This article was updated on August 4, 2025 at 9:25 AM.
OCEAN SPRINGS, MS – One month after their first public meeting, official minutes reveal the Ocean Springs Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to keep the private law firm of former City Attorney Robert Wilkinson on the city payroll — but did that vote ever actually happen?
Multiple sitting aldermen say they have no recollection of the July 1 vote taking place.
The city’s published record claims the vote occurred behind closed doors during executive session. According to the minutes, a motion was made by Alderman Matthew Hinton, seconded by Alderman Rob Blackman, and “unanimously carried” to allow Wilkinson’s private law firm to continue representing the city in pending litigation — with a review scheduled for the first meeting in August.
But in a phone conversation with GC Wire, Aldermen Karen Stennis and Shannon Pfeiffer, both of whom were present at the meeting, said no motion was made, no vote was taken, and neither would have supported keeping Wilkinson’s firm in any capacity.
“We talked about it briefly,” said Stennis. “But there was no motion, no second, and no vote. That didn’t happen.”
Pfeiffer concurs. “I don’t recall a motion being made,” she said. “I recall discussion and requests for more information. I would not have voted for this, so it could not have been unanimous.”
Alderman Steve Tillis also says he does not recall the vote to keep Wilkinson onboard, but was more willing to rely on the record. “It was our first meeting and a lot was going on,” Tillis said. “While I don’t recall the vote, if it’s in the minutes, it must have happened.”
After this article published, Alderman-at-Large Matthew Hinton reached out to GC Wire with a more direct statement “There was no action taken,” Hinton said. “There was only a discussion, but no vote.”
The minutes are not ambiguous. They give a detailed account of a motion being made, seconded, and then voted on — a scenario four aldermen now say either never took place or have no recollection of taking place. The contradiction between what the record states and what aldermen recall is stark — and potentially damaging.
Mississippi law requires all final actions of municipal boards to be accurately recorded in meeting minutes. A false entry, especially one related to executive session where no public oversight is possible, raises serious questions about whether the minutes were mistakenly recorded — or deliberately falsified.
The Firm at the Center of a Scandal
Wilkinson is not just any outside counsel. His law firm served for over twenty years as city attorney and was a central figure in the now-infamous Securix ticketing scandal — a program that used cameras to detect and fine uninsured motorists.
The city cut ties with the company after numerous complaints from residents stated the tickets were being issued without court oversight, judicial review, or due process.
Wilkinson simultaneously represented Securix, while serving as the city’s highest legal authority – a conflict many say falls outside of legal acceptance.
Wilkinson publicly claimed to have recused himself for all matters pertaining to Securix, but internal emails obtained by GC Wire revealed he was a central figure, both in the city’s dealings as well on the Securix side.
Former Police Chief Mark Dunston, who is now Wilkinson’s business partner in a separate traffic ticket venture, later admitted publicly that he personally accepted payments from Securix during and after his time as chief.
Dunston attempted to justify the arrangement by comparing it to an officer taking a second job. But critics point out the obvious: Dunston wasn’t moonlighting as a security guard at Walmart — he was working for a company running a shadow law enforcement operation under color of city authority.
The city’s contract with Securix, as well as state law, required that citations be processed through municipal court and records kept by the city. But neither of those things happened.
Former City Clerk Patty Gaston confirmed that the Securix tickets “were not ran thru our court system,” and that the city has no record of any of the citations issued through the Securix program.
No Investigation, No Accountability
Despite these revelations, no investigation was ever conducted into Wilkinson’s role. Although former Mayor Kenny Holloway once publicly announced the launch of an investigation into Wilkinson’s conduct, he later sent a letter to the Mississippi Bar — after losing re-election — claiming he had known about Wilkinson’s actions all along and saw no wrongdoing.
Former Alderman Rickey Authement followed the same pattern. While in office, Authement repeatedly said nobody knew Wilkinson was playing both sides. He also made the motion to remove Wilkinson over the undisclosed conflict of interest. But just two days after being voted out, he signed a letter defending Wilkinson and retracting everything he had previously stated on the record.
And now, the minutes say the new Board voted to keep Wilkinson’s firm on the payroll — even though multiple members say they have no recollection of it.
Who Wrote the Minutes — and Why?
Executive session minutes are typically prepared by the city clerk or her staff, based on notes taken during the closed session. However, it’s common practice in some cities for city attorneys — or in this case, interim city attorneys — to review and “clarify” how executive session decisions are worded before they’re made public. Both, former City Clerk Gaston and Interim City Attorney David Harris, were reportedly present at the July 1 executive session. Alderman Hinton clarified the minutes for that session were recorded by Harris.
