The Hattiesburg City council has been facing the threat of protest and lawsuits over it’s controversial land application treatment method for discharging its waste water through a sprinkler type system installed in Forrest and Lamar Counties. Now, Mary Dryden, Henry Naylor, Kim Bradley, and Carter Carroll have come up with a clever plan to treat waste water in Lamar County.
Dryden and the rest of the council voted in a special called meeting yesterday to abandon land application in favor of aerial application; thereby eliminating any land zoning blocking construction of the system.
The plan would construct a pipeline from the City’s lagoons to Camp Shelby. From there the waste water would be pumped onto DC-10 aircraft, much like the ones used to treat Forest fires. The waste water would then be discharged aerially over Forrest, Lamar, Jones, and Covington Counties. According to Dryden,
We don’t need a land use permit if the waste water is discharged aerially, and as long as it’s done at altitudes over 15,000 feet, federal regulations say we can spray this wherever we want to. All the city has to do is treat the water to secondary standards, and we comply with EPA minimum standards.
A local group of concerned citizens from Lamar County told the Hattiesburg Patriot,
We aren’t taking this woman’s crap. We are suing her stupid butt in court.”
Assistant Fire Chief Eddie Wilson does not have the educational requirements to even be the lowest officer rank of Engineer.
Documents obtained exclusively by the Hattiesburg Patriot reveal that newly promoted Assistant Fire Chief, Eddie Wilson, not only lacked the certifications to take the exam for his previous Lieutenant’s position; but he wasn’t even qualified to take the Engineer’s exam (a position below Lieutenant); this according to the department’s own academic requirements.
Wilson leapfrogged over several more qualified people by three pay grades, (Captain and Battalion Commander), to land in the Assistant Chief’s job on February 15th.
Qualified HFD officers, who were denied equal treatment under HFD Chief Paul Presley and the Civil Service Commission, were both black and white. The Hattiesburg Patriot has determined this isn’t race related, but it is pure cronyism in its basic form; friends helping friends at the expense of the honest, hardworking, more deserving, and the qualified.
Poor, unethical leadership decisions like these by the Chief, and unethical behavior by the civil service commission, serve to destroy morale in the entire department. But what should one expect with a Chief who lacks certifications himself? More on that in the next article.
According to HFD Chief Paul Presley, new firemen must serve four years before being eligible to take the Engineer’s exam, from there the
Click to enlarge
path upward is Lieutenant, Captain, Battalion Commander, Assistant Chief, and Chief. A number of certifications and classes are required for each promotion. Wilson only has two of the three of the basic requirements to sit for the Engineer’s exam. Those certifications are Pump Operator(Driver Operator) and Firefighter 1.
Wilson has never passed his basic Instructor certification (Instructor 1041), has no Officer’s training courses (1021 Company Officer 1&2) and no Fireground Leadership (MSFA003) certifications; nor does he have the required Hazmat certification.
Training documents also reveal that four other applicants, who were passed over for the promotion, were all more qualified. (See documents embedded below.) Lieutenant Eddie Wilson was actually the least qualified according to the Chief Presley’s own requirements to be Assistant Chief; but that’s what friends are for, right?
Fire Chief Paul Presley was asked by WDAM why Wilson was the most qualified. He said,
He is one of those guys I think he has the right mentality, definitely has the right attitude. To be the assistant chief, you’ve got to be able to work with people, and I think he has the right attitude and right personality for that position.”
Assistant Chief Wilson told WDAM,
It’s one of those jobs that there is a learning curve to it and I hope to overcome it and try to do the best I can,” Wilson said.
Below are the training certifications requirements with Chief Presley’s requirements for the various Officer levels, Assistant Chief Wilson’s certifications, and the certifications of four other individuals who were actually qualified for the job.
On September 10th, 2015 a lawsuit was filed by then Forrest County Sheriff’s deputy, Candace Eubanks, against Forrest County prosecutor Pam Castle for having an alleged affair with her husband, Tim Eubanks.
