Monday, January 18, 2021

Why is the A.G. Protecting Canton Corruption?

 Attorney General Lynn Fitch assumed her office a year ago yet she has still not sued to recover $101,829 from Canton Municipal Utilities former employees and commissioners.  State Auditor Shad White issued several demands to repay the funds for an improper severance payment and credit card payments. 

 JJ broke the news of the illegal settlement payment.  JJ submitted a public records request for a copy of the settlement agreement and settlement payment but CMU denied the request.  CMU attorney Ed Blackmon said the requested documents were personnel records and thus exempted from the Public Records Act. However, the Ethics Commission, Attorney General, and a Hinds County Chancery Court have all ruled settlement agreements with government bodies are public record. CMU provided the records a few days after receiving service of the lawsuit.

The records showed CMU paid Mr. Jones $75,000 even though he never sued CMU nor filed a grievance after the Board terminated his position as Executive Director. State law prohibits severance payment to government employees.  Earlier post. 

 State Auditor Shad White took the ball and ran with it.  He issued a demand against former Canton Municipal Utilities Executive Director Kenneth Wayne Jones for $78,612.81, which includes an illegal severance settlement agreement paid by Canton Municipal Authority to Jones. 

 The State Auditor can issued demands to repay public funds to public officials.  However, the Attorney General is tasked with taking legal action to recover the funds.  It is no surprise Attorney General Jim Hood took no action against Mr. Jones or any other CMU cronies as CMU has been a Blackmon playground for quite some time.  Unfortunately, General Fitch has copied the Jim Hood playbook while the State Auditor's demand letters collect dust on her desk.

However, the demand issued against Mr. Jones is not the only one in timeout over at the Attorney General's day care center.  

JJ reported on January 30, 2018: 

 This edition of As CMU Turns began in 2013 when Canton Alderman Les Penn moved at a Board of Aldermen meeting to remove CMU Commissioners Landers Cheeks,  Cleotha Williams, Shoney Harris, and L.C. Slaughter.  The fired Commissioners sued the city of Canton in Madison County Circuit Court and lost.  Judge William Chapman ruled in 2015 that the removal was not arbitrary and capricious but was supported by evidence that the Aldermen had legitimate concerns about the operation of the public utility.

Cheeks and his merry band of rejects also sued for an injunction in Madison County Circuit Court in a separate lawsuit.  The court denied the petition for an injunction.  The losers didn't take no for an answer but appealed to the Court of Appeals, lost, and appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court where they lost again. 

Attorneys Ellis Turnage and Adrienne Wooten represented the deposed Commissioners in the first lawsuit.   Ed Blackmon and Ellis Turnage represented the plaintiffs in the petition for the injunction.  Adrienne Wooten represented Landres Cheeks as well.   They lost every round in court.

However, the CMU board approved paying the legal fees of these commissioners even though CMU was not a party to the lawsuits and the commissioners were private citizens when the lawsuits were filed.  The judge did not award attorney's fees to the plaintiffs since they lost.  However, the CMU Board of Commissioners voted to pay the claims docket at the March 7, 2017 and March 21 meetings that included payments of  $85,662 to attorneys Ellis Turnage, Adrienne Wooten, and Tamekia Goliday.*  CMU issued the checks on the same day as the approval of the claims docket.   Ms. Wooten and Ms. Goliday submitted invoices for work performed in 2013.  Mr. Turnage billed for work from 2013 to 2015.  It should be noted that Commissioners Slaughter and Williams voted on paying the claims docket even though it included payments to their personal attorneys who represented them in the Canton lawsuits.  However, this is Canton where laws and ethics are suspended.  

The invoices state that most of the billed work was performed in 2013.  Ms. Wooten's invoice that her work was last performed on July 31, 2013 while Ms. Goliday's invoice states was last performed on July 12, 2013.  Mr. Turnage billed for 231 hours but 97 hours were billed after March 7, 2014 so the payment for those hours fell within the three-year statute of limitations although 134 hours were billed after the statute of limitations expired.

