Thursday, June 16, 2016

MAC: Stop the Siemens project. Siemens: We paid MAC nearly $18 million.

MAC and Associates took its fight against Siemens to the Jackson City Council Tuesday.  MAC asked the City Council to shut down the Siemens project or require Siemens to repay $9 million for alleged Equal Business Opportunity (EBO) violations.   MAC is a subcontractor for Siemens. MAC sued Siemens in Hinds County Circuit Court for $37 million but Siemens removed the lawsuit to federal court.   However, Siemens said it paid MAC 92% of the contract amount. Siemens sent this statement to JJ:

Siemens has consistently worked in good faith with the City of Jackson and all of its partners and subcontractors involved in the City's Water Infrastructure Improvement project.  Siemens understands the value of the City's Equal Business Opportunity Plan and takes MAC's allegations seriously.  Siemens looks forward to continuing to work with the City and all involved parties to bring the project to successful completion.


Siemens entered into a $20.3 million contract with MAC to provide labor, materials, design, supervision, coordination, and support for the project.  The scope of MAC's work was later changed to $19.3 million based on changes in the overall City project.  To date, Siemens has paid MAC nearly $17.8 million – or approximately 92% of MAC's updated contract amount – for the completed portion of MAC's work.  

While we do not comment on pending litigation, we can say that the company will address all inaccuracies in the lawsuit at the appropriate time
Meanwhile, M.A.C. sent this letter to the City Council.  The first page provides a short version of M.A.C.'s grievance against Siements.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

MAC and Associates should do a bit of research on the use of paragraphs.

Anonymous said...

9:14, proper use of paragraphs would take away from all of the other ebonic plagued grammatical deficiencies.

Marcus must be really pissed about the change orders to necessitate three exclamation points.

This entire project could and should be a case study in why set-aside or mandatory participation contracts are a bad deal for local government. Use of a case study would require having people willing and capable of learning from mistakes. The likelihood of those qualities making an appearance in Jackson political office are equivalent to Trump's ability to cite biblical passages beyond the two Corinthians.

Anonymous said...

MAC and their lawyers will get their asses kicked in this case. They're wrong and totally outgunned.

Anonymous said...

The only reason Siemens had MAC in the deal was to get the minority percentage required. They are a sham and the taxpayers of Jackson are paying for this pay for play scheme. Look at the city hall deals. The crooked mayor and his donors are getting rich on the back of the taxpayers. Bribes are being taken at every level in the Jackson government. I have had business owners tell me that to get a permit, just hand over some cash to the department you have to do business with. Jackson is being run like a third world country. Streets are so bad you either tear up your car , while consultants are paid fees for studies that go no where. It is past time to rid the city of these stupid contact laws since the minority in Jackson is now white and set sises are nothing more that graft.

Anonymous said...

Appears,Mr Soc got $4.5 mil for "management"...given the results of this project, maybe he deserves a bonus!!

Anonymous said...

MAC is pissed that Siemens balked at paying the bullshit markup they wanted.

It Work Like This Here said...

MAC (whatever that stands for) views Siemens as a defenseless blob floating in a shooting-barrel. MAC actually thinks they can sue and Siemens will pay up just to make them go away. That's not only the MAC way; It's the black way.

Shakedown artistry has been taught by Reverend Jackson for forty years. MAC officials obviously took the advanced course. It used to be that they could threaten a boycott and get what they wanted. That failing, they learned they could holler 'RACIST' and bucks would flow. Now that's no longer effective so we have these merit-less lawsuits.

It all boils down to one thing: How we gonna get some money for doing nothing?

Anonymous said...

I have been reared to have contempt for the "Nouveau Riche". No doubt the whole Siemens' deal has a peculiar smell about it, we should look at who was involved before it was signed. Not all equal business opportunity contracts are remotely similar to this deal. Many minority contracts have benefited the rate payers and the taxpayers of Jackson. Anyone who paints all with the same brush does not know what they are talking about.

Anonymous said...

Was MAC the subcontractor responsible for installing the new (and incorrect) residential water-meter? Or were they responsible for the hardware and software to communicate usage remotely to the City? Neither implementation was particularly successful - Siemens should be suing breach of contract for failure to perform...