In the original Alienation of Affection complaint, which can be read by clicking here, Mrs. Eubanks alleged to possess a recording of her husband and Castle together in Mr. Eubank’s vehicle. The complaint stated that Ms. Eubanks
Came into possession of a full audio recording of Pamela Castle and Timothy Eubanks in flagrante delicto in the automobile of Timothy Eubanks.
Mrs. Eubanks went on to state
“has further faced significant unlawful pressure from various persons including but not limited to Donnie Castle, Candace Eubanks Superiors, and coworkers and other employees of the Forrest County Sheriff’s Department to desist from pursuing her legal rights with regard to Pamela Castle’s malfeasance. It is the good faith belief of Candace Eubanks that such pressure, being at all times inappropriate and unlawful, has been exerted at the request of or in the interest of Pamala Castle.”
Castle recently responded to the complaint, making accusations of illegal wiretapping against Mrs. Eubanks, citing 2 statutes.
Click to enlarge
1811 USC 2511(2)(d)
It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for a person not acting under color of law to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication where such person is a party to the communication or where one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to such interception unless such communication is intercepted for the purpose of committing any criminal or tortious act in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States or of any State.
Click to enlarge
41-29-531 (e) A person not acting under color of law who intercepts a wire, oral or other communication if the person is a party to the communication, or if one (1) of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to the interception unless the communication is intercepted for the purpose of committing any criminal or tortious act in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States or of this state, or for the purpose of committing any other injurious act.
Legal minds advising the Hattiesburg Patriot explain that since Mississippi is a Common Law state, and property owned by either spouse is considered joint, it would likely not be illegal to wiretap one’s own vehicle. Mrs. Castle is asserting that her right to privacy was violated by this alleged recording. Castle’s counterclaim denies breaking up the marriage with an affair, but admits a relationship existed both before and shortly after the marriage. In her counter claim, Castle went on to allege that she suffered extreme emotional distress and loss of sleep over the Alienation of Affection lawsuit filed against her by Eubanks.
One point of concern for this site are the rights of citizens under prosecution by Castle when she called her alleged lover to the stand as a witness in prosecutions. If defendants were never notified of the relationship their right to a fair and impartial trial may have been violated. If anything needs to be investigated is it this.
When the FBI went to Bennett York’s Hattiesburg Oral Surgery office, investigating what appears to be a connection with York’s partner, Dr. Brantley Nichols, and the cream scheme, the event drew enormous attention to York’s practice. After the FBI visit, York’s response to the attention Nichols had attracted on the practice was swift.
According to court documents obtained by the Hattiesburg Patriot, Nichols was informed by text, and a subsequent letter, that he no longer worked at the Hattiesburg Oral Surgery clinic. According to the court filing, Nichols stated he learned that his patients had been rescheduled and an armed guard would prevent him from entering the building.
Nichols goes on to describe in his request for a temporary restraining order how the actions taken by York have put Nichols in breach with his contract at Forrest General. According to the complaint, Nichols is required to have a local office to see patients from the hospital. Nichols goes on to allege that York’s actions have caused damage to his professional reputation.
Dr. Nichols, who is a 25% partner in the practice, and his Attorney Cary Varnado, take of the gloves and go all out against their Defendant, alleging that York,
wrongfully diverted funds from OMSC during the years 2014 and 2015.
Dr. Bennett York is accused of fraud by his partner, Dr. Brantley Nichols. Click to enlarge
the complaint goes on to allege,
Defendant Bennett York’s diversion and conversion of funds belonging to OMSC is widespread. Bennett York’s diversion of OMSC funds to his personal use and benefit and to make investments which are owned by him individually constituted fraud on OMSC and abuses his authority and position as a majority shareholder.
Nichols also alleges that he has never been paid a shareholder return for his 25% interest in the company for 2014 and 2015 and also wasn’t compensated while working as an employee in 2012 and 2013.
Judge Beam was vacating the Chancery bench for an assignment to the Mississippi Supreme Court on February 13th; so she recused herself. Chancellor Beam assigned it to Judge Deborah Gambrell for a hearing on February 3rd.
