A presentation Tuesday from city council finance committee chairman Jason Spears regarding upcoming budget priorities sparked a debate over whether he had encroached on Chief Financial Officer Jim Brigham’s responsibilities.
Spears, a financial planner by trade who represents Ward 6 on the council, summarized a detailed plan he had crafted for Fiscal Year 2027, ranging from debt repayment to completing the city’s audit reports that are three years behind to creating a “revenue dashboard.” It also includes short-term implementation plans and ideas on managing the city’s risks, among other things.
He included the full report in the council’s agenda packet and also shared details from it on social media.
Vice Mayor Ethel Stewart, who represents Ward 1, pressed Spears on why the report didn’t come from Brigham.
“Are you the one doing the budget and working on the budget?” Stewart asked.
“I’m certainly working beside him. Yes, ma’am,” Spears replied.
“Shouldn’t he be the spokesperson for this instead of you?” Stewart continued. “… Will you allow in the future for Mr. Brigham to bring it to the table? That’s what he gets paid for.”
Spears stood firm.
“I do not disagree with that. I welcome any comments he offers,” he said. “… All this information I have is information I’ve gathered from his office and constructed it into a very easy way of breaking it down and looking to create data points of how we can move forward. I’m not in any way undermining Mr. Jim. What I’m simply doing is if he stops at Mile 5, then I go to Mile 10.”
Brigham, when given the opportunity to speak, took umbrage with Spears’ report and how the councilman presented it.
When Brigham started as CFO in 2022, he noted, the city’s accounts had not been reconciled in six months and it only had $2 million in reserves. Now, he said, city reserves sit at $10 million.
Spears’ report, Brigham said, disrespected that work.
“I was very very much surprised to see this document out on Facebook before I even had a chance to discuss it with you,” Brigham said during the meeting. “I think that is inconsiderate of my position in the city and my responsibility to the city, and for you to suggest later on in the document that the city needs to make some sort of decision on who’s going to lead the work to get the audits done is frankly an insult to me. … I don’t know if I agree with all this in here, and … nowhere in here does it say this is your opinion. It looks like it’s the final viewpoint of the city of what the priorities are from a finance perspective. And that’s just not quite true.”
Brigham also took a passing shot at the city’s advisory committee on economic development Spears helped form earlier this year.
“While you may be enjoying hobnobbing with the big developers and developing of funds to put in new industry in the city, we’re up there doing the hard work of paying the bills,” Brigham said.
Spears, after Brigham was finished, offered “one additional comment.”
“I’ll pray for you,” Spears said, looking at Brigham.
Spears would not comment to The Dispatch after the meeting.
Mayor Stephen Jones suggested the matter be discussed further at a future work session.
“There just has to be more communication, more sitting down instead of just putting stuff out,” Jones told The Dispatch after the meeting. “… (Spears is) entitled to do whatever he wants to do, but for everybody involved, it’s best to have communication first. … You can put it out there, and if the council don’t want it, it’s just a waste of time.”
In other business, the council:
■ swore in Police Chief Garland Ward, Assistant Chief Terence Ware and recognized the promotions of five other officers;
■ approved amending purchase agreement with Friendly City Development to allow the group to purchase the old Chevron and Fant lots as part of the Parkview redevelopment, upon the Columbus Redevelopment Authority’s completion of site work for nine additional residential lots;
■ approved paying an $85,000 match to a Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund grant for a kayak launch at Propst Park;
■ hired one police officer and rehired three others pending successful completion of preliminary testing; and
■ reappointed Rita Felton to a four-year term on the Civil Service Commission.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.