If the vote did not happen, as four aldermen now assert, this would mean that someone inserted a false motion and vote into the official record of the City of Ocean Springs.
The minutes also state that the Board agreed to a formal review at the August 5 meeting, but as of this writing, no such review has been scheduled on the public agenda.
A Challenge to the Official Record
Both Aldermen Stennis and Pfeiffer told GC Wire they plan to take immediate action at Tuesday’s meeting. Specifically, they say they will request the board remove approval of the July 1 executive session minutes from the consent agenda while they investigate how a vote that never occurred ended up in the official record.
“Either the language was misconstrued or an error has been recorded,” Pfeiffer said. Stennis added, “We can’t approve something that didn’t happen.”
Hinton says he has already sent an email to the new city clerk, requesting the minutes from the July 1 meeting be pulled from Tuesday’s consent agenda and corrected before any approval takes place.
Whether their colleagues will support a full review remains to be seen. But one thing is now clear: at least four elected officials do not recall the vote to keep Wilkinson on — and two intend to confront it head-on.
Are those meetings not videoed? Would be very easy to verify if they were. SMH…..
Thank u for being there and changing an outcome. How could such a report be entered fradually
A comment follows regarding the continuing attacks by those covering for the criminals who have so greatly damaged the City of Ocean Springs and Mississippi.
What it says about someone who can’t deal with the truth and thinks they can defame a person to keep them quiet is disgusting. That Wilkinson, Gregory and others operate with impunity does not speak well for those providing them cover to keep hurting people. ALL Securix Mississippi collections were illegal and must be returned. The truth is ugly and Wilkinson and Josh Gregory are responsible. They control the data and the money. They need to pay all violators now…not later or we will start assisting with a Class Action. We are tired of them hurting people.
I taught at Grad School level for years, ran a national company with offices in every State and worked in a dozen nations. The only person I have never heard call me “insane” was Robert Wilkinson. There was no evidence of course and, anyone can see that was to divert attention. People who steal over $365,000. from the State, divert hundreds of thousands more, (partially to pay Mark Dunston of IntelliSafe $42,000. and also pay themselves), and are by their own records …. criminals and also those, including Erich Nichols, who instructed staff and contractors by email to circumvent DPS and violate privacy laws tens of thousands of times, must also be held accountable. Providing a fake accounting to courts which he also did, bypassing the one from BMSS that was paid for, is fraud. Running a bank account controlled by “Par Yachts” and their other LLCs while locking others out does not “look honest” and J. Miller never had access to that account as claimed. QJR alone is responsible. When Wilkinson makes up… over a year ago, a totally fake claim then contacts Securix lenders and owners with threats, more than once, of litigation against them to gain commercial advantage, that is tortious interference and fraud as is clear now, a year later as it was a “nothing.” When he submits a response to the Bar Association loaded with lies regarding his Son and his involvement and also says “Miller is the “owner” of Securix, (I never was), that and the other documents we sent should ensure he is disbarred. When top legal experts say that the actions of QJR and Wrigley represent the most extreme local lawfare example in the US for decades, folks need to pay attention. These criminals are still being allowed to create terrible damage. The DPPA fines alone can be well over $100 million and would be the biggest such case in U.S. History.
QJR’s panic is understandable but those covering for these crimes almost exactly one year after we provided evidence and DPS shut it down, need to consider what they are doing. These criminals have been paid millions in State funds over two decades and from campaigns, yet their actions appear to confirm no regard for others. We have documented 68 false statements by Wilkinson and Gregory. The transcripts and financial files must be released by the court and this continuing coverup must end.
I offer to take any cognitive test from any reputable organization and also a lie detector test and require that Wilkinson and Gregory do the same and let’s post the results. Let’s stop the lies and get the truth to the people. Everything we have said can be proven. Uncomfortable truth shared with those who have been victimized …including the People of Ocean Springs does not make me insane…only unwilling to “go along to get along.” We suffered massive losses to protect the People. It is very wrong that we are made to keep suffering like this when we turned these crooks in and yet were not allowed to stop them diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars. Someone telling the truth to protect folks should not be jailed. This “judicial terror” must end. These elitists appear convinced that they will never be held responsible, but we will not be silenced, and neither should the People of Ocean Springs who must now rise up and demand action. Our records are open; let’s have a Town Hall Meeting so everybody can see the damage for themselves.