A Jackson City Councilman said Hinds County District Jody Owens and several out of state "investors" met with him in February to discuss the convention center hotel and related projects.
Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote told JJ this afternoon that a scheduler for the District Attorney contacted him in mid-February to set up a meeting between Mr. Foote, Mr. Owens, and a group of out of town "investors" for February 29 at the Capital Club. Mr. Foote agreed to the meeting.
Mr. Owens, his staffer, and four "investors" met Mr. Foote from 11:30 to 1:00 at the scheduled time. Khakis, not suits were the order of the day as the investors wore business casual attire.
The meeting opened with a discussion of reducing blighted properties in Jackson, a subject near and dear to the Councilman's heart. After a few minutes, Mr. Owens and friends got down to the business of their business. Mr. Foote said it was "odd" the District Attorney set up such a meeting as "his forte is law enforcement," not economic development.
"Their deal was they were interested in investing in Jackson. They mentioned retail stuff, also a convention hotel. We were right there where you could over look it," said Mr. Foote. The group stood at the window looking down on the convention center as they discussed the convention center hotel. They used the vantage point to look at other "empty properties" in downtown Jackson. "You could see all the empty properties that surround the convention center," continued the Councilman.
The purpose of the meeting was "for them trying to find out how to get business done in Jackson. That's kind of what they wanted to know. How does Jackson work? How do we get things done here was the underlying theme of the discussion," said Mr. Foote.
"I wasn't suspicious at all but what struck me was that um, they didn't have the real smooth presentation delivery that you normally expect folks trying to make big expensive investments to have. I've been in the investment business for 40 years so I've seen presentation all across the country of companies trying to sell stuff. They've got it down to a science. I'm used to seeing people, if you're investing hundreds of millions of dollars or more, you've got a particular delivery, you're trying to engage people and get their feedback, it's how you do it if you are trying to make a presentation. They didn't strike me as seasoned presenters," said the Ward 1 Councilman.
They did not present any handouts nor business cards to Mr. Foote.
"We talked about how Jackson needs investment. You could look out the window and see we benefit from investors coming in and building a hotel or retail or any of those things we are interested in. The sense I got was Jody was going to line up meetings with the other Council people," said Mr. Foote. He said he did not know if such meetings occurred.
Mr. Foote concluded, "We're trying to find the people that can make things happen in Jackson. We are investors. They mentioned the convention center hotel and retail. We didn't really get much into the specifics. And then one of the things that was striking was as we got to the close of the meeting, they mentioned they, Jody and some of the members there, were going to look specifically at the convention center and other things but they didn't invite me. I was just struck they seemed blase about my interest."
The West Point graduate said he never heard from Mr. Owens nor the "investors" since the Capital Club meeting. He said he runs into the District Attorney "socially" but they have not returned to the subject of the meeting.
The meeting took place a few weeks after the city issued a new request for qualificationss for a convention center hotel on January 31, 2024. The city has issued several RFP's over the years but has been unable to attract more than a few casual nibbles on the convention center hotel project.
Kingfish note: Why is the District Attorney getting involved in Jackson economic development?
74 comments:
That’s it? The bar just dropped significantly
Owens obviously has altruistic motives. Right?
So SoDoSoPa.
Does anyone think they were trying to feel out Mr. Foote to see IF he could be bribed?
Could it be that we have the clown show version of the Bond Pimp/NYC bankers from back in Harvey’s day? And at least Melton’s hotel folk from Texas actually had a company, TCI.
Thanks for posting, KF. Getting the popcorn.
Mr. Foote tryin to get ahead of this monumental sh!t storm brewing. They all weirdin out with the Feds all over the place.
Looks like the grifters were testing Foote and he wasn’t playing. Good for him.
I think they were looking for another conduit, some way to work around the mayor, who they no doubt perceive as stupid, greedy, and obviously compromised. And likely "hot" now in the eyes of federal law enforcement.
KF, thanks for keeping us informed. You are an unsung hero in our community and we are very fortunate to have your reporting. You continue to ride circles around the local legacy media.
