Photo courtesy of the City of Gulfport.
At the January 7 Gulfport City Council meeting, City Attorney Andy Salzman spoke about two investigations he held regarding City Council members. The first involved former Ward IV Council member Ian O’Hara’s spending with a City purchasing card. The second, and unresolved investigation, looked at emails sent by Ward I Council member April Thanos.
Ian O’Hara Investigation at January 7 Gulfport Council
After Ian O’Hara’s City purchasing card spending was revealed, the former Council member resigned. As part of this resignation, the City agreed not to pursue criminal charges, as long as O’Hara agreed to a strict repayment plan. At the Jan. 7 meeting, Salzman said he sent an agreement to O’Hara, but hasn’t received a signed agreement back. O’Hara resigned Nov. 19.
According to Salzman, the agreement proposed a six-month repayment plan. Mayor Sam Henderson said that he would like to make it so that if O’Hara doesn’t sign and return the agreement within 10 days, they will pursue charges. Interim Ward IV Council member Michael Fridovich — who lost the election to O’Hara in 2023 and returned to serve out O’Hara’s term at the request of Council — brought that number down to seven days; the rest of Council agreed.
Thanos’ Email Investigation at January 7 Gulfport Council
When the City Attorney began his investigation into O’Hara’s spending, he also began an investigation into claims that Thanos used her City email to direct City employees without proper approval from City Manager Jim O’Reilly. At the meeting, Salzman read from the City Charter, stating that O’Reilly is the only one who can direct City staff, and that those in violation of this rule would be subject to a 2nd degree misdemeanor. Salzman said he believes this language should change.
Salzman said that while there are many instances of Thanos communicating directly with City employees, 43 emails are in question. The Gabber Newspaper made a public records request for these emails. In his memorandum, Salzman’s examples from 2020 to 2024 included, “2/16/24 telling Tom Nichols [sic] to change stripping [sic] on 49th street, CM not copied (…) 6/16/24 telling Chief Vincent who should receive yellow notices for council meeting, CM not copied.”
As part of his memorandum, Salzman said that Thanos agreed to direct all future communications with City staff through the City Manager. As he finished his initial report, Salzman said the City can either contact the Governor’s office, or go through the State Commission on Ethics, which would be an independent, non-partisan investigation.
Tensions Rise at January 7 Gulfport Council
After Salzman finished his memorandum, Thanos asked for examples of the emails in question. The first example he read off happened in 2020, which caused the audience to laugh and boo.
“Everybody! Can we go through this process? There’s lots of good stuff streaming at home if you’re looking for entertainment, but we’re trying to get through this,” Mayor Henderson said, slamming his gavel.
Another one of the examples he provided was, “5/8/24 directing Justin Shea to put dates of sales tax holidays in newsletter and announce it at Hurricane Meeting, CM not copied.”
“Asking to put something in the newsletter, I’d have to go through the City Manger first?” Thanos asked.
“Exactly. That’s what it says,” Salzman replied. “I didn’t write it, that’s what it says.”
“I just want people to know about the severity of these, that I’m telling people about a tax holiday,” Thanos said.
“You told Heather (Wyble) to cite somebody for a violation. You called up Tom (Nicholls) and told him on the phone to go to a site to deal with a ‘tree issue.’ You told him to go there right away and take care of it,” Salzman said.
Investigations at January 7 Gulfport City Council meeting is not all that happened. Read about permit comments, resolutions, and what we overheard.
Council Response
Henderson said that between issues with O’Hara and Thanos, the City is facing distractions and it’s, “infuriating.”
“It’s not hard to follow these rules,” Henderson said.
“None of you have had Alex Duensing going though every one of your emails and looking to see if you did anything,” Thanos said.
“So your rationale here is because you did something wrong, we must’ve all done what you did?” Henderson replied.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Thanos said. This caused Henderson to laugh. “Someone took the time to be nasty in that campaign and this is where it all came from.”
“Really? You’re playing that card? Wow.” Henderson said.
“I did nothing in my campaign that was not right, and I did nothing to you either,” Thanos replied while gesturing towards Council member Christine Brown (Ward II).
Council member Paul Ray (Ward III) opposed to going to the Governor’s office for, “political reasons entirely.” Fridovich agreed, and the City voted not to send the investigation to the Governor’s office. The City voted to send the investigation to the State Commission on Ethics.
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