Then, on the day of the hearing, Carey Varnado, on behalf of his client Dr. Brantley Nichols, withdrew the complaint.
This site first published the story of the virtual financial collapse of the Hattiesburg Public School District a few months ago. If you haven’t read that article you can read it here. In a nutshell the district’s leadership, mismanaged over $3,500,000 in monies, which drained the general fund to just over $700,000. The fund should maintain a balance of approximately$4,000,000, or 10% of the annual budget. When or if the fund goes in the negative, state statute will have been violated, and the state will likely take the district over. This site believes that is inevitable.
Marcus Cathey, School Board President seems more concerned with improperly using school property to build his church, rather than serve the community.
The root of the problem is that the Mayor has appointed political cronies to the board who will follow his lead and has influence over hiring in the district. Once such political crony is Board President, Marcus Cathey. He was almost definitely violating state law by utilizing a school building to hold regular, Sunday Church Services. After this site exposed the improper use of school property, Cathey stopped using the building. That article, with related evidence, can be read here.
Carmen Anderon pleaded guilty to illegal voting, and is still employed with HPSD, making over $83,000 annually. She had no prior Human Resource experience.
Enter Carmen Anderson, Head of Human Resources for the district. She is a favorite of Mayor Dupree. Mrs. Anderson and her husband , Joe, a local firefighter were both busted by this site for voting illegally in the 2013 Mayoral election. Anderson, along with her husband, both plead guilty to illegal voting. As a part of their plea agreements with District Attorney Patricia Burchell, they were subject to alcohol and drug testing for six months, before the voting offence was wiped off their records.
Adding insult to injury, neither of the Andersons had their cars tagged in the city. They used their vacant house in Hattiesburg to vote, but didn’t tag their vehicles in the city, which allowed them to avoid the school tax for the very district in which Carmen Anderson drew a paycheck.
If that isn’t astounding enough, they even went so far as to clam two homestead tax exemptions. This is illegal, as only one homestead tax discount is allowed per married couple. One homestead was the vacant home in Hattiesburg and another in Jones county where they live. The Anderson’s used the Hattiesburg residence to vote illegaly in the 2013 Hattiesburg Mayor’s race. Both the Jones County and Forrest County tax assessors ultimately revoked the homesteads in both counties after this site published the story. That article can be read here.
Hill had a history of drug arrests and was hired by Carmen Anderson anyway.
Mrs. Anderson even hired a 3rd grade teacher, Sholanda Hill; who had a prior history of drug arrests. The teacher was indicted on money laundering charges in late 2014 for working in a cocaine ring, which was busted with 12 kilos of cocaine. That article from the Hattiesburg American can be read here.
Not only did either of the Andersons lose their jobs with the city, but Mr. Anderson was put up for a promotion at the fire department; one that he wasn’t legally qualified to receive; that according to then city Attorney Charles Lawrence.
The teachers and students in the district are suffering. HPSD award winning debate team can’t travel. Teachers have no supplies. There is no money to fix air conditioners, buy paper, or of afford basic school supplies. The district is an utter mess. Meanwhile, while Rome burns, our administrators are the highest paid in the state.
Below are the HPSD administrator salaries published for the very first time. A follow up article will be published next Monday, detailing specific employees work experience, certifications, etc,; which will clearly show how some of these administrators shouldn’t even be in these positions.
While HPSD goes broke, and our kids and teachers suffer, administration remains a bloated, overpaid, political favor machine of largely unqualified people in key administrative positions.
Click the images below to read the Administrative Salaries
Hattiesburg City Government has a difficult time following the most basic bid laws.
The Hattiesburg City council unanimously approved an illegal “change order” for the Eaton School rehabilitation project in violation of state bid laws.
It all started when Finlo Construction, a major campaign contributor of Mayor Dupree, was awarded a job to stabilize the exterior walls of the Eaten School building. The original contract amount was for $40,978.
There were two change orders for this job. One for $3,600 in additional expenses, and another which was a credit for $18,198.00. This left a balance due on the job for $26,380. The “final invoice” for this job was issued on 7-8-2015, and payment was made on 7-17-2015 for that amount, with check number 245813. All of this was legal and above board.