"What's it take to get things done in this town? This table sure is greasy." Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
Looks like we are in the beginning stages of a YUGE scandal. I look forward to the future Dateline episodes about this. POPCORN
Dude if the man has people willing to buy up blighted properties! In Jackson?! Forget the feds, bring these people back here before they change their mind
While the FBI is in town come on to Madison County and round up the Board of Supervisors.
This going to be too good.
We're still watching the prologue to this play.
Act One has yet to start.
That’s an ambitious project for a city that, less than two years ago, went a month without water for no good reason other than rank mismanagement. I wonder how The Westin folks feel about it.
I can’t help but wonder who those “investors” were.
Good for Mr. Foote. He knew it was shady.
A bribe to get to build a convention center hotel? Who in their right mind would invest in a hotel next to the convention center? Have you been in it lately? Last August MHSAA staged a volleyball tournament there. Half the lights were out. They literally couldn’t figure out how to get the lights on. Those investors were either idiots or undercover agents trying to entrap local politicians.
"They didn't have the real smooth presentation delivery that you normally expect folks trying to make big expensive investments". They don't teach real estate development at the Academy in Quantico. This is what they call a Gillum operation. Why Owens? He must have had his own FOR SALE sign out. Did he get paid $$$ in the secret room with the hidden door? Stay tuned.
6:26
“Entrap”? A dangle is not entrapment.
This is so odd. Good on Foote for telling this to Kingfish.
-they were not investors. Looking for who to bribe, did not present any handouts nor business cards.
-DA should have nothing to do with 'economic development" matters so what was he really doing?
-"the meeting took place a few weeks after the city issued a new request for qualifications for a convention center hotel on January 31, 2024." Hmmm.
Good reporting, Kingfish. Keep it up.
Another Greasy Palms Story said...
Owens obviously has altruistic motives. Right?
Don't stop there. What is Foote's motive? Does he just want his name in the news?
They could have been the Feds.
They could have been amateur investors.
Why would they feel the need to pay someone off so they could clear blight and build a hotel? That investment would not be that attractive to the investors.
I think there is nothing to see here.
Foote didn't come to me, sleaze. I went to him to ask questions about the rfq. It came out in our conversation. He mentioned it in passing and then I started asking more questions. Happy?
Where is the potential grift in this "feel them out" meeting? I initially think it's an attempt to not invest anything at all, but to wrest 'free' control of the Convention Center to use for a pyramid scheme. They were all waiting for Foote to ask: "So what's in it for me?", which may have been a cut later.
Suspicion: The same business-casual attired actors have previously interacted with Owens in some shady grifting.
Scammers love to come to MS to hustle “investment” money off of the dumb folks in charge. Jackson gets hit hard by these types. Right?
crime is off the charts in hinds county.
since when does the elected DA have the time to host 'investors' and engage in downtown development and run his cigar and daiquiri bar?
ive practiced criminal law in jackson since 1988. i have never laid eyes on owens , anywhere.
its like that scene from the wizard of oz, where dorthey tells the guard ''i want to see the wizard'' and the guard says ''you can't see the wizard.....ive never even seen the wizard''.
"Why is the District Attorney getting involved in Jackson economic development?"
Because the DA owns the downtown cigar store, the pizza place, and the night club. He stands to make a lot of money.
0
ive practiced law in jackson for over 30 years
ive never laid eyes on this owens fellow
its like that scene from the wizard of oz where dorethy tells the guard ''i want to see the wizard'' and the guard retorts ''you can't see the wizard......ive never even seen the wizard''.
Jody owns a couple of buildings/businesses adjacent to the vacant properties. He likely would benefit from a development there. It's not illegal to want to help enhance your assets. Beyond that you have to engage in wild, unsupported speculation to see any wrongdoing here.
May 25, 2024 at 11:12 PM
Have you considered these people might have been a front for money laundering? Feds don't get involved unless it's something like that.
The only reason I could think of, for investors to be meeting with the district attorney, would be if my investments were on the wrong side of the law. The phrase, what does it take to get business done in this town, has a totally different meaning when viewed from this position. Need I say more? Good on Mr. Foote, if he was aware of the bait, for not biting.
