OCEAN SPRINGS, MS – Nearly a month after the Board of Aldermen voted to suspend the Ocean Springs Redevelopment Authority, all five members of the RDA have submitted their resignation.
The members held a special-called meeting on July 23, its first since being put on pause. The only public notice given was a thumbtacked agenda on a bulletin board inside City Hall. While the notice technically met the legal requirement, it was seen by many as the same type of bare minimum transparency that has previously sparked public concern.
The Ocean Springs Redevelopment Authority (RDA) is comprised of members appointed by the Board of Aldermen. The group is tasked with identifying urban renewal projects and securing state funding, including grants from the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund (GCRF).
A Final Agenda and Quiet Exit
The July 23 agenda listed four items:
- Approval of final accounting
- Termination of the professional services agreement with attorney Josh Danos
- Withdrawal of the RDA’s co-sponsorship of a GCRF application for the Leica property
- Approval of a letter to the mayor and Board of Aldermen
City officials confirmed to GC Wire that the letter contained the resignations of all five RDA members. A public records request for the document is pending.
The withdrawn GCRF application sought to assist a private developer in the purchase of the contaminated Leica Microsystems property to build a downtown hotel and convention center. That project became a lightning rod for public backlash, with residents raising concerns about potential traffic nightmares and public safety concerns. The Leica property is a registered brownfield site, having been confirmed to be contaminated with cancer causing agents.
Transparency Complaints and the July 1 Suspension
For months, residents and officials have criticized the RDA’s operations. The board did not livestream its meetings like other city entities. Its schedule was often missing from the city’s public calendar. It used a separate, more restrictive public records process that required physical forms and in-person submission.
On July 1, the Board of Aldermen voted to suspend the RDA and reevaluate its purpose. The decision was seen by many as a long-overdue accountability measure. But in the weeks that followed, some city officials and attorneys privately began suggesting the vote might not be legally binding.
Interim City Attorney David Harris and RDA Attorney Josh Danos were reportedly among those casting doubt on whether the RDA could be legally suspended by a Board vote. GC Wire requested clarification from both attorneys but received no response.
Mayor Bobby Cox offered a vague response when asked about the vote’s authority: “The RDA have been willing to work with us and pause until the BOA has time to decide on the direction the BOA wishes to go.”
That framing raised eyebrows, with many saying if the Board’s vote was binding, the RDA’s “willingness” should not be a factor.
Pfeiffer Says ‘Disband It’
Ward 4 Alderman Shannon Pfeiffer publicly called for more than just a pause. In a July 17 Facebook post, she said the RDA should be “fully disbanded,” citing its lack of transparency and “high-stakes decisions behind closed doors that affect our neighborhoods, our environment, and our tax dollars.”
Some praised Pfeiffer’s stance, pointing specifically to conflicts of interest, such as with RDA member Kenny Williams, who owns multiple bars within walking distance of the proposed hotel site and would have likely benefited from the group’s only project.
Others defended the RDA, claiming its meetings were public and open to anyone who wanted to attend. But the old fashioned bulletin board posting for the July 23 meeting was a clear representation of the frustration critics have felt.
Where Things Stand Now
With all members gone, the RDA appears officially dormant. The GCRF hotel application has been withdrawn. The legal fog surrounding the Board’s suspension vote remains, but with no one left on the RDA to act, the issue may be moot.
A new vote to officially put an end to or even restructure the organization may be on the horizon. But for now, the most powerful unelected board in Ocean Springs has vanished the same way it often operated: quietly, and out of public view.