Then on 8-12-2015 an illegal “change order” for $40,000 was added to the completed, contract. Once a project is completed with a final invoice, no change orders can be made simply because there is no open project.
Also, State law requires that any contract over $5,000 but below $50,000 requires a two bid process.
This never happened.
Click to enlarge. The City Council is set to discuss paying this illegal job today and vote tomorrow. This site has notified the Secretary of State regarding this issue.
To continue reading, please log in. It’s free. [s2If is_user_logged_in()]
The City Council is set to discuss paying this illegally approved job today and vote tomorrow. This site has notified the Office of the State Auditor regarding this issue. The state of Mississippi has bid laws in place, primarily to prevent contracts from being awarded at inflated rates or being awarded to friends, family, and campaign contributors.
Finlo Construction did absolutely nothing wrong in this process. They even saved the city $18,198.00, but our city government is tasked with following Mississippi State Procurement Law.
Councilman Kim Bradley reached out the Hattiesburg Patriot via text and said
“You are right (regarding this site’s reporting). The council was advised by mayor and legal council the project was not complete and a change order was fine. What the hell the council needs its own lawyer, accountant, and or financial advisor. It’s pretty evident why.”
All supporting documents are embedded below.
**To read the original investigative news story on Eaton School published by this site, click here. What’s not surprising is that Architect Don McCluskey, is a part of this debacle as he was in the first Eaton School debacle. He too is a top Dupree contributor.
The following is from the Secretary of State’s website regarding bidding jobs. The full document can be found here.
(b) BIDDING PROCEDURE FOR PURCHASES OVER $5,000.00 BUT NOT OVER $50,000.00 Purpose -Two Quote Bids Required Note – Must Document Best Bids – See Sec. 31-7-13 (d) Purchases which involve an expenditure of more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) but not more than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00), exclusive of freight and shipping charges may be made from the lowest and best bidder without publishing or posting advertisement for bids, provided at least two (2) competitive written bids have been obtained. Any state agency or community/junior college purchasing commodities or procuring construction pursuant to this paragraph (b) may authorize its purchasing agent, or his designee, to accept the lowest competitive written bid under Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00). Any governing authority purchasing commodities pursuant to this paragraph (b) may authorize its purchasing agent, or his designee, with regard to governing authorities other than counties, or its purchase clerk, or his designee, with regard to counties, to accept the lowest and best competitive written bid. Such authorization shall be made in writing by the governing authority and shall be maintained on file in the primary office of the agency and recorded in the official minutes of the governing authority, as appropriate. The purchasing agent or the purchase clerk, or their designee, as the case may be, and not the governing authority, shall be liable for any penalties and/or damages as may be imposed by law for any act or omission of the purchasing agent or 5 purchase clerk, or their designee, constituting a violation of law in accepting any bid without approval by the governing authority. The term “competitive written bid” shall mean a bid submitted on a bid form furnished by the buying agency or governing authority and signed by authorized personnel representing the vendor, or a bid submitted on a vendor’s letterhead or identifiable bid form and signed by authorized personnel representing the vendor. “Competitive” shall mean that the bids are developed based upon comparable identification of the needs and are developed independently and without knowledge of other bids or prospective bids. Any bid item for construction in excess of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) shall be broken down by components to provide detail of component description and pricing. These details shall be submitted with the written bids and become part of the bid evaluation criteria. Bids may be submitted by facsimile, electronic mail or other generally accepted method of information distribution. Bids submitted by electronic transmission shall not require the signature of the vendor’s representative unless required by agencies or governing authorities.
[/s2If]
The below documents constitute the legal work that was paid.
Each year the Hattiesburg Public School District projects its budget for the upcoming school year. And at the end of that year, the school district revises that budget based on the actual revenues and expenses incurred.
This year was a little different. The district had to bring Mr. Frank Aderholt out of retirement to complete the revised budget; since the person in charge of those responsibilities was not able to complete the task. The deadline for filing the revised budget with the state was October, 15th.
