Muskogee council tables review of legal opinion on Deputy Mayor Derek Reed’s role with MLK Center after heated public comment

The Muskogee City Council on Monday considered an interim city attorney’s legal opinion that a sitting council member’s operational duties at the Martin Luther King Community Center could create an indirect conflict of interest under the Oklahoma Constitution and city charter. After more than an hour of public comment in defense of Deputy Mayor Derek Reed, the council voted to table the matter until Sept. 28 and asked staff to work through the bulleted items in the opinion.

Interim City Attorney Kerry Spencer told the council the office had been asked to analyze whether a council member who acts as the director of an entity funded with city dollars creates a conflict by directing day-to-day operations or giving orders to staff. “Where the conflict arises is engaging in the duties of director of the MLK Center that includes day-to-day operations and decision-making and giving direction to staff,” Spencer said, citing Article 10, Section 11 of the Oklahoma Constitution, city charter provisions and recent Oklahoma Attorney General opinions (2021-32 and 2024-8).

Spencer said the Martin Luther King Trust and Center have received more than $1 million in city funds since 2018 and that for the 2024–25 fiscal year the trust reported $203,872.29 in income and $214,563.18 in expenses; the city provided $145,000 toward operating expenses that year. She described the legal concern as an ‘‘indirect conflict of interest’’ that could arise even when a council member is not directly paid from those funds.

Councilmember Melody Cranford, who called the special meeting, said the purpose was to protect the city and its citizens and to follow the law. “Transparency exists when everyone is held to the same standard every time,” Cranford said, urging the council to consider remedies that protect Mr. Reed and the city while keeping the center’s services intact.

Public comment overwhelmingly supported Reed. Delbert E. Walker, chairman of the Martin Luther King Community Center Trust Authority, submitted a written statement read into the record saying the Trust had not yet had a chance to meet, obtain independent counsel, or evaluate the concerns and called the special meeting “premature.” Multiple speakers described Reed’s long service to the center and to Muskogee and urged the council to allow the Trust to review the matter and to pursue solutions that would not remove Reed from the center’s work.

Several commenters and council members criticized the timing and vetting of the legal opinion. One speaker questioned why the Trust’s counsel was not present for the discussion; another asked the council to verify whether Reed’s original application documented his job title. Members of the public and some councilors urged more fact-finding before taking formal action.

Deputy Mayor Derek (Derrick) Reed addressed the council and audience, saying he never intended to violate any law and that his work at the center was motivated by service. Reed said the Trust and Neighbors Building Neighborhoods (NBN), the center’s management partner, were working on a transition: “Neighbors Building Neighborhoods…is stepping aside from the management piece of the Dr. Martin Luther King Center,” Reed said, and the Trust was developing plans for the center’s future operations.

After further council discussion and procedural back-and-forth about timing and the appropriate forum, Councilmember Cranford moved to table the item and to direct staff to pursue the steps the legal opinion recommended, with a date certain in 90 days. The motion passed on roll call; Deputy Mayor Reed recorded an abstention.

The council’s action leaves the legal question open for now while asking staff and the Trust to provide documents and follow-up. The next scheduled discussion on the item is Sept. 28, when the council will revisit the opinion and any documentation developed in the interim.

What’s next: The council directed staff to compile information tied to the attorney’s bulleted recommendations, the Trust to meet and consider independent counsel, and NBN to work on management transition details; Sept. 28 was set as the follow-up date for the item.