Indianola’s city attorney charged the taxpayers $1,022.88 to talk to and respond to inquiries from The Enterprise-Tocsin back in April.
According to April invoices obtained by The E-T, Attorney Derek Hopson charged $186 for .93 hours for taking a call from the newspaper on April 16.
Hopson’s rate beyond his $1,500 a month base salary is $200 per hour.
He charged an additional $754 to the city for his response to that inquiry, a total of 3.77 hours, and he charged an additional $82.88 for a “telephone charge.”
The E-T had reached out to Hopson in mid-April after examining nearly $40,000 worth of invoices that were submitted related to the Spencer Construction payout and Hopson’s investigation into Mississippi Home Corporation’s role in that debacle.
Ward 3 Alderman Ruben Woods, Ward 4 Alderman Marvin Elder and Ward 5 Alderman Sam Brock voted in December 2023 to pay Spencer Construction $38,900 for work that he did on a home renovation grant that originated with Housing & Urban Development, was run through Mississippi Home Corporation and administered by South Delta Planning & Development District.
That apparently improper payment earned the three aldermen a state auditor’s demand for their share of the payout, plus fees.
That was followed months later by a civil lawsuit filed by the attorney general’s office against the three aldermen and their bonding company for failure to pay the original demand.
During a September 23, 2024 executive session, Woods, Elder and Brock voted 3-0 to hire Hopson, on the taxpayers’ dime, to represent them individually in their own potential litigation against Spencer Construction and SDPDD.
Hopson has appeared to dispute the wording of the motion made that night, stating that it was the intent of the board to hire him to work on behalf of the city and not the three aldermen, which likely would not be allowable since Woods, Elder and Brock are defendants in the civil suit filed on behalf of the city.
According to the signed minutes from that meeting, obtained last week by The E-T through an open records request, the motion was to hire Hopson to represent the three aldermen. The wording did not change the following month when the board voted to accept those minutes during the October 28 meeting.
Hopson was later hired by the city as special counsel to investigate the Spencer Construction case during the November 18, 2024 meeting, and he was hired less than a month later to be the city attorney.
Hopson’s invoices for March included bills for work that was completed between September 28, 2024 and November 13, 2024.
During the April phone and email conversations, The E-T had inquired about whom Hopson had worked for between September and November of last year.
If he was working on behalf of Woods, Elder and Brock, the city likely should not be on the hook for those invoices.
Also, if Hopson was working on behalf of Woods, Elder and Brock, that could present a possible conflict of interest given his current employment with the city.
Hopson, who apparently has retained his own counsel, told the board two weeks ago that his start date with the city had been in question because he had not yet seen the signed minutes from the September 23, 2024 meeting.
Those records are available at city hall.
Ward 1 Alderman Gary Fratesi, present by phone during this week’s meeting, challenged Hopson during a claims docket discussion about charging the city for speaking with the newspaper.
Hopson and Fratesi had multiple tense exchanges throughout the five-hour meeting. Hopson offered no comment on that question.
Due to the risk of bringing more burden to the taxpayers, The E-T did not reach out to Hopson for comment for this story.