The Hattiesburg Patriot has exclusively obtained the revised budget filed with the state. It has not yet been certified; so it could potentially be worse that this.
This mismanagement should come as no surprise. Our school board hired Baccus, who recently admitted that he made a math error in a tally sheet; which determined what company won the job to write the District’s Strategic Plan. Not surprisingly, the error resulted in a firm, which Baccus has a very close relationship, getting the contract. The error cost the school district over $130,000. Meanwhile, Baccus’ picture is all over their website.
It’s apparent that the School Board President, Marcus Cathey, isn’t capable of doing his job, and Baccus can’t add correctly either or didn’t bother to check the score. Cathey seems more concerned with abusing his power and using public buildings against state statute for his non profit than taking his position of public service seriously. Read more about Cathey here.
Hattiesburg has some of the highest school taxes in the state. In the late 80’s to early 90’s Hattiesburg received legislative approval to exceed the statutory limit on school taxes. At this point, the district will have to make massive cuts to correct this mismanagement.
Below is the revised budget. It speaks for itself; as it reflects on the Board and the Superintendent’s inability to manage taxpayers resources. Meanwhile, we have the highest administrative costs in the state.
Carl Nicholson, a founding member of Nicholson & Company, one of the largest public accounting firms in the state, is also a Forrest County Auditor and former member of the IHL Board of Trustees. Nicholson was arrested at the Lamar county jail during the early morning hours of October 4th. Nicholson was charged with public drunk, public profanity, and disorderly conduct.
Just to clarify, Nicholson actually went inside a jail, where he was arrested for public drunk, disorderly conduct, and public profanity. He was not arrested at another location and brought to the jail. He was arrested after he entered the jail.
While many inmates would love to break out of jail, it would appear Nicholson broke into jail.
It all started when Nicholson’s stepson, Russell Scott Manning, was arrested for DUI at a road block near Hwy 98. Both he and Nicholson attended a wedding at Canebrake. Manning’s one call was to Mr. Nicholson. Sources told the Hattiesburg Patriot that when Nicholson arrived at the jail, he buzzed the door, but then impatiently called 911; flying off into a drunken, profane laden temper tantrum.
After Nicholson was allowed inside the facility, his profane laden tantrum continued, until he violated multiple orders to cease his tirade. He was then arrested and charged with three misdemeanors. Lamar County jail records are embedded below.
Nicholson, a resident of Forrest County, is accustomed to getting special treatment by Forrest County Sheriff Billy McGee and Chief Deputy Charles Bolton. A source not authorized to speak to the media told the Hattiesburg Patriot that Chief Deputy Charles Bolton called the Lamar County Sheriff’s office, and said he would come pick up Nicholson. That request was apparently rebuffed by the Lamar County Sheriff’s office. Nicholson’s special treatment appears to end at the Forrest county line.
The Hatteisburg Patriot called Mr. Nicholson for a comment on the matter. He had none. In another matter a year or so ago, Nicholson told the Hattiesbug Patriot, “I’m getting ready to fu$%!ng bust your ass.”
*Information redacted in the below documents was done by the Lamar County Sheriff’s Office. nicholson
Recently reelected County Prosecutor Pam Castle wasn’t so lucky this past Friday. She was sued by a Forrest County Sheriff’s deputy for alienation of affection over an alleged affair with the deputy’s husband, Tim Eubanks. Mr. Eubanks is also a Forrest County Sheriff’s Officer. He is often a witness for Forrest County Prosecutor Pam Castle in trials involving his arrests. The suit is posted below in its entirety; the plaintiff Candace Eubanks claims she,
“Came into possession of a full audio recording of Pamela Castle and Timothy Eubanks in flagrante delicto in the automobile of Timothy Eubanks.”
