The Elephant in the Room

● Tips are now live — tips@peoplevsbiloxi.com

My dear litigation war diary,

The day is March 2nd, 2026. It is Monday.

We're coming back slowly. We've been busy — and we hope you didn't forget us. We know you didn't. Take a chair, dear reader. Today is just a quick chat and coffee. Let's keep this intimate, and build it up again.

The undersigned has been doing something unusual — reading spreadsheets. Not the exciting kind. Not the ones with offshore accounts and shell companies. No. These are City of Biloxi payroll records. Twenty-two years of them.

And they tell a story.

We decided to take some time off. After writing dozens of articles in a short span — and the strong ones — we took a breather. Absence increases value. Don't pretend like you didn't miss me, cause I know you do, you troublemaker you.

But then we got notice that they are trying to get Jerry fucking Creel a raise. And we couldn't stay quiet.

We have a business trip, but we will try our best — and we will ask in public a few questions during the council meeting on Tuesday. Does fucking the HR manager entitle you to a raise, or is it the Sunday surveillance, or the perjury and forged documents? And FoFo will be invited to comment on his Dixie Mafia connections, about the pictures, among other questions we intend to ask in person.

Today we address the two elephants in the room.

The first is a literal elephant — Christy LeBatard, 500lb City Engineer. The second is bigger: the total, deafening, absolute silence of the City of Biloxi. We published pictures. Accusations of trafficking minors. Photos of prostitutes in the fire department. Perjury. Forgery. Drug dealings. Corruption at every level.

And the response? Nothing. Not from FoFo. Not from Abide. Not from the Council. Not from anyone. Nada.

The Engineering Department Has a Weight Problem

The undersigned does not say this to be cruel. (Like anyone would believe me at this point, haha. It's because she's fat.) The undersigned says this because it matters. When public records reveal that a department director vanished from the payroll for two years, got formally replaced, then reappeared with a $30,000 raise and zero documentation explaining any of it — the public has a right to ask questions.

And the undersigned has questions.

Christy LeBatard is the Director of Engineering for the City of Biloxi. She supervises all engineering staff. She approves the department's annual budget. She is responsible for water, sewer, streets, and public works infrastructure. Her position requires a bachelor's degree in engineering, a PE license, and five years of experience.

She also, to put it as gently as the undersigned can manage, occupies a significant amount of physical space.

The undersigned raises this not because it is anyone's business what a person weighs. The undersigned raises this because it may explain why she left. And the City won't tell us why she left.

The Disappearing Director

Here is what the payroll records show:

2020: Christy LeBatard earned $85,788. Full benefits. Health insurance. Dental. Retirement. Life insurance. A fully employed department director.

2021: $11,494. That's it. TWO MONTHS of pay at her $80,000 rate. And then — nothing.

No health insurance. No dental. No vision. No life insurance. No dependent life. Only retirement continued — because PERS can't be unilaterally cancelled. It's a function of any wages paid.

2022: $14,808. Same pattern. Zero benefits. Just retirement.

Read that again.

This is not a leave of absence. Benefits continue during leaves. This is not a demotion. There would be a new resolution.

This is a departure. Someone left.

Enter James Stanton Rose

On June 21, 2022, the City Council unanimously approved Resolution 402-22 — appointing James Stanton Rose, P.E. as the new Director of Engineering at $103,000.

Rose's resume was attached to the resolution. Here is who they hired:

• A power generation and chemical industry professional with 30+ years experience
• Technical/Capex Manager at Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel), Columbus, MS
• Previously at TVA Caledonia Generating
• Address: 11 Williams Place, Columbus, MS 39702 — that's 250 miles from Biloxi
• Career objective: "My goal is to find a position with a stable company"

Read that last line again.

Not a municipality with vanishing directors and forensic accountant investigations. A stable company. Someone lied to this man.

The Four-Month Man

James Stanton Rose lasted four months.

Maybe.

On October 18, 2022 — just four months after Rose was hired — the City Council unanimously approved Resolution 691-22, re-appointing Christy LeBatard as Director of Engineering.

Her new salary: $110,000.

Let the undersigned do the math for those in the back:

• Increase over her own last authorization: +$30,000 (37.5%)
• Increase over the guy they hired to replace her: +$7,000 (6.8%)

She left. Got replaced. Came back making MORE than her replacement. And $30,000 more than her last paycheck.

