Sludge of Our Lives, As the Sludge Turns. The soap opera that is the awarding of a contract to remove Jackson's biosolid wastes featured another episode last week, as a company protested that the Yarber administration selected a bid from a company that was a more expensive bid with less minority participation.
The opened bids were:
1. UCI-LAA, LLC: $13,887,500
2. PSI/GA Trucking: $14,640,000
3. Denali/SGE: $14,941,967
4. Hemphill Construction: $15,072,500
The city of Jackson issued this statement about the contract:
The City has notified the four proposers that the evaluation committee recommended PSI-GA, LLC as the best proposer with whom the City will begin negotiations for a contract for this project. At this time, since the City has not reached an agreement with PSI-GA, LLC, that would be presented to the City Council, the City has no further comments.JJ obtained a copy of a letter sent to the city attorney by UCI-LAA, LLC. The firm is represented by attorney Mike Espy. The company was created on February 5, 2016. The company is owned by Terry Lovelace and partnered with several other minority-owned firms (including one owned by Claude Banks. He is the son of Karl Banks.).
PSI-GA is owned by Jackson developer Richard Partridge and Philadelphia businesswoman Gidget Apperson (no, not that Gidget.). Both owners are white.
The company claims its bid is $752,000 lower than the winning bid and has 65% minority participation. The letter is posted below:
35 comments:
Leave it to Jackson to turn a simple contract for shit scooping into a shit show. They need to get their shit together.
Look behind the curtain and see who UCI-LLA,LLC is.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
I can't get the curtain pulled back, 3:49. Can you just tell us? I hate all this mystery man crap.
Poor Mike. He can't get his boy reelected as Supervisor in Madison. And he can't get his other boy hired in Jackson. Even though their EBO is so much higher.
These extreme EBO's of Yarbor and the Jxn City Council that cause our fair city to spend thousands of dollars more on each and every thing they want to do. Funny, though, Yarbor only wants to impose them on certain contracts - others he wants to add Jackson based requirements - yet others can go to white firms in CA, but only if they held a successful fundraiser for him during his shore to shore tour.
Don't expect Banks to get much response from Mike's letter, unless of course it had a few fresh bills included in the envelope along with their protest. Assuming not, they lets get to hauling this shit and getting out of the consent decree.
UCI-LLA,LLC
Who is this KF?
Typo in orignial posts...correct entity is: UCI-LLA,LLC
Info available on the Secretary of State's website.
Apparently I'm too stupid to pull that up. I keep getting "0 responses".
Please just say who the hell it is.
who the hell is mike??
Banks is busy pulling strings up in canton to keep his daughter in law employed by the county now that the county did away with the solid waste department. The planning and zoning director was told by someone to go the board and request an administrative assistant. He did and the board questioned it. When it came out that the proposed position be filled with someone from the defunct solid waste department supe jones questioned her qualifications. She said that someone with planning and zoning education and experience instead of garbage experience be hired. To that Supe griffin piped up and said they would break the bank hiring qualified people......don't believe me go watch the new video archive MadCo has out there.
Where is all this 'sludge' in Jacktown located?
5:21 doesn't really want you to know who they are.
Kenneth Primos, search UCI anywords and he comes up as the organizer. What that means, I do not know. Don't know him or care if someone does work and earns money. I like to earn money too.
Name History
Name Name Type
UCI-LAA, LLC Legal
Business Information
Business Type: Limited Liability Company
Business ID: 1085082
Status: Good Standing
Effective Date: 02/05/2016
State of Incorporation: Mississippi
Principal Office Address: NO PRINCIPAL OFFICE ADDRESS FOUND
Registered Agent
Name
NATIONAL REGISTERED AGENTS INC
645 Lakeland East Drive, Suite 101
Flowood, MS 39232
Officers & Directors
Name Title
Kenneth A. Primos III
1020 Highland Colony Parkway, Suite 1400
Ridgeland, MS 39157
Banks' daughter-in-law is the one who called off garbage pickup in Madison County last Friday, mid shift, leaving hundreds of people with a stink-pile of garbage bags in their front yards. If she is retained in another department, somebody who makes that decision should face termination.
who the hell is mike?? Read the filing. Mike (former Congressman, former boyfriend of his assistants) and former attorney for the board of supervisors, including recently oustead Karl Banks. Now you get it?
And the posting indicates who UCI-LLA is in details. Terry Lovelace (of Lost Rabbit fame if memory serves correctly - the one Espy bailed out of that disaster) along with Karl Banks brother, a partner in the hauling business made rich by all the gravel hauled for Madison County the last few decades.
Connect the dots.
It will be the MadCo supes that approve putting her in that position. Banks is im sure pushing Griffin and is putting pressure on Tony Greer who's putting in on the P&Z director.
Mrs Banks was hired as an admin ass just few months before she married Banks son and had his kid then presto change she's director of solid waste making 50+ grand a year and a county vehicle.
Not to worry 8:09. The dynasty has crumbled and she will not be retained. Griffin has no pull over Greer and even if he did, Greer has no authority over Weeks. Weeks trembles at the thought of making a decision but is not totally stupid. Three equals five if you have not heard that little lesson in politics. Banks has no pull and Griffin has no influence. This woman pissed in her whiskey when she told the solid waste division pickup routes to go ahead and knock-off mid day last Friday.
Too many damn crooks for the average person to keep up with. The people of Jackson are very proud of their crooks. They keep electing them to office and those they elect bring their crooked friends in for the bird's nest on the ground.
Not to worry 8:09. This is not a job in the non-existent bait store on the leaking-lake to nowhere. Banks' DIL will not wind up in P&Z any more than Espy will find work at the new Gluckstadt Burger Kang drive-thru.
