Jackson Jambalaya

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors rejected the only bid for mosquito spraying last week.  The discussion became rather raucous at times as Supervisor Kenneth Stokes tried to push the contract to Hathorn Pest Control while claiming certifications were used to keep blacks from getting contracts.


The county solicited bids several weeks ago.  Vector  Disease Control International, LLC submitted the only bid. The company has an office in Jackson. The company said the cost for the spraying will be $81,750 for the remainder of the fiscal year (October 1). The company estimated the cost for the next two years will be $196,000. The costs brought some questions by the supervisors. District 2 Supervisor Al Hunter asked how the county could measure the success of the program. He asked "How do we track a mosquito with GPS?" Vector replied that GPS is used for trap locations. The company traps mosquitoes so it can examine the species and determine which pesticide to use. Vector said aerospraying is used on an emergency basis. The program will cover the unincorporated areas of the county as well as areas not covered by municipal spraying programs. The total area not covered by spraying right now is 587 square miles.

 

Mr. Stokes accused county officials of "trying to make people not qualify. Whenever blacks try to qualify for work, they try to put something in the game so they can't qualify. How many black people even haven an airplane that can spray? (16:00 in the video) We're trying tno spend all this money on less than 20,000 people." "We are talking about 30,000 people" and "talking about spending $81,000 on less than 30,000 people" said Mr. Stokes. Mr. Stokes moved to reject all bids. The motion passed.

Joe Hathorn of Hathorn Pest Control angrily told the board it did not have to bid out the contract but could award it to him as a professional service contract after District 4 Supervisor Robert Walker asked if the county has to request bids. He accused the board of writing "biases" into the request for a proposal. Mr. Hathorn said about RFP's "you can write people in, you can write people out." He stormed off the podium and said "Vector had something to do with putting something in the proposal"

Clarence Williams, Director of the Human Capital Development and Grants Division, very heatedly responded to Hathorn's accusations: "I put together this proposal because I thought it was in the best interests of the control. I wanted to get everything that was required. I consulted with the state health dept and CDC when I put this RFP together. It didn't have to do with Vector or anyone else and I resent anyone accusing me of something I didn't do. (27:46 in video) Mr. Stokes left the room when Vector representatives addressed the board.

Mr. Stokes then moved to award a three month contract to Hathorn Pest Control at $17,000 per month. The motion died for lack of a second. District 3 Supervisor Peggy Hobson-Calhoun said such a move would be seen as an attempt to circumvent the bid regulations.  Mr. Graham said the board would address the matter at the next meeting.

What was rather interesting was the behavior of assistant board attorney Cherie Prince. Board attorney Tony Gaylor was not present. She said nothing to the board about bid regulations or anything else related to this matter while Mr. Hathorn gave legal advice to the board on professional service contracts. Just one problem. Hinds County requested an opinion from the Attorney General several months ago on whether pest control was a professional service contract (The county would not have to solicit bids if it is.). The AG ruled on March 22, 2013 that pest control services are not considered to be professional services under Section 19-3-69 of the Mississippi Code and thus the county has to solicit bids. Ms. Prince made no mention of the opinion to the board.


KF note: The board attorney should have told the board about the AG opinion when Hathorn and Stokes tried to complete their little end run around the bid laws. The reasons why she did not do so are open to speculation.

It was also embarrassing to watch a board reject a legitimate bid because it was collectively too stupid to understand environmental regulations.   A court ruling in 2009 stated mosquito spraying is covered by the Clean Water Act. The new regulations took effect in 2011. Many counties and cities have seen their costs increase while forced to submit greater amount of paperwork to the EPA. Discharge plans have to be filed.  More certifications have to be obtained.  The days of just sending a truck down the road spraying chemicals are over.  If the county picks the wrong vendor, EPA can impose a fine of $5,000 per day.  Mr. Graham mentioned that little fact when the board chose not to give a good ole boy contract to Hathorn, despite his tantrum.

Mr. Williams said there were only six or seven companies in the Southeast that could meet the new requirements.  Only one company submitted a bid.  He said he attended a two-day class on this subject that was conducted by the state.  He said he consulted with DEQ and the Department of Health.

The entire discussion was one of ignorance, buffoonery, and bullying.  One supervisor is too dumb to understand how mosquito spraying works.  He asks how GPS is used and wonders if it is used on mosquitoes. Another one tries to throw it out and give it to his pal. He's not interested in mosquito spraying but just giving $51,000 to his friend.  A contracter acts as the board attorney while the board attorney, either intentionally or unintentionally, doesn't tell the board there is a recent AG opinion issued to her office this year.  In the end, no mosquito spraying takes place while Hinds County residents worry about skeeters and West Nile.