Merrian Webster Dictionary defines “flagrante delicto” as: 1: in the very act of committing a misdeed :red-handed 2: in the midst of sexual activity
Even more shocking and concerning, Mrs Eubanks claims in the lawsuit that she has been the victim of unlawful pressure by her superiors from pursuing her legal rights. In an eletion year, that’s not surprising. She claims she
“has further faced significant unlawful pressure from various persons including but not limited to Donnie Castle, Candace Eubanks Superiors, and coworkers and other employees of the Forrest County Sheriff’s Department to desist from pursuing her legal rights with regard to Pamela Castle’s malfeasance. It is the good faith belief of Candace Eubanks that such pressure, being at all times inappropriate and unlawful, has been exerted at the request of or in the interest of Pamala Castle.”
The Hattiesburg Patriot uncovered documents filed by both Deputies Candace and Tim Eubanks requesting that Pam Castle recuse herself from any cases involving defendants they arrested. Interestingly, less than a month later, they both withdrew those requests. These simultaneous reversals of their requests for Castle to recuse herself in their cases gives merit to the allegations that “criminal, unlawful pressure” involving her “superiors” in the complaint likely happened. There is very little doubt that Sheriff Billy McGee didn’t wanted this situation to become public, let alone become public before his election. McGee has his own alienation of affection case to deal with.
Click to enlarge images
If a prosecutor has a sexual relationship with a witness, it is not only wise to disclose the relationship to defendant’s council, but it may be a violation of that defendant’s due process rights not to disclose it. An illicit relationship of the type described in the below complaint also opens both the prosecutor (Castle) and arresting officer (Eubanks) to duress and even blackmail by defense council.
Having skeletons in the closet, and wanting to keep them there, is not something you want to have occur with authorities in a judicial system. It’s unclear why none of the Justice Court judges didn’t require Castle to recuse herself; since the relationship has been common knowledge among many in the legal and law enforcement profession for several months. The cost of Castle recusing herself from these cases would be pretty high since citizens would have to pick up the tab to have another prosecutor do our prosecutor’s job. Doing this would also have an adverse effect on her ability to get reelected.
If the allegations in the complaint are true, they lead to all sorts of potential problems, including duress or blackmail. An attorney with knowledge of the affair could threaten to expose the relationship in open court on behalf of their client’s due process rights in order to gain a dismissal. A witness in a relationship with the prosecutor might do or say things they might not otherwise say or do.
People arrested by Mr. Eubanks and found guilty could petition to have their convictions vacated. The defendants can claim that relationship was not disclosed, and they can then move to vacate any convictions. Therein lies the professional conflicts of interests, and why this is of interest to the public. Relationships such as these have a propensity to cause all sorts of issues.
The Hattiesburg Patriot was able to catch up with Mrs. Castle for a comment . She had not yet been served with a lawsuit, but when asked about a previous relationship with Mr. Eubanks, Castle had no comment, and said she had, “done nothing wrong.”
The back of the frame where the portrait was removed from the frame.
Yesterday, a thief of sorts accessed a private meeting room used by the Forrest County Board of Supervisors and stole a portrait of General Nathan Bedford Forrest from the frame. The room is normally kept locked unless a supervisor wants to use the room to review documents, perform county business, or have a meeting.
The empty frame
The source of the information, who did not want to be named, told the Hattiesburg Patriot about the theft, and also said that word is spreading that Councilman Rod Woullard is planning to make a motion to have the state flag removed from all county buildings during the next meeting on July 7th. The Hattiesburg Patriot confirmed that the portrait was indeed stolen. Pictures included here show the evidence.
An official with the county, who did not want to go on the record, told the Hattiesburg Patriot that the portrait had been replaced this morning.
Where the portrait was hung. It was replaced today.
If rumors are true, and Woullard plans to divide the community in an election year, political maneuver, he might aim to accomplish two things. First, it would potentially rally Woullard’s political base at a time when he faces what will likely be a very tight repeat of last year’s election against Independent challenger Ronnie Perkins.
The second thing it does is it puts enormous political pressure on District 2 Supervisor Charles Marshall,.His opponent is Sharon Thompson in the Democratic primary. A motion by Woullard to remove the flag, would put Marshall in a precarious position, faced with the political winds being fanned by Woullard to second such a motion.
The Hattiesburg Patriot contacted Supervisor Rod Woullard for a comment. He did say he was aware of the theft, but beyond that he had, “no comment at this time.”
