Pascagoula’s assistant city manager hands in his resignation
Pascagoula’s assistant city manager, Frank Corder, is resigning at the end of the month.
“I am taking a job in the private sector, effective Dec.31,” Corder said Friday. “I will remain acting city manager until Jan. 1. I had an offer that was better for my family at this time.”
Corder, however, said he cannot discuss future plans until a later date.
“I cannot express enough how proud I am of our team at the City of Pascagoula in every department, and how honored I am to have led such a group of dedicated and committed public servants over the past few years,” Corder said. “These public servants mean a lot to me, and I hope the public who interact with them will treat them with the respect and courtesy they deserve. Their families and our city deserves a higher standard of civility than what we’ve seen.”
Corder noted the administration has faced significant challenges “from the deficit we discovered and managed to set the city on a healthy fiscal path to managing expectations and realities as a result of necessary operational and personnel cuts.
“But despite all of that, we have done more than most will ever realize, including bringing in new businesses, expanding recreational opportunities, solving infrastructure issues, cleaning up blighted properties, providing coordination for community events, insuring exceptional public safety, and even changing lives by housing those less fortunate through our homeless program.”
Since Oct. 31, Corder has been serving as acting city manager, though he joined the city two years ago when Mayor Dane Maxwell took office along with a new council.
As assistant city manager, Corder’s annual salary is $90,355, according to salary information obtained through a Sun Herald records request.
“I plan to remain in the city,” Corder said, while also confirming his new role will not be a position with Mayor Dane Maxwell, who was recently elected Southern District Public Service Commissioner and takes office Jan. 2.
“Pascagoula is my hometown and I have served her in every capacity possible, as a volunteer to the city council and as part of this administration,” Corder said. “I will continue to help Pascagoula rise in my own way and work to make a positive difference just as I always have.”
The city has since hired Michael Silverman, a city manager in Caro, Michigan,to take over as city manager at an annual salary of $98,000 plus benefits.
Corder did not know if his position would be filled, saying that would be decision that the new city manager would make after he begins in his new role in January.
“We have overcome a number of trials over the past two years,” Corder said Friday. “The city has been faced with a tremendous deficit, which we discovered and had to correct.”
Earlier this year, State Auditor Shad White released his findings related to an audit that uncovered the multi-million dollar deficit.
The audit prompted the state auditor to issued formal demands to former city manager Joe Huffman and former comptroller Bobby Parker to pay a total of $54,215.17, in costs that came up due to what White called “improper financial management of bond proceeds.”
Parker had pay $47,395 while Huffman’s share was $6,819.
According to White, the two men had mismanaged funds involving $27 million in bond agreements the city had entered into in 2014 and 2017.
Huffman and Parker had deposited bond proceeds into the city’s general fund instead of keeping that money in separate accounts to avoid the intermingling of funds. Because of their actions, White said, the city lost $31,500 in interest revenues,
In addition to Corder, Maxwell’s last day on the job as mayor is Jan. 2, the same day he will be sworn in as public service commissioner. Until a special election is held, the city’s mayor pro tem, Steven Burrows, would serve as acting mayor.
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 4:38 PM.