The undersigned has worked in engineering for over a decade. The undersigned has never seen anyone leave, get replaced, and return at a 37.5% raise. That doesn't happen. Not in the private sector. Not in government. Not anywhere — unless someone is negotiating from a position of leverage.

The Questions Nobody Asked

What happened to James Stanton Rose?

Did he resign? Was he fired? Did he show up on Day One, look around, and drive 250 miles back to Columbus? Did he ever actually start?

Nobody knows. The City produced no documentation explaining Rose's departure. His payroll records were not included in the responsive documents. We don't know if he was paid. We don't know if he received severance. We don't know anything.

And nobody on the City Council thought to ask? A unanimously-approved director appointment, lasting four months, resulting in a $7,000 salary increase for the person he replaced — and no one had questions?

The Unauthorized Raises

LeBatard's salary wasn't just inflated upon re-appointment. She was being overpaid for YEARS before she left.

The City Council sets director salaries by resolution. That's the law — Mississippi Code Section 21-8-23, Biloxi Code Section 2-1-3. You cannot pay a director more than the Council authorized.

But the City did:

There was NO resolution between October 2018 (Res 567-18, setting salary at $80,000) and June 2022 (Res 402-22, appointing Rose). For two years — 2019 and 2020 — LeBatard was paid above her authorized salary with zero documentation.

No cost-of-living adjustment policy was produced. No merit increase authorization. No administrative pay raise documentation. Nothing.

The Council Members Who Smelled It

Not everyone was on board with the LeBatard train. Look at the voting pattern:

Res 15-16 (Jan 2016, Acting Director at $74,955): Lawrence voted NAY

Res 459-16 (Sep 2016, $77,190): Deming AND Glavan voted NAY

Res 567-18 (Oct 2018, $80,000): Lawrence voted NAY. Deming WALKED OUT OF THE ROOM.

Read that last one again. Deming didn't just vote no. He physically left the council chamber. The resolution itself records him as "Absent from room during discussion and voting only." He was present for the entire meeting — except for this one vote.

And then — after the 2021-2022 gap, after the Rose replacement, after whatever happened in the shadows — Resolution 691-22 passes unanimously. Lawrence, Deming, Glavan — all the previous opponents — now vote YES. For a $30,000 raise.

What changed between 2018 and 2022?

One thing we know changed: Peter Abide's contract was renewed in July 2021. By October 2022, he'd been the Council's legal advisor for over five years. He advises the Council on employment resolutions. His office drafts them.

Now Meet the Inspector

Jody Ewing is an Engineering Inspector III in LeBatard's department. Grade 19. Non-exempt. Civil service. High school education requirement. Supervises nobody.

And his payroll records have their own problems.

For context, Ewing's salary grew from $12,301 (2008) to $38,606 (2022) over 14 years — an average of $1,879 per year. Then in one year, he got a $9,211 raise — nearly FIVE TIMES the historical annual average.

Mississippi state employee COLAs during this period were 2-3%.

Was this a promotion? A reclassification? A step increase? Nobody knows. No documentation was produced.

The Grade 19 pay grade table — the single most important document for evaluating whether this jump was authorized — was NOT included in the responsive records. The civil service rules book was provided. The pay table was not. That's like providing the rulebook for a game but removing the scoreboard.

And there's more. Ewing's health insurance cost the City $18,487 in 2023 — that's 38.7% of his salary going to health insurance alone. Then in 2024 it dropped $5,007 to $13,480. No explanation.

He had zero life insurance for 16 years (2008-2023) despite city policy requiring 1x base salary for all full-time employees. Then $44.19 suddenly appeared in 2024.

Everything changed in 2022. For both employees. In the same department. Under the same director.

The Napoleon Connection

Peter C. Abide — the Napoleon of Biloxi, the tallest 5-foot-tall man in town — earned $1,463,543 over the same three fiscal years LeBatard and Ewing's anomalies blossomed.

Let that number settle.

For a man who is explicitly "not an employee of the City." For a man who bills $145 an hour to NOT answer questions about $30,000 raises and $9,211 salary jumps and 16-year life insurance gaps.