Anonymous said...

The very idea that a government identity in the USA could legally give preference to one class of citizens over another, no matter if the class is based on race, sex, income, or anything else is ridiculous. This is NOT what the constitution says and more lawsuits should be brought to stop this type of fraud.

Anonymous said...

12:28- shame shame on you for thinking and saying such a thing. To paint an entire race in such a detrimental light is horrific. Please please reform your thinking.

Anonymous said...

1:28, That is the practice of a govt. that thinks one class of citizens are not capable of competing against other classes of people when it comes to matters that require intelligence, knowledge, or work ethic.

Anonymous said...


12:42, I would rather be "NOUVEAU RICHE" than No Riche at all. Why would you have contempt for a person that has made a lot of money if he did it in an honest way. BROAD BRUSH calling KETTLE BLACK !!!!!

Anonymous said...

Look up the owner of MAC and then find him on Facebook. Should tell you all you need to know. Sorry, but you can usually spot a multi-million dollar contractor and this guy looks far from one. Fly by night, start up operation, yeah he fits that bill well. The picture of the Louis Viton cake at what looks like a MAC& Associates party with the $100 bills all over it is a nice touch. Screams "I just screwed someone over and made a bunch of money".

Kingfish said...

You're trying to pick a fight with the Kettleblacks? Good luck.

Anonymous said...


Kingfish, this is 3:10---are you saying I'm trying to pick a fight ?

Anonymous said...

3:10 - your cavaet "as long as they made it in an honest way" is the problem. Getting paid mucho dollars for doing nothing but being black is not 'an honest way' to get rich - either newly or otherwise.

This crap has been going on for too long, but folks haven't bitched about it until now, when Mayor Tony has decided to take it to an absolute other level. Used to be just sucking a little off the top. Now it is sucking half out the middle, while we all suffer from having a city that is broke and falling apart.

Tell your buddy MAC to try to do it in an honest way. And while he is at it, tell him to find Marques Hall (TMMHall) now that he is no longer at MDOT and maybe they can get together to discover that "honest way".

Anonymous said...

Let's see. His letter says Siemens paid him around 1,000,000 less than what they were supposed to pay, but yet he sues them for 12,000,000 in compensatory damages. His attached documents and Siemen's letter say they agreed to pay him 19,300,000 but only have paid 17,800,000 so far, or 1,500,000 less, but yet he sues for 12,000,000. Hmmmmmm.

He says Siemens promised him 21.9% of the job but he only got 19.4%. That reduced the EBO from 58.29% total to about 56.5% total EBO, still the highest EBO % in history. But that's not enough despite being historically high and because it wasn't more EBO, the City should withhold 9,000,000. Geees.

Even worse, according to the documents he attached, his company was responsible for supplying and installing the meters, you know the meters that don't work and weren't installed properly and which have caused the City to lose millions in revenue. Sounds like the City or Siemens should be suing MAC.

Anonymous said...

>>> Sounds like the City or Siemens should be suing MAC. <<<

Except that the City and Siemens prolly know what MAC was and wasn't doing.

Anonymous said...

I'm so tired of governments trying to "race norm" the economy; you can either compete and do the job or not. This is tantamount of an abuse on the taxpayer.

Anonymous said...

If 1:40 does not like being painted with that broad brush then get out -open your mouth and help put an end to the abuse of way to many blacks using skin color rather than work and character to make it in this world.
This mess WILL continue until good folks take an enough is enough stand--
UNTIL your not afraid of words--racist, cracker, whatever.
I grew up in south Jackson with NO problems blacks whites got along just fine there was NEVER any discussion in our house or any house I went to about what black folks were into today.
I find today we now have a couple of generations of blacks in Jackson that totally believe whites (actually anyone) OWE them. WHAT???
Talk to many blacks from North or Mid-West of MS they,even, will tell you what goes on here is not normal. My friends father works in Africa and they do not like the blacks in America because they look at them as lazy. There is some irony there--since so many here what to try to claim Africa as their "roots"--"culture". THEY DO NOT LIKE YOU EITHER!!!
Unless and until people are held to a high standard and it is NO LONGER just easier to give in and go on attitude NOTHING will change. WHY WOULD IT



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