09/22/2025
I received an anonymous stamped letter today with no return address and no name in the letter. This is how it read,
“ Re: Diamondhead POA
Dear City Council Member:
I am a disgusted citizen of Diamondhead after reading your recent resolutions requesting the POA to donate a multitude of real estate to the City and after hearing that you refuse to even negotiate a price.
Nothing like City Government ra**ng one of the city’s major business and its members. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. This is why the people hate government.
This should be an arms length transaction for the citizens and the POA.”
I wish you would have at least allowed me to reply to you, but this post will have to do.
I am not ashamed of what the City Council did. It was a thought out process. The citizens of Diamondhead are my first thoughts and this is what happened.
The general manager of The POA came to the City Manager with a list of properties that the POA may be thinking about transferring to the City. Would the City be interested. From that list, the City Council, understood that this was not an offer but rather to see where the City Council was. So the council put out a resolution stating what our response would be if the POA offered any of them formally to the City. That never came. Some members of a committee approached and said to City Manager the POA would not let them go for free. Our response was unchanged from our resolution. I hear some members of the committee or board mentioning fiduciary duties. That is also what the City council has to watch. We were not in the market for any of these properities and preferred if they would find some entity that could take them over and give them money. Our position was that in a pinch to prevent them from having to pay real estate taxes, we would take them off the POA’ hands. We would increase our staffing by the addition of 3 extra employees to help maintain the extra’s if it came down to it. The citizens would have use from us,or have the benefit of more drainage lots never to be built on. All the council members are POA members I believe and many of the citizens are alsoPOA members. Our goal is to help out without taxing our citizens for assets they already paid for through their years of dues.
I stand by my decision and welcome one on one dialogue. An anonymous letter does not allow for that
Gerard Maher
Councilman at Large
City of Diamondhead
2025-2029