His FY2023 compensation: $520,377 — a 38% surge over the previous year. The same year LeBatard's $110,000 kicked in. The same year Ewing got his 24% raise.

Everyone got paid in 2023. And Abide got paid the most.

And when the undersigned asked about it — when the undersigned sent detailed, specific, documented questions to Catherine McMahan on December 31, 2024 — the questions went through Abide's office.

The guy making $566,000 a year decided how much information the public gets about $110,000 and $51,000 employees.

It's been over a year. No substantive answers.

The FEMA Pipeline

But it gets worse. Much worse.

On LeBatard's own Engineering Department letterhead, an "ALLOCATION OF LEGAL SERVICE FOR GRANT REIMBURSEMENT" authorizes exactly $10,000 to Page Mannino Peresich & McDermott, PLLC for legal services on Capital Project No. 996 (Keesler Gate Project Outside).

The funding: "shall be available for reimbursement from applicable grant award" — that's federal grant money. FEMA money.

Christy LeBatard signs FIRST as the approving authority. Then E. Michael Leonard (CAO). Then Peter Abide (City Attorney). Then Gina Bardwell Tompkins (Page Mannino).

And this isn't the only Page Mannino contract flowing through LeBatard's department. A Hurricane Katrina Infrastructure Repair agreement has been running since April 2011 — amended three times, extended indefinitely until "final completion of ALL Hurricane Katrina Infrastructure Repair Programs." Fifteen years and counting. Total compensation unknown.

Here's the conflict chain:

• FEMA sends federal grant money for hurricane infrastructure repair
• Page Mannino is retained for legal services on those projects
• Christy LeBatard approves the grant reimbursement allocations — signing first
• Allocations are structured at exactly $10,000 — the federal reporting threshold
• Peter Abide co-signs the allocations as City Attorney
• Michael Whitehead at Page Mannino later represents the City against Petrini
• The same firm collected $109,780.32 in CY2024 defending the City in Petrini's cases

LeBatard is both the subject of this compensation investigation AND the person who approved federal grant allocations to the law firm now defending the City against that very investigation.

The CenterPoint Permit Scam — $60,000 (Maybe $100,000) Owed to the City

And because the undersigned can't help himself — because this Engineering Department keeps giving — there's the CenterPoint Energy problem.

CenterPoint Energy operates a gas utility franchise in Biloxi. They dig up streets. They lay pipe. They perform work worth millions — at least $2,511,741.93 in documented project value in the project that involved our cross-bore alone. And they need permits from — you guessed it — LeBatard's Engineering Department.

Permits that they got for free.

The undersigned has communications of city employees in one jurisdiction questioning several times to a building official why permits to CenterPoint were being issued at no cost — with no franchise agreement or language in the ordinance that allows it — without a valid license and insurance.

So the undersigned did what the undersigned does. Filed a targeted PRR. Five questions. Cited the specific Biloxi Code section — Section 17-2-10.4(3) — that requires utilities to submit exemption statements and pay a $50.00 non-refundable fee per application. Even IF a franchise agreement existed, CenterPoint still owed fees.

Catherine McMahan's response, on February 4, 2025:

That single sentence destroys every possible defense:

• No franchise agreement exists — McMahan cannot produce what was never executed
• No exemption statement was ever filed — CenterPoint never applied for the exception it was receiving
• No $50 fee was ever paid — Not even the minimum statutory fee
• No proof of any permit fee payment — CenterPoint paid literally nothing
• No active agreement of any kind — The entire arrangement was off-the-books

We conservatively estimate that CenterPoint owes the City of Biloxi at least $60,000 in unpaid permit fees. The real number may be closer to $100,000. We want this money paid to the City. Every dollar of it.

The undersigned has the original emails. Both invoices. The smoking gun where Ewing wrote: "Centerpoint did not want the invoice to say shrimp."

Free permits for a regulated utility. Shrimp for the regulators. Falsified invoices to hide it. And zero franchise agreement authorizing any of it.

That's not regulatory capture. That's a gift exchange program with extra steps.