9:58
You keep telling yourself that Dees !
Those investors smell like feds, but now they are going after Owens, who may have been snitching for the feds who were trying to collar Mr. Foote.
Who could make this stuff up?
The bottom line is after the feds started snooping around last week the paper shredders, burn barrels, and their electronic equivalent (bleach bit) are working overtime. Right? Right?
Bill Dees, the FBI just raided Jody Owen’s’ business; that greatly reduces the need for “wild, unsupported speculation” in this case. This is like one of those movies that, well into the movie, finally ties together the earlier scenes and clues so they all make sense. We just haven’t yet reached that point in this movie.
Sounds like the makings of another John Grisham book.....
The idea that the "investors" were under cover FBI is interesting and not farfetched considering current lawfare warfare against abortion protestors, parents fighting school boards and conservative politicians.
Convention Center developments requiring City loan guarantees have been busts in desperate cities across the country that worsened during the pandemic and remain expensive losers.
Betcha they didn’t try that shit with Stokes. He would have been tellin it before he got off the elevator!
New film about Jackson to be released on HBO in 2025.
"The Wired"
Based on the facts presented thus far, it is apparent that the FBI clearly engaged in entrapment. This case will not get off the ground. Look forward to the Feds having lots of egg on their faces.
An honest developer probably can't get thru the approval process in Democrat controlled cities without paying a CONsultant. I know one that tried to do a real estate project in Atlanta one time and gave up after 2 years of making payments. You can't fight city hall but you sure can fund the people in charge.
The FBI conduct a raid on an elected official's office. Bill Dees says, that's just wild speculation. This Dees fellow ain't all there, is he?
Bill Dees, I'm still trying to figure out if you are an attorney, since about four days ago you wrote "I practiced law with Jody for years." If so, in which state are you licensed?
The convention center hotel looks to me like Chockwe Lumumba's version of Harvey Johnson's Siemens deal on his way out the door - load the city of with debt that's supposed to pay for itself, but never will, and all those connected get big-time paid.
The fact that they were driving black suburbans, wearing dark sunglasses and ear buds, and carrying J. Edgar's biography might have been clues.
Y’all take it easy on Bill Dees; we don’t want him quitting the blog again.
@11:28 AM (troll) - You don't have a clue of what entrapment is. Please cite some cases where entrapment was a successful defense.
I'll wait.
Jody, Jody, Jody.
12:32, I didn’t think it was possible to reference both Cary Grant and Goober Pyle with just three words (actually one word repeated) but congratulations - good one.
Kingfish, Kingfish, pants on fire.
See Table 2-4. Of the ten largest employers in Metro Jackson, nine are government or hospitals (which wouldn't survive a week without government money and favorable regulation). Number nine was AT&T with 1,200 employees.
#1 State of Mississippi is almost triple the amount for #2.
This is not good.
The window for a convention center hotel in Jackson closed ten years ago. Anybody floating ideas about a convention center hotel today is just a pretender looking for grants, loans and guarantees. Even the experienced grifters wouldn’t touch this one.
No business cards. No presentation skills. Asking questions like, “how do you do business in this town?” This was a STING operation by the Feds. FBI has guys that travel the country in groups doing certain specific jobs. This is their white collar crime group. Usually these guys don’t stay in these jobs long enough to get real good at their cover. They eventually leave cause of being on the road so much. They have one group that does nothing but wiretap/computer hack type work which they may have been here already.
12:54, You do know Jackson is the seat of state government, don’t you?
Where’s Fitch and/or White? Do we pay elected officials to work on enhancing their personal property while on county/state time? Using staff to schedule meetings for personal agenda? I’m no lawyer or anything, but seems like an easy case to link up.
Whenever the DA responds to this article, no doubt he'll claim he doesn't remember such a meeting as described here.
If these guys were federal agents, how do you explain them linking up with the D.A., of all people.
Would you not expect the highest elected law enforcement officer in the county to spook anybody who sat down for a chat with these guys?
