Posted below is a recording of the July 24, 2018 Executive Committee meeting of the Jackson Zoological Society. This is the meeting where yours truly and another Board member confronted the Executive Director over an audit's report of the misuse of state bond funds. Needless to say, the meeting grew very contentious at times.
The fun starts around 8:00. Headphones may be required.
Here are a few facts to keep in mind.
* This is a meeting of the Executive Committee. Regular Board members were allowed to participate but could not vote. This was how things worked on the Zoo Board. The Director and herallies created committees such as Finance and Executive. The result was the Exec. Committee got to vote on budgets and all important matters while the full Board didn't do so. The auditors presented the annual audit to the Finance Committee but not the full board.
* All Board members were required to sign confidentiality agreements. The agreement is no longer enforceable.
* Yours truly attended the June 2018 Board meeting. Someone mentioned the annual audit had been submitted to the Society. The auditor presented his annual report to only the Finance Committee in May. I requested a copy of the audit. An employee emailed it to me a few days later on June 22. Reporting on this website has taught me (the hard way) to read the auditor's notes in financial statements as that is where the "dirt" often is found. Sure enough, there it was, buried in Note 15:
JJ has covered enough bond issues to know that spending bond funds on other than the stated purpose of the bonds is a big, yuge no-no. The Kingfish talked to several people he respects over the weekend who are learned in such matters as well as legal counsel. He notified the State Auditor on Monday morning, June 25, 2018.
Upon performing compliance procedures, it was discovered that during the fiscal year 2017 the Zoo had spent $395,000 of these funds on operations. This is not in compliance with the agreement with the Department of Finance and Administration. The Zoo repaid the $395,000 to the Zoo Improvement Fund cash account in December 2017.
* The meeting be-bops along for a few minutes until the Board gets the financial report. Mention is made of a transfer from an "improvement fund." See, the monthly reports provided to Board didn't use the word "bonds." The bond funds were instead referred to as "improvement funds", "loan repayment", "line of credit", "loan proceeds", or similar terms. One would have to read the notes in the annual audit to discover what those terms really were. George Orwell's essay on the English language immediately comes to mind.
* Somewhere in the meeting, the Director is asked how long this has been going on and how much the first use of the bond funds was. The Director said around four years and $100,000. At the time, we simply didn't know how long this had been taking place. I called the audit firm to get past audits but the firm refused to provide them and told me to contact the Director. I found out from DFA Director Laura Jackson a week later that the misuse started nine years ago when the zoo got its first bond funds during the director's tenure.
* The misuse of the bond funds was not illegal per se as there is no state statute that bars the practice. However, DFA requires the recipient to sign an iron-clad agreement that gives DFA the authority to demand immediate repayment (and collect) if the misuse of funds are discovered.
* The city's representative on the Board, Parks & Recreation Director Ison Harris, did his best imitation of a pet rock. While some of us confronted the Director over the bond funds, he didn't say a word. Keep that in mind when the Mayor thunders loudly over how the Director and Society screwed things up. The Mayor and his rep on the Board got the same audits and ignored them. When push came to shove, they were nowhere to be found as they were more than happy to let me do their dirty work for them while slamming me in the media. Remember that the next time Zeus opens his mouth to thunder about the zoo. The truth is, Harris looked at times as if he was in over his head in that meeting. Little Lord Lumumba is very good at taking credit and blaming others.
* Some people will get mad that the recording was made. Others will get mad that it is posted on this website. I simply don't care what they think and make no apologies for anything. Period. This is the public's zoo and the public has a right to know what took place.
* The Committee took no action. It finally took action a week later - after the City Council made it clear in a private meeting that it would not bail out the zoo unless the Director left employment. The Committee placed her on leave with pay as week later. The President refused to call a special board meeting. She finally resigned but was allowed to collect pay for several more days.
* Simply put, the Board and its members over the years, including City Council President Virgi Lindsey, simply ignored the audits and allowed the Director have carte blanche control of everything. Indeed, Ms. Lindsey opposed every attempt I made at providing transparency to the Board but that is a story for another day. Indeed, Ms. Lindsey sat through reports of bond misuse and never once raised a question.
* The Director met with Mayor Tony Yarber in an attempt to get him to withdraw my nomination back in 2017. Any questions why she went to such trouble to keep someone off of the Board of a piddlin', little non-profit organization? Mayor Yarber said on the radio that just made him more determined to make the appointment as it raised his suspicions.
One further note: No evidence has been ever found that Ms. Poff personally profited from the use of any state bond funds. I think she was just trying to keep the zoo afloat through any means necessary. The problem is by doing so, the financial condition of the Zoo was much worse when a reckoning finally came.
Kingfish note: A reader made this comment when yours truly criticized how the President of the Palisades HOA handled the Ridgway Lane scandal:
You, MR. SMART ASS, are on the phucked up, irresponsible Zoo Board. Great job, you incompetent POS. Glass house, Glass House, GLASS HOUSE. How much did the ED misappropriate under YOUR watch, Mr. "I approved her"?Well, I am so glad you asked that question, since I never "approved her." Actually, I'm the one who turned in the Director? Don't believe me? Listen for yourself.