The Engineers Who Aren't Nerds

Engineers are supposed to be nerds. Pocket protectors. Spreadsheets. Calculators. Instead, Biloxi's engineering circle looks like a cast of characters from a cartel drama:

• Christy LeBatard — Director of Engineering. The elephant. $30K unauthorized raise. FEMA pipeline. Carpet supervisor.
• David Machado — Friend of the cartel.
• Mark Seymour — Friend of the cartel.
• Maddie Costelli — Friend of the cartel.
• Joseph Ewing — The redneck mafioso. Open corruption documented.
• Peter Abide — The Napoleon who signs off on all of it.

LeBatard

Machado

Seymour

Costelli

They're not friends of the cartel. They are the cartel. And we will be covering every single one of them. Soon.

The Biden of Biloxi

And then there's the man at the top. Mayor Andrew "FoFo" Gilich. The man who testified. The man who — per Jerry Creel's own sworn words — "directed" the stop work order.

The undersigned has published articles calling this man a savant. The Biden of Biloxi. A man who can't install a carpet. A shemale aficionado. We've documented counts of witness accounts of drug dealings, involvement in illegal operations, corruption, and the Sherry's scam.

And for anyone curious — not a peep. Nada. Nothing. Zero response. Our decrepit, barely functional, Biden-like mayor just went limp. Completely silent. No denial. No rebuttal. No legal threats. Nothing.

His only action? Move for a raise for Jerry Creel.

Yes. Jerry Creel. The building official under FBI investigation for perjury. The man with five titles and zero accountability. The man whose criminal charges against a citizen were dismissed. The man who admitted under oath that Abide and the Mayor "directed" him.

That's who FoFo decided deserved a raise.

Can FoFo Read the Room?

This Biden of Biloxi really thinks — while there's a petition nearing 1,500 signatures to put the $18 million bond to a public vote — that this is the proper moment to ask for a raise for the Rise and Shine?

Someone we've been accusing of perjury. Someone we've documented fucking the HR on city property. Someone at the center of deep corruption that touches every department in this building.

That's who deserves more taxpayer money right now?

This has to be a joke. This corpse needs to wake up.

The Company He Keeps

And while we're on the subject of FoFo — let's talk about Mike West. FoFo's current partner. Also involved in the Sherry's era.

Venture capital from Gilich and Michael B. West — Gilich's partner in a computer software company

Gulf South Analytical Services, Inc. — Incorporated 1985. Andrew M Gilich Jr: President. Mike West: Vice President.

Gulf South Analytical Services, Inc. — the computer software company FoFo built with Mike West in 1985. The same company documented in Mississippi Mud. The same technology that enabled Kirksey Nix to run his Lonely Hearts extortion scam from inside Angola Prison. The same operation that got the Sherrys killed.

NoNo, FoFo

Even A.J. Holloway knew. When he ran against FoFo, his campaign slogan said it all:

"For Holloway, it's 'NoNo, FoFo.' For Gilich, it's 'No way, A.J.'" — Holloway called out FoFo's tax liens and his partnership with Mike West in the computer software company.

And here's what that computer software company actually did. Straight from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward Humes, Mississippi Mud, pages 166-167:

Page 166: "crafted by Mike Gillich's computer-expert nephew, Andrew Gilich"

Page 167: Nix's computer systems — "$40,000 worth of gaudy jewelry" — "Always go for the family"

For Petrini, FoFo is a mofo.

FoFo truly is a little mafioso wannabe. And the company he keeps proves it. His orbit includes pedophiles — Mike Gillich III, convicted and sentenced to 12 years. Murderers — the chain of causation from his computer systems to the Sherry assassinations. And his own family's criminal acts — documented across three generations, from The Strip to City Hall.

How is this thing the mayor? A man who can't install a carpet?

And by the way — Christy LeBatard was the one doing the carpet for FoFo. The elephant in the Engineering Department was overseeing the Saenger Theatre carpet installation. She probably couldn't look down far enough to see the pattern didn't match.

Christy LeBatard — the elephant who couldn't see the carpet

The Water Department Investigation Nobody Talks About

One more thing.

In December 2016 — the same year LeBatard was appointed director — the City Council approved Resolution 596-16, hiring forensic accountant Christy Pickering, CPA at $200/hour.

The purpose? "Utility billing issues in the water department."

The water department falls under the Engineering Department.

The engagement letter specified:

Read that again. The forensic accountant they hired for billing issues in the Engineering Department's water division was explicitly told NOT to independently verify the documents. She would only review what was provided to her. And the $2,500 retainer was crossed out.