I hope the Mayor, DA, et al are smart enough to realize that every single penny given to them to make things happen has a documented and photographed serial number. I am hearing amounts over $100,000 each and they did a piss poor job of hiding the proceeds from the legal "entrapment". Who in the hell is dumb enough to keep ill gotten greed money in their office at city hall hidden in plain site? Stokes for Mayor because even he is smarter than this.
We’re these just lower tier financial investors that were looking for someone besides Sistah Rukia to funnel their influence dollars through? Maybe they think Chuckles LeMumbles won’t be in power when their project takes place so they need to find other avenues to insert kickbacks and influence???
We were all talking about this at work, how could anyone fall for this sting?
Big money people never act like this. They meet at places that can't be quietly bugged, deer camps, cabins, nature trails, boats, bike paths.
Not downtown across the street. Oh brother, where art thou common sense?
This was an obvious FBI nest trap.
You can bet, there's some arrests coming down soon.
If I were in a meeting like this I would want to get names of the people I met with and I would keep notes of it. Seems like a rather memorable meeting.
" they didn't invite me. I was just struck they seemed blase about my interest."
That's funny.
Seems Mr. Foote may be a little upset about not being invited to the back room "discussions".
But then again, he would be out place on a Miami yacht.
How did that hotel work out for the downtown Marriott?
"Would you not expect the highest elected law enforcement officer in the county to spook anybody who sat down for a chat with these guys?"
No, I would not. Not in Jackson, where the DA owns and operates a downtown bar, literally with a secret back room, so I've heard.
Also, I hate to nitpick, but I'm pretty sure "the highest elected law enforcement officer in the county" is the sheriff, not the District Attorney. But hey, a recent candidate for that office appears to be at the center of his own federal investigation as well.
Like Macy, I too am surprised that Foote didn't get names and make notes right after the meeting. Or maybe he did . . .
So, 8:37, to recap your post:
1. You disagree with one comment.
2. You agree with another comment.
3. You nitpick another comment.
People with no original thoughts are a dime a dozen.
This would be very amateur work if it was FBI meeting. Not to mention they would never target a dem run majority black city without something very bad and obvious happening to force them to come to town. I think Jody and them have done some super dumbass stuff and the feds had no choice but to come do their job.
May 27, 2024 at 8:52 AM,
Pride comes before the fall. T sounds like they got way too cocky and truly felt they would never be investigated.
Settle down people. The secret room is just a place to put the slot machines. Just like every other bar in Ms. If there is a bar they have a secret room. If they do not have one they will not be able to stay in business.
18 USC 666. Under this Federal Code wasn’t there a time that JPD had Federal funds pulled for not reporting crime stats or the COJ? This has happened before when crimes and cities let it get so deplorable, dangerous for all living within miles of metro areas.I do known the Feds will pop you for misuse of funds or transferring line items within the State of Mississippi budget. Remember Chockwe kept accusing Governor Reeves of this in the Jackson water, sewer crisis. There was absolutely NO PROOF this ever happened. I pray all this BS is found removing Any and All involved with the corruption others have tried deflecting and redirecting to Fine men like Ted Henefin who has gone above and beyond to help people he never met or knew living in the COJ, which is more than I can say about Richard’s Garbage. You have our blessing for seeing this investigation through!
May be the only "secret room" ever discovered with a Notary Public and a hidden safe.
Business casual in 2024 is suspicious? Real estate tire kicking with influential public officials is suspicious? “Beginner” investors interested in Jackson are suspicious? Maybe this tale will eventually factor into a criminal narrative but, by itself, it’s a big juicy nothingburger.
Yeah, a great big nothingburger. Except the DA's office and business just got raided by the FBI. Maybe they just like burgers.
What if money was paid to various elected officials and that same money was retrieved during the FBI raid ? That would be a triple meat bacon cheese jalapeño burger. They can’t hide behind the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. Nothing is safe when the Feds come calling. Game of Clue anyoe?
4:42
Any "Investor" looking for a legit project would avoid Convention Centers in desperate cities. Too much bad history easily accessible.
Yup. Very low bar, #1.
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