Utility Board Meets After Indictments on Former Director

The Harrison County Utility Board met for the first time Thursday since its former executive director was indicted on five federal charges. The charges included the mishandling of Hurricane Katrina aid money from the federal government.

On Tuesday, former Executive Director of the Harrison County Utility Board, Kamrin Pahlavan pleaded not guilty to five federal charges, including conspiracy to defraud the government, bribery involving federal programs, obstruction of justice, wire fraud, and making false statements to the F.B.I. Thursday, News 25 got reaction from current utility board members and a concerned member of the public.

At the meeting Thursday, former Gulfport City Council member, Chuck Teston, wanted answers on how the utility board can become more transparent. Teston says, "Information is very important. Knowledge is power, and they’re like stealth bombers. We don’t know what they’re doing, we don’t know the purpose, and they only way we’re gonna’ get that put out is how goes it, or white paper, talking points, whatever, tell us what they’re doing and why and who’s doing it."

The Utility Authority is responsible for the water and sewer services for all five cities and unincorporated areas of the county. Newly appointed director, Donald Sharr, says he’s working to reorganize the board. Sharr says, "We have better defined responsibilities. We are training ourselves to be sure that we’re following all the state’s procurement laws, the environmental laws, our permit, so we’ve made a lot of growth and we are focused on moving forward and doing things properly."

County Supervisor and Utility Board member, Marlin Ladner, says he’s extremely disappointed in the former executive director’s actions and the mistrust he’s put on the county. Ladner says, “I’m more disappointed than surprised because I would hope that all of us would maintain the integrity that’s expected of us from our constituents."

Ladner assures the public that all the current board members, which includes all five city mayors, are not accepting any extra compensation for their work and are doing the best they can for the people of Harrison County.

Utility Board President, Gulfport Mayor, Billy Hewes, issued the following statement: "The Utility Authority has cooperated with federal investigators and provided unqualified access to our records. We will take any action that may be deemed appropriate based on any additional information discovered as a result of the federal investigation."