Councilmember Deming — the same one who walked out during LeBatard's salary vote — voted NAY on the Pickering resolution too.

Deming saw something. And he's been voting against it since 2016.

The Family Connection

And then there's Michael LeBatard.

Michael LeBatard sits on the Board of Zoning Adjustments — the same board that rules on property enforcement matters. He runs LeBatard Architecture, a forensic architecture firm that does business with the City. He is a named defendant in Case 254.

On June 30, 2025, Michael LeBatard sent an email defending Jerry Creel's reappointment to the Board, dismissing allegations as "so unfounded that I feel compelled to address them directly." A board member, defending the building official he's supposed to oversee, before any hearing took place.

That's not impartiality. That's prejudgment. In writing.

Christy LeBatard recommends contract awards to the City Council. Michael LeBatard's firm has received city contracts — including the Small Craft Harbor bait shop, a post-Katrina reconstruction project funded by FEMA.

The Director of Engineering approves FEMA-funded contracts. Her relative's firm receives FEMA-funded contracts. Her relative sits on the board that judges building enforcement actions directed by the City Attorney who co-signs the FEMA allocations.

It's a closed loop.

What the City Refuses to Answer

These are the questions the undersigned asked on December 31, 2024. None have been answered:

• Why did LeBatard leave in 2021?
• What happened to James Stanton Rose?
• Who authorized the $110,000 salary?
• What justifies the unauthorized overpayments ($13,437)?
• Why were ALL benefits suspended in 2021-2022?
• What caused Ewing's 24% salary jump?
• Where is the Grade 19 pay grade table?
• Why was Ewing denied life insurance for 16 years?
• Why did health insurance drop $5,000 in one year?
• Where are the council meeting minutes?

Ten questions. Zero answers. Over a year.

The Pattern

The undersigned has seen this before. The documentation folder grows thicker. The pattern emerges:

• Director disappears from payroll — No explanation provided
• Director replaced by outsider — Outsider disappears too
• Director returns at 37.5% raise — No negotiation documented
• Unauthorized overpayments for years — No resolution, no authorization
• Inspector gets 24% raise — No documentation
• Life insurance denied 16 years — Contradicts city policy
• Health insurance wildly fluctuates — No explanation
• Forensic accountant hired for same department — Told not to verify documents
• FEMA allocations at exactly $10,000 — Federal reporting threshold
• City Attorney earns $1.46M over 3 years — Controls all the records
• Questions asked — Zero answered

Pattern recognition is an engineering discipline. The undersigned was born for this.

Official Response Invited

Ms. LeBatard, Mr. Ewing, Mr. Abide, and Mayor Gilich are each welcome to submit a signed rebuttal for publication with equal prominence. We will post it in full, unedited.

The undersigned suspects the response will be the same as it's been for over a year: silence.

Silence is an answer too.

Meet the Elephant

Christy LeBatard — Director of Engineering, City of Biloxi

Rise and shine, Christy.

Legal Disclaimer: This article documents public proceedings, public records, and constitutional analysis. All facts are derived from City Council resolutions, payroll records, benefits policies, position descriptions, and PRR correspondence — all produced by the City of Biloxi in response to lawful records requests. Public officials acting in their official capacity are proper subjects of public commentary. Commentary regarding physical appearance is protected opinion under the First Amendment as interpreted in Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46 (1988).

Documents Referenced: Compensation LeBatard.pdf (22-year payroll history) · Compensation Ewing.pdf (17-year payroll history) · Resolution Nos. 15-16, 459-16, 326-17, 567-18, 402-22, 691-22, 596-16, 489-21 · Resolution 331-17a (FEMA grant allocation) · Resolution 478-18 (Hurricane Katrina Infrastructure Repair) · Benefits Package-Christy.pdf · DIRECTOR engineering.pdf · ENGINEER INSP III.pdf · ABIDE_COMP_11-20-24 Petrini PRR 1-Response.pdf · Catherine McMahan PRR Response, February 4, 2025 ("No records to provide") · CenterPoint Energy/Jody Ewing email chain, October 2023 (shrimp boil invoices) · Desporte Seafood Invoice #10873 and #10897 (original and sanitized) · Email correspondence (Dec 2024 - Mar 2025)