Mayor Lynn Spruill and the Board of Aldermen took quick action at their first meeting on Wednesday at City Hall after being sworn in on Monday.
Aldermen called for the termination of the Director of Sanitation and Environmental Services Department Emma Gibson-Gandy.
Ward 6 Alderman and Vice Mayor Roy A’. Perkins motioned for the termination based on a “track record of consistently poor job performance.”
After discussion, the board concluded with a 7-0 vote to move forward with the termination. The deadline for applications for a new director will be 5 p.m. July 26.
The board voted to appoint an interim director until a new candidate is selected for that position.
The board also heard public discussion concerning a moratorium on billboards in the city of Starkville.
Spruill said the board was concerned about the city’s visual appearance. She said they did not want to have something come up without the board getting an ordinance in place.
She said that is why the board is pushing for a regulation in order to make the city’s visual sight line as good as possible.
“It’s an aesthetic thing in a lot of cases,” Spruill said.
The board also wants to adopt a work session, which will be held on Friday’s following a Board of Aldermen meeting. These work sessions will be open to the public as well as the press.
Spruill’s reasoning behind these meetings is to allow a better forum for conversation due to the formality of a regular board meeting.
“I think there are some things that we can do in a work session that will be more informative to one another,” Spruill said.
Spruill said she hopes for many people to come to the meetings in order to voice their concerns. Even with participation in the first meeting, Spruill encourages more to come speak up about their issues.
“I want to be informed of what’s going on and the way we do that is through citizen comments,” Spruill said.
Spruill said she feels the first meeting for her administration and a new board went smoothly, even with a lengthy agenda. She said in the past, the board has had longer meetings and she hopes that the work sessions will give a chance to help that process to continue to move faster.
“We got things done,” Spruill said.
OTHER BUSINESS:
• Ward 2 Alderman Sandra Sistrunk was appointed as the city’s budget chair through the term of July 3, 2017 through June 30, 2021.
•Aldermen passed a request for a loan business to reside at 420 Highway 12 West.
• Aldermen approved the reappointment of all department heads except for the Department of Sanitation and Environmental Services.
• There was a comment from the public discussing the concern of police officer training on handling people with mental health issues. Police Chief Frank Nichols addressed that they do have mental health training, but the team has slowly dissolved and will work to put that team back together.
•Aldermen approved to advertise for bids for the lease purchase of a new WH dozer to be used at the City’s landfill.
• Perkins was nominated vice mayor of Starkville and will continue to serve in the position.