The Rules Committee of the Jackson City Council rejected a contract for the wastewater program management required by a federal consent decree. The meeting grew contentious at times as Mayor Tony Yarber and the committee sparred over the proposed contract. Anna Wolfe reported in the Clarion-Ledger yesterday:
Los Angeles-based engineering firm AECOM, along with local partners, "The Jackson Five," wanted to show the city how to get an "A" in wastewater management. But on Monday, the Jackson City Council Rules Committee voted down the deal, which would have made AECOM Jackson's new consent decree program manager.
Currently, Jackson does not have anyone in that position, which has caused work to halt and could put the city at risk of failing to meet deadlines set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency. Now, Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber will have to bring the proposal before the council again in hopes that it will pass on a second try.
Yarber expressed dismay at the vote.
"I thought it would at least get out of committee to get to the full council.....
Councilmen Ashby Foote, Tyrone Hendrix and Melvin Priester each voted against sending the AECOM proposal to the full council, a move Yarber called negligent. The councilmen did not express strong objections to the proposal, but some of their questions surrounded the selected subcontractors, or "The Jackson Five."
Marques Hall, who owns TMMHall Professional Services and who worked for the Mississippi Department of Transportation up until last week, would have received 16 percent of the contract under a mentor-protégé agreement. He stood to gain $368,000 each year.
Johnny Crisler, brother of Marshand Crisler, Jackson's deputy chief administrative officer, is listed as a partner of Hall's in the proposal.
MDOT Commissioner Dick Hall said his employee's involvement in the lucrative contract was brought to his attention last week and when MDOT officials confronted Marques Hall, the engineer resigned.
"We do business with some of those people he's associated with, so he can't work for us and work for them," Dick Hall said.
Another subcontractor is Jackson Redevelopment Authority Commissioner Andria Jones' Access Training, which would have provided training to "boots-on-the-ground" workers hired under the contract....
"The explanation of what these people do is very superficial. As much as we're paying them, over $1 million a year, that's worthy of more specifics about the tasks they will be required to carry out," Foote said. "The consent decree is a specific set of tasks. To turn it into a jobs program and a mentoring program for young professionals is a recipe for coming up short on the objectives that the EPA and Justice Department have presented us with."
Subcontractors M&M Professional Services, Q Solutions, MA3 Architecture are also included in "The Jackson Five."
Yarber suggests that when it comes to consent decree management, the city need look no more. He said he's found what the city's looking for in AECOM, who has managed over 40 consent decree projects throughout the nation. "We have the best option in front of this council," he said.
He emphasized that AECOM is an internationally renowned engineering firm whose proposal includes 43 percent minority participation....
Yarber thinks that in the city council's eyes, "it's always about the contractor. It's never about the people."...' Rest of article.
Perhaps it's time JJ posted the AECOM proposal so people can read it for themselves and determine whether it should be approved.
25 comments:
This has gotten Brother in Law deal written over it. How brazen they are to call themselves the Jackson Five. This is why the City of Jackson is broke.
$368k per year under a "mentor-protégé" agreement? Y'all continue to elect these people and then you get offended when folks in the 'burbs question their -- and your -- intelligence.
Wasn't one of the Jackson Five just booked for medicaid fraud??
8:32am: Did the mayor win his election with 100% of the vote? Did an elected council not reject the contract?
Sing along, everyone!
"We Want That Jack" by the Jackson 5ive
Oh Jackson, give us one more chance
(to take a lotta money)
Won't you please put cash in our pockets
Oh people, we don't need to follow laws
(collusion, baby)
But now since we ain't gettin' paid
(we want that jack)
Na na na na!
Jackson is broke. The city cannot afford any more crooked contracts. The elected officials of Jackson have drained the city as far as it can go. The people of Jackson are committed to electing criminals. There just isn't any hope for Jackson as a city much less the capital city. The state of Ms. is down to two choices. Either take over the capital city or move the capital to another city.
My personal opinion is a move of the capital would be the best for the entire state.
Donuts to dollars Rudy is involved in some capacity with some of the Jackson 5. Dorsey is probably in the wings waiting to represent them in court when the time comes. And someone needs to haul Mr. Hall in front of the Engineering Board and strip him of his license.
"Johnny Crisler, brother of Marshand Crisler, Jackson's deputy chief administrative officer, is listed as a partner of Hall's in the proposal."
Says everything you need to know.
Marques Hall to get $368,000 per year under a mentor-protege agreement? Is it any wonder that the City of Jackson is broke? I know Marques from MDOT and he is incompetent. I wouldn't pay him $368,000 to actually do something. Yet they are going to pay him just to observe and learn? You honestly can't make this stuff up. It's unreal. And Yarber is bragging about AECOM's 43% minority participation. That's the problem. They are worried about who is going to do the work instead of actually being worried about fixing the problem. Terrible. They should just blow the whole damn city up and start over from scratch.
@8:32, I doubt anyone you mention voted for these idiots.
They may be onto something....
Better to pay some incompetent person to just watch rather than pay them to screw it up.
