Public utilities are supposed to be boring. VERY boring. However, we are talking about Canton and there is nothing staid or quiet about Canton. The Blackmons and Warnocks* are fighting over the control of Canton Municipal Utilities in a way that brings to mind the old feud between the Junkyard Dog and the Fabulous Freebirds. The two sides are slugging it out in federal court right now after CMU fired Rudy Warnock as its engineer after the Blackmons took control of the board of CMU.
However, 69 pages of the text messages of Rudy Warnock were attached to the minutes of the December 22, 2016 meeting of the board of Canton Municipal Utilities before he was fired. The text messages give one a view of what is going on behind the scenes as threats as all kinds of drama takes place, including threatening to have a reporter beat up.
The text messages contain various conversations between Mr. Warnock and other Canton dignitaries. They are published at the bottom of this post. Some excerpts are published below as well.
This set of text messages discussed Michael Simmons in his role as the Madison County Piniata while he moonlights as a reporter for the Madison County Journal:
Mr. Warnock sent this text to Cleveland Anderson:
Then there is this exchange. Ouch. Mr. Warnock took a punch and threw a few of his own.
Then the gang decided to tackle some CMU policy. Apparently they wanted to make it tougher and more expensive for the media to get information from CMU. Of course, it is a little intriguing why the CMU engineer is so interested in a public records policy. Please note that there is a six week gap between this email and the one posted above. Selective disclosure?
The bunch also discuss floating a bond issue on September 22:
and again in October. There is also some talk of flipping the board of Aldermen.
Kingfish note: When will a "Document of Concern" pop up in Madison County?
22 comments:
Jimmy Breslin died a few weeks ago. Reading the crap posted above I kept hearing "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" but spoken with accents right out of "The Dukes of Hazzard".
I may have missed it, but where's the text where Cleveland Anderson offers to have the mayor and reporter murdered?
Dear Tom Hood,
Please remember to credit Kingfish as you display these text messages during your next presentation on the Open Meetings Act to the Miss. Municipal League and the Miss. Assoc. of Supervisors.
Sincerely,
Loyal KF Readers
Where else but in Madison County can you find this level of perpetual drama. Actually it's been going on for at least fifty years. Only the actors have changed.
Hell, after all, this is the same fifteen square mile area where George Jones was arrested for cocaine after leaving Jackson and rolling his bus, Councilman Ed Cates (who died but was later found alive in Alabama) torched a car with an as-yet mysterious body inside, Elvis reappears frequently and an international airport and theme park have been planned off and on for a pasture.
John Grisham is missing the opportunity of a lifetime. But since Mickey Rooney is dead, who will play Rudy in the movie?
@7:48, Since Rooney has passed, I'd nominate Peter Dinklage.
So here is what happened. CMU hired Warnock, contracted with him to fix sewer problems, began working and CMU paying claims. The commissioners mainly Mr Anderson tried to get Warnock to pay him. Warnock refused to pay. Warnock was fired. Yet Warnock is the bad guy. Ok. It should also me noted that the reason Warnock was involved in CMU personnel matters is because the CMU board voted to put him on their "internal" personnel board of directors. All commissioners voted unanimously to put him in charge of personnel matters. Oh and when he refused to hire commissioners family and friends for large salaries they got mad. So it appears to me he was fired for refusing to pay kickbacks and hired commissioners friends and family. But he is the crook.
12:16 Thanks Rudy for that explanation.
@12:16- Since you seem to have first hand knowledge of the situation, tell us why the first anyone heard of the murder for hire plot was in his poorly written affidavit and not in the original lawsuit for $6M. Why isn't the plot mentioned in his attempts to get Anderson to resign? If you are given that bargaining chip and you are trying to control everything, you mention it every chance you get.
If you are unwilling to realize that something smells funny on both sides, you really should be permanently banned from the internet.
@2:00pm: This threats were reported to state and federal and local agencies. The first reports were made to the local governing authorities. The local board of Alderman tried multiple times to remove the commissioners but the Mayor vetoed the removal of the crooks. I wonder what the mayor is getting in exchange for his veto? The Ethics Comission is worthless. Much like the rest of the politically driven state agencies. Where are the authorities when we need them the most?
These text messages have been cut and pasted with much left out.......
@2:55 - I'll be honest, that is information that should really be in the affidavit. It's omission is questionable.
What is the Case # and where is it filed?
Who has those documents?
Just Googled Peter Dinklage. Perfect for Rudy. Mike, did you get that? Let's meet for drinks and steak. Please don't tell.
Missed in all of this is the possibility of selling $45 million in bonds. That's a bigger deal than yapping about whipping Simmons' ass.
KF -- No, not if you are Simmons!
According to a few CMU employees Mike Espy was working to secure millions of dollars in grants so that CMU didn't have to bond $45m. However those grants fell through when Arnel Bolden decided to hire the Blackmon law firm and firm Mike Espy. I voted to Arnel but I think he is wrong for firing Mike and hiring Blackmon's. pray things get better.
Canton, the Florence of Madison County.
Arnel is supporting the Blackmon's? He ran 4 yr ago on getting red of them. Now u say he backing them.
The blackmons, 45 mil in potential bonds, CMU Board and text messages all aside.....You are ALL overlooking the fact that Mike Espy is and will always be the power player in these MadCo scenarios. The proverbial and literal man behind the curtain.
Canton, the Florence of Madison County.
Sure, whatever you say.
### Municipal Ad Valorem Millage Rates (2015-2016) ###
Canton = 56.32 mils
Florence = 22.9 mils
*excludes County & School District
Incredible to me that the Clarion Ledger has not picked up on this Pulitzer-level investigative reporting opportunity. Low-hanging fruit if I've ever seen it. This is what "civic journalism" is worth.
Rudy is an engineer, but obviously he was trying to manage the whole thing. How does he control everyone? Oh, uh nevermind.
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