*Here are the invoiced amounts:

Wooten: $11,550
Goliday: $4,120
Turnage: $69,992

 Then-State Auditor Stacey Pickering stated in a March 8, 2018 press release: 

Today, OSA Special Agents presented civil demands to five current members of the Canton Municipal Utilities Board of Commissioners. Cleotha Williams, Charles Weems, L.C. Slaughter, Charles Morgan, and Cleveland Anderson were all served demands of $19,192.77, each. The total amount for the demands against the commissioners is $95,963.85, which includes principle, interest, and investigative costs.

The demands are related to Canton Municipal Utilities commissioners spending public funds to pay personal legal fees during a time they were not serving on the Canton Municipal Utilities Board of Commissioners.

The case will be delivered to the Attorney General of Mississippi for civil suit if the subjects of the demand do not respond within thirty days.  Earlier post.
The Attorney General has not sued any of the attorneys or former Commissioners to repay the funds.

Kingfish note: Just curious, did the A.G. mention anything about prosecuting public corruption when she ran for office? 


46 comments:

Anonymous said...

Because she is an empty suit. She hires liberal law clerks. And generally doesn’t know what she was elected to do.

Anonymous said...

KF: pay attention, she appointed the first solicitor general! A monumental accomplishment!

Anonymous said...

Alright, is it finally time to make a list of all the things Lynn has failed to do????

It would be less labor intensive to just make a list of all the things she HAS done. Why make a long list when you can make a short one.

Anonymous said...

She hasn’t done anything. She rarely comes to Sillers. Hood didn’t either, but at least he pretended to have an office in Houston.

Anonymous said...

As another commenter recently noted, she has been surprisingly bipartisan. She recruited several AUSA’s who were too liberal for Hurst and being forced out. She also tapped a few liberal law clerks from COA and MSSC with no actual experience. For instance, the attorney running criminal appeals clerked for McCarty, the liberal who beat Judge Weil for a seat on COA.

Anonymous said...

I think the answer to KF's original question is "pandering."

Anonymous said...

She knows she won’t be held accountable by the voters and it shows. As long as she gives lip service to conservative and Christian issues, she can ride the gravy train into the sunset without lifting a finger.

Anonymous said...

Did you reach out to her communications director for comment? Try using Snap, that’s how teenagers connect these days.

Anonymous said...

50 years ago CMU was double dealing and off limits. Has it ever been cleaned up? I guess it pays to have lawyers in on the wrong doing.

Anonymous said...

In the face of a do nothing Ag, can we not give the auditor prosecution power?

Anonymous said...

a color barrier

Anonymous said...

Welllllll if she is drinking at noon like other employees what do we expect?

Anonymous said...

Apparently, the way to make money in Madison County is to get elected, misappropriate money, then hire Ed Blackmon. Next, don’t pay (Except Blackmon’s fees, possibly which might also be paid with county funds). I remember that fiasco with CMU, and judgements (at least some still unpaid). There were also rumors of premiums being paid to a CMU board member for a non existent “Tornado” policy.

Anonymous said...

Since 2000, CMU ILLEGALLY transferred over $22 million to the city of canton. Most was under John Wallace. That info from testimony in the Gluckstadt incorporation and Canton Annexation documents.

Anonymous said...

Y’all CMU is peanuts. Lynn is suing China. Papers have been served on the owner of China King Buffet, progress! Next, she is overturning the Pennsylvania election. The citizens of Pennsylvania elected her to protect them from ANTIFA.

Just be patient. She will get to the Canton situation as soon as someone shops her the complaint. It’s not her fault this situation is not high on breitbart’s priority list and no one has presented her with a complaint to file.

Anonymous said...

What is it going take place to light a fire under this woman! I’m in agreement with the other poster and give more power to the State Auditor! He has another (big!!!) case he is working on and the girls club is sandbagging.

Anonymous said...

Per her campaign signs, she's just "For Mississippi", so she may not be "For Canton".

Anonymous said...

KF:: looks like you are screening posts again. Censorship much?
Post all the comments

Anonymous said...

but..she'll be reelected!

HeMan said...

Governor Lynn Fitch... get ready

Kingfish said...

Actually, crybaby, I"ve only rejected one comment. Yours. Why? Because it was about a certain engineer who is nothing whatsoever to do with these stories of CMU. None. Write a comment that is about the subject of the post and it will be approved.

Anonymous said...