Lets face it....these contracts have always been crooked....but...I think the people given the contracts actually had skill in the chosen area.
These fools cant boil water.
Kudos to council members Foote, Hendricks and Priester for turning down the wasteful enrichment proposal for the friends of Tony Yarber. This man has been a disgrace to the citizens of Jackson. But let's place the blame for Yarber where it belongs. The black residents of Jackson did not vote to put Yarber in office. This was done by the voters of wards 1 and 7, which are the two white wards in Jackson. Ward 1 gave him over 90% of its vote and ward 7 gave him over 70% of its vote. So do not blame us black Jacksonians for Yarber and his suspect contracts. We voted for Antar. We knew Yarber was not smart enough or ethical enough to be mayor. It is to bad wards 1 & 7 could not put aside their racial prejudices over Antar Lumumba's African name. I am sure they are having buyers remorse now!
I just love our City Council! I thank God for the competent and intelligent people who make up that body that take the time to actually ensure that the citizens are getting what they should even if it means putting a hold on various projects. That's right City Council, flush this mess out! Flush it all out! To the law enforcement, the City of Jackson is hurting. Please remove these crooks so that Jackson can move forward. And while you are removing people, don't forget Gus McCoy, Jason Goree, and Marshand Crisler!
12:09 gets it.
Don't blame black Jackson for Yarber and his mess. In fact you should be thanking black Jackson for putting someone as smart as Priester Jr on the city council, to make sure that Yarber and his messes are contained. Ward 2, baby!
The black residents of Jackson did not vote to put Yarber in office. This was done by the voters of wards 1 and 7, which are the two white wards in Jackson. Ward 1 gave him over 90% of its vote and ward 7 gave him over 70% of its vote. So do not blame us black Jacksonians for Yarber and his suspect contracts. We voted for Antar. We knew Yarber was not smart enough or ethical enough to be mayor. It is to bad wards 1 & 7 could not put aside their racial prejudices over Antar Lumumba's African name. I am sure they are having buyers remorse now!
You are incorrect in so many ways it would be futile to try and educate someone so ignorant of the actual demographic and electoral facts. If Jackson's white voters possessed a fraction of the power you conflate they'd still be able to push a white Mayor across the finish line.
Antar won't even make the runoff in 2017.
I feel certain Antar Lumumba would have given contracts to his cronies, et al., minority participation and all via his Kush Counsel. Don't think he would have hired the most competent person if they were Caucasian. That would be selling out to "his people". Say what you want to, but I'm right.
I would be hesitant in giving out kudos to the Jackson City Council. Remember, Stokes, Stamps, and Priester still sit on the JCC. Their dealings, although not transparent, may be just as shady as Yarber's.
I visualize myself as a Black Lesbian female with a Spanish surname I would fulfill multiple minority contract requirements and I would agree to perform the duties required to the best of my ability for 50% of the amount listed in the contract
Please contact me:
Yolanda Franklin Lopez
601-372-6969
PS. If there is anyone or any group I failed to offend please accept my apology. As bogus as the proposed "contract" is it was hard to cover everyone involved
I think the Parchman Five is going to prove to be a more appropriate name for this group.
I visualize myself as a....
If you will change that to "I identify myself as" then you have won the lottery.
Hendrix, Foote, Tillman and Priester should be thanked for saving us from this fiasco of Yarber's. No reason given for changing from the local firm that has been working on this project for past few years - but obviously they weren't willing to 'pay-to-play' or else they weren't using the correct subcontractors that needed mentoring, training, or just needed work to help pad the individual bank accounts.
Hopefully somebody soon will take over the management of this city and start focusing on getting the work done rather than trying to find more ways to skim dollars from the city for personal benefits.
If for no reason other than the scam being pulled by the now infamous Marquez Hall this demands a full, complete investigation - another quarter million for watching somebody else do the work while drawing a state paycheck.
The rest of the Jackson Five also have their fingers in the pie in several places - JRA, IMS, Mayor's office, etc. - how can one even propose this crap that on its face stinks to high heaven.
Over/under on how long it takes the feds to start dropping more indictments?
Maybe we can get the DOJ in on this when they come down here to prove that 50/50 Cleveland high is more segregated than the 100% black East Side school.
5:38, the reason they are doing these thing and making it so obvious is they know nothing will be done to them. Racist is still the magic word to stop just about all investigations no matter how plain it is they are crooks.
9:34 that was pretty harsh. Hall is a licensed engineer which last time I checked aren't given out in boxes of Cracker Jacks, even in backwoods Mississippi. I'll admit even licensed engineers make mistakes; the never ending south I-55 widening to Byram is a good example of that. He may not have good judgement I'll admit, especially when ignoring the obvious conflict of interest in submitting on this proposal. But heck, when you've got a city full of racist black politicians who only care about percentages of minority contractors over experience and qualifications, I can see it being really tempting.
9:22, caring about the percentages of minority contractors has nothing to do with it. Caring about contractors who will kick back a good percentage of the contract cost is the most important thing. It is just much easier for the racist black politicians to make those type of deals with minority contractors that do not have a business, experience, workers, or knowledge.
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