Public commenters raise ethics concerns over city advertising and PR director pay

Several members of the public used the council’s non-agenda public comment period to raise concerns about advertising contracts, city spending on public relations and potential conflicts of interest.

Carter Dukes alleged that then-mayoral campaign activities led to city contracts with a vendor. “In his 2020 run for mayor of Irondale, Mr. Stewart hired Fairview Strategies … Fairview is owned and run by Emma Tolbert,” Dukes said, and accused the city of paying contractors and later hiring the same individual as a city employee. Dukes said he had requested records under the Alabama Open Records Act and that the city had not produced them.

Mary Sherriff urged the council to avoid even the appearance of ethical violations and advised pausing public advertising during the city election period: “I urge you to stop all public advertising for the city for the next several months until the city elections are over,” she said. Sherriff argued that continuing advertising during elections would prove an improper purpose if it primarily benefits an incumbent.

Why it matters: The speakers linked the city’s use of advertising dollars and an on-staff communications director to potential conflicts of interest and asked the council to halt advertising to avoid perceived misuse of public resources during an election cycle. The council did not take action on these requests during the meeting; they were recorded as public comment.

Council response Council did not take formal action during the meeting. The council president invited the auditor and asked the public to raise questions to him during the meeting if they wished. The public commenters’ requests — including a temporary halt to city advertising and a records follow-up — were not adopted or referred to staff for immediate action during the meeting.