25 comments:
Get 'em Kingfish!! When I'm on the City Council, then I can do more for you.
meanwhile...the zoo is still closed to the public.
how can Hattiesburg keep a zoo going? (or monroe la for that matter..)
jackson missed a chance to make it leaner and more meaningful..over pride and the illusion of 'economic developement for west jackson'
The zoo is not closed.
It is called Jackson.
DAMN!
1. Yarbers one accomplishment- appointing Kingfish
2. This should scare every board member of every organization around town. You better be keeping up with whats going on financially.
3. Kingfish is an absolute force to be reckoned with. You dont have to like him but you better be ready when he starts investigating
Jackson is a zoo!
Kingfish, correct me if I am wrong though I don't think I am, but wasn't Joanne Prichard Morris a member of the Zoo board and, if memory serves, she also served a stint as President of the same board. Maybe that explains the pressure to keep you off the board since Morris is connected to Donna Ladd at the hip. That also probably explains the inability of the JFP to practice any of that "tough-love accountability journalism" Ms. Ladd is always crowing about regarding the shenanigans going on at the Zoo.
Antar Lumumba's Jackson Zoo housing Jackson's $6,000,000 animal collection has now been closed for FIFTY days.
Sell the animals and use the $6,000,000 to fix Jacktown's infrastructure.
For those of you who are products of the JPS, infrastructure in this case means the water system, roads, etc.
Takes a lot a grown man tools to be anonymous 😂😂.
Public agency using bonds to raise money for one purpose and spending the money for something else is not legal. Do the full faith and credit of City attach to these bonds?
At some point the city is going to have to admit that no legitimate company is going to take on the zoo because the most recent numbers make it a losing business plan. Lumumba is going to have to do some soul searching and realize the demographic he wants to rule doesn't have the money to support certain amenities that require discretionary income. To make the City of Jackson, or any city for that matter,succeed you have to market to everyone instead of your voter base. Especially when your voter base can't support nice things.
12:41, this was state bond money. The state doles out funds for capital projects all over the state at the end of every legislative session. The question should be, why did the Zoo sit on state bond money for 9 years and why didn't the state follow up to see if it had actually been used on the capital project for which it was intended. ZERO accountability by the state for this (and every other) bond money give away.
Heck, bloggers The Zoo is a lot better place than Jackson. I never seen one animal at the Zoo bust a cap on another animal. I just luv my deep state HUMOR!
I liked the call out of School Board for lack of business sense.
I can say that I don't envy the position you put yourself in as whistle blower. Especially since you look like the bad guy for getting the zoo shut down. The city gets to parade this around as a short-term win when they can't even budget (or stop looting) to pay for water and roads.
I also wonder how the shut down of the Zoo affected the donors perceptions of Jackson. Can't imagine it helped.
I want you in my board room. That was incredible.
Also, you sat amongst idiots in that room.
Does anyone here see a path to the zoo ever reopening? The city can't afford it and I don't see how it would make sense to a private company if it is as unprofitable as the numbers make it look.
Are the animals still being well cared for ?
12:41, so the State is granting money which it has borrowed though a bond to the City of Jackson or is there a repayment requirement?? Either way it must be spend according to the purpose for what want intended.
We need to have a conversation about the conversation that we're not having and include all of the conversations that haven't occured in the conversation we haven't had yet, but I want to have a separate conversation before we have the other conversation.
How about have an understanding before the conversation that we're F--G broke.
The word "conversation" has evolved into government speak meaning "we're not gonna do shit about the problem".
@ 12:57, say it louder for the people in the back.
@2:44PM
I'm of two minds. And a
1) Yes they will try to re-open attendance will still be anemic because of location. It will stay open for a year or so and then close down permanently as the cost of repair will vastly outstrip the revenue of attendance.
2) ZoOceanarium nopes out after running the numbers and dumps the Zoo on the City. The city jawbones about re-opening the zoo maybe goes through with it but then you're back at Option 1.
There is a third I just thought of: ZoOceanarium is a money laundering operation so they do open the zoo and it stays open though it suffers the same money hemorrhaging problems as usual. It stays open so long as the dirty money comes in.
I am not an optimist.
The Mayor said a few months ago the zoo had no problem drawing people to special events such as beer events.
However, attendance for ice cream safari is down 1,200 from two years ago although it still draws a pretty good crowd.
The city will reopen the zoo in some form or fashion. The Mayor has taken this whole thing personally. There is no way he will keep it closed permanently. He will beg, borrow, or steal funds to reopen it even if just for six months. He has never faced this much criticism before. He will reopen it.
Kingfish that is just not fiscal reality. The city ran off their tax base, has been hostile to people wanting to help, and would rather manage a pile of ashes than let someone not in their circle have a say. Platitudes about self determination have to be backed up with competency and results or else they are just empty words no better than the old boss.
Thanks for posting this KF. It was eye opening. What is sad to me is that several people in this meeting sounded like they resented being lectured to about doing what is right, especially by someone (you) who actually digged into the data and was rightfully sounded an alarm.
You have no idea.
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