Fitch won’t be Governor:
1. Governor’s have to sign things.
2. Governor’s have to speak in public
3. Governor’s in the south can’t be divorcées unless you’re Fordice. Lynn isn’t Fordice

Anonymous said...

Sixty Minutes showing up at your door step use to be the worst day imaginable ever. Now is it Shad White! What a great public servant that actually does his job.

Anonymous said...

Fitch got support because she was the one who'd be easiest to unseat in the next election. She's entirely unqualified for the job and everyone knows it. However, Baker is ruthless and would've used the power of the office for himself and to make a run for higher office. Taggart is a nice guy, but he was in it as a blocker and got a late start.

Fitch is merely a placeholder for one term. She'll spend her 4 years "making history" for this or that while only hiring and promoting people with vaginas, but when the next election rolls around she'll be out on her ass.

You'll see soon enough who we're supposed to vote for in 2023....

Anonymous said...

Lynn’s defenders are absent today. Oh right it’s a holiday so her Comms team is off

Kingfish said...

She is a pretty good campaigner.

Anonymous said...

Blackmon probably took her to lunch at the original Penn's.
Bought her some fried pickles . . . and then explained how things work in Canton.


HeMan said...

First female Governor of MS... write it down @3:27

Anonymous said...

Shad did all the work for her. All she has to do is follow through and do her job! Maybe Shad needs to take a look at her finances and the way her office is handling them. Birds of a feather flock together. The corruption in Canton has been going on way too long!

SheWoman said...

@3:02 what century are living in? Girl power is the future. We coming.

Anonymous said...

She is just another "empty kitchen."

Anonymous said...

11:01 comment is the best!! I literally lol’d

Anonymous said...

You rednecks can't stand a strong woman, can you? 🤣
She's about as conservative as they come, but she knows to get things done and that you shouldn't be partisan in office.

Anonymous said...

@6:51

If Fitch is a “strong woman” who “gets things done” then she is also a master of disguise

Anonymous said...

Graft, corruption and greed... on would think Grisham had ghost written this tale.

Anonymous said...

just because the auditor says it, does not mean it is adjudicated, you fucking idiot!

Anonymous said...

6:51
Elected Redneck here, please list some accomplishments, other than brick walling Shad ?

Anonymous said...

I’m extremely conservative and will not vote for her again; she is not qualified to be the AG. She has a law degree but would you hire a proctologist to be your cardiovascular surgeon; they are both doctors.

Anonymous said...

..."Way to Go ECHO!"....

GirlPower said...

@7:23am
That’s a tired old joke...
All things in moderation including conservatism.

@10:54
AGFitch has revamped an office crippled by the ole boys clubs of the past.
And please tell Shat White to take on some real problems like Hinds or Claiborne County, and less time seeking publicity by going after low hanging fruit. But I understand, it’s fun to always win the press conference and then hand the case off to his friendly local DA.

Anonymous said...

@4:03
Sour grapes much? And low hanging fruit? What like the multi million dollar dhs scandal. I believe that the scandal qualifies as a case of statewide interest, yet Ag had no involvement.

Anonymous said...

Revamp, make irrelevant, same difference

Anonymous said...

Attorney General Shad White with prosecutorial power.

Only pro football players would be safe.

Anonymous said...

10:54, Fitch "revamped" the office by running off almost all of the lawyers there who were capable, as well as a few who weren't, and replaced them with lawyers who don't know the areas of law they are practicing in. As someone said above, the head of the criminal division is a prime example, as well as the many new lawyers in that division. But the criminal division is becoming a maternity ward, so there's that. Fitch ran off decades of accumulated knowledge and experience in that division and in others. Call it a "good ole boys club" if you will, but every AG in the past understood the necessity of having a core staff of capable attorneys who were experienced in their areas. Some areas of law the AG deals with are highly specialized, not something most lawyers have any experience in. So I think it was a bad mistake to run off those who knew what they were doing and to replace them with lawyers who will have to learn from the ground up. While there may be a few lawyers left in the civil litigation division (the head of that division under Hood left the office not long ago--one of the better lawyers in that office) able to try a civil case, none remain in the criminal litigation areas who are able to try a case.

Anonymous said...

Fitch is such a joke.

Anonymous said...

@8:03

Jokes are funny


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