennifer Burgess’ public response to E. Brian Rose’s remarks at the Ocean Springs Board of Alderman on September 17, 2024. During these remarks, Burgess gives an erroneous description of the phone call between her and Rose. The audio of the call she is describing in the video is located above.

SCREENSHOTS

This is a text from City Clerk Patty Gaston to Ocean Springs Weekly Record editor Leigh Coleman. In this text, Gaston incorrectly describes events described in my article. She states, “Your new writer is a piece of shit.” She then makes reference to me being involved with SOS, which we believe is short for SaveOS, a local nonprofit that Rose has no affiliation with.

The below is a screenshot of a text message exchange between Patty Gaston and The Record editor Leigh Coleman. In it, Gaston states, “I am over it. I just received text about him. I do have some funny interesting things to tell you.” Alderman Burgess would later state Rose lied when he told Alderman in his letter that this text existed.

In the September 12 article, Rose referenced an email between Gaston and a resident. The resident pointed out that Table 2.1 in the city’s UDC contains the ordinance that spells out the city’s obligations to meet mandated notification requirements to residents when zone map changes are proposed. In her response, Gaston admits the protocols were not followed and the Planning Commission hearing would be rescheduled the following month. This is an admission she would later retract.

Gaston made this comment on the official Facebook page of The Ocean Springs Record. Rose then responded with legitimate follow-up questions that were avoided by Gaston. In this exchange, Gaston stated she did not have knowledge of the mandates listed in Table 2.1, despite previously emailing a resident that she and the city attorney agreed the city did not follow the mandates. Rose posted a copy of the table, but Gaston quipped that she was not going to look at his charts. Despite now claiming not to have knowledge of the ordinance, she stated Rose’s article about the mandates was “misleading” and that she had “read enough of your attitude.”

The below image is Table 2.1 of the Ocean Springs UDC. It lists the mandates necessary for UDC Zone Map Amendments. The city chose not to follow its own laws.