Both Weeks and Greer will find themselves on the outside lookin' in if they pursue that line of thinking. And Griffin can save his ramblin' breath.
The City of Jackson was sued about 15 years ago over their illegal minority contracting procedures. They lost in federal court. They appealed in New Orleans and lost again. It was not at all close. Then they spent a bunch of money and came up with a new plan. I do not believe it is legal either. The U. S. supreme court has rules for being able to do this sort of thing and Jackson fails to meet the requirements. That is, they have no legal right to have a minority participation requirement and if someone would sue them over it they would loose just like they did before. Another big problem with this is that minority construction firms have been getting preferences like this for more than 20 years but somehow they cannot take that experience and use it to improve their firms so that they don't need a handout. I have worked in commercial construction in the Jackson market for more than 30 years and I can tell you that the number of competent minority contractors is very very small. If the City was giving illegal handouts to minorities and they were using that experience to turn themselves into good contractors at least some good would come from it. Sadly, that is not the case.
"It will be the MadCo supes that approve putting her in that position."
8:09 - Other than that irritating thing called nepotism, I doubt The Board is involved in filling jobs below the Director level on a routine basis. It pays to be diligent and had one or two of them NOT been on their toes, this transfer would have occurred under the radar. And Weeks would have been in deep doo doo.
@10:05 and 5:23 - I watched the video from the county website. Griffin is no different than Stokes. To make a statement that hiring qualified people would cost the county more than it should is ludicrous. I cant believe the people of his district reelected him. A Total buffoon.
Start watching the archive video at 25:50 you can see for yourselves.
This first thing that pops up on a google search for Terry Lovelace is
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2007/oct/24/jackson-resident-claims-racism/
I'm assuming this is the same Terry Lovelace that is trying to receive the minority project?
UCI is Terry Lovelace. He is a local contractor and a decent guy, but he knows how to game the system. He got Rhonda Varner, Claude Banks, Civil Tech, etc. Now Richard Partridge is a slimey SOB. Judging strictly by the letter that Espy wrote, it sounds like UCI has a valid argument (although I'm sure there is more to it).
As for the MADCO BOS and P&Z, I can't believe they have kept Scott Weeks. He's a good guy who I really like personally, but he is lazy and terribly unqualified for that position. He has almost single-handedly gotten Madison county in several lawsuits that they would have easily lost. I sure miss the days of Brad Sellers.
Will somebody please tell the city the which minority contractor to use. Last year they picked Socrates Garrett and obviously that wasn't correct. This year they didn't choose Karl Banks and there seems to be issues with that. What's the deal?
Is anybody concerned about just getting the projected completely correctly and in a timely manner?
8:27 That is the same Terry Lovelace. However, I have been on numerous UCI projects (between 1999 and yesterday) and have never heard Terry Lovelace call anyone a n*gg*r. Nor have I ever seen him pull a gun. I can't say it didn't happen, just that I have never seen any indication of that behavior.
Judge Wingate threw it out on summary judgement and awarded some costs to Lovelace. His 8 page opinion shredded the plaintiff's claims.
That article made me think less of that atty I can assure you that. And I know him. "Hey, while were working on your workers comp claim, lets make up some BS about your employer as well and see if we can suck him dry. Remember I get paid commission". Flock those guys.
One of the reasons Jackson is in terrible shape is no one really cares if reliable people work for the city or if they give the contract to reliable people. All that matters is that they get something back and all persons involved must be black. That is what the people of Jackson wants. That is why it is a cesspool.
What Mr Espy doesn't seem to understand, although he argues it well, is that just because his minorities are black and Patridge's are white, the EBO requirements (as presently written) do not distinguish. Espy makes a great racial argument, and with our present City Council and Mayor, that might win. Particularly with Stamps, who has definately shown his racial inclinations recently.
Truth of the matter is that if Jackson did not have this EBO requirement, there would be several competent contractors seeking this (and other) contracts and the cost would be significantly less. But without the EBO, hizzoner the mayor wouldn't be able to fund his various habits.
Does anyone know if the Jackson Lead Pipe Whistleblower got reinstated at his appeal hearing? Just curious as there hasn't been an update posted anywhere.
Amen, 10:01!
Anna Wolfe is HOT !!!
If Jackson is over 75% black wouldn't a while contractor be the miniorty firm? The Hinds County jail is a perfect example of that policy
This deal stinks from the beginning. You interview Architects and Engineers. You look at their history and references. You don't go with the lowest price. Why? Because the Owner does not know enough to take the low bidder and make them perform. In most cases the owner does not know good engineering from bad engineering.
But when you hire a contractor it is not like that. You can go with the low bidder. First because you have already hired an Architect or Engineer to prepare plans and specifications laying out exactly what the contractor is to do and to oversee them. And secondly because the contractor is required to furnish a bond so that if the contractor cannot complete the work the bonding company must hire one who will. So the Owner can just open the bids and award to the low bidder with very few exceptions. When that does not happen the citizens should be very suspect of the motives of those in power with the owner. In this case City. All the junk about minority participation should be taken out of the contracts. The City has no legal right to require that. All it does is raise the price of the work and allow the politicians an excuse to award work to their 'friends'.
9:15, what is the use of working, bribing, and cheating you way into some elected position if you cannot reward your friends with contracts and reward yourself with a little cash under the table?
Good question re why Greer (MadCo Administrator) would say he is considering Banks' Daughter in Law for transfer and retention when no position even exists. Does Greer remember which three (new) supervisors put him in his present job last January and which two existing supervisors voted for somebody else?
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