JJ reviewed public records and determined Madison County paid board attorney Eric Hamer $654,699 in fees since July of 2008. The Board of Supervisors hired Mr. Hamer in January, 2008. The fees were obtained through public records request and a review of the online claims docket. Mr. Hamer's average monthly fee is $24,248 (See bottom of post for listing of all claims and related calculations).
Section 19-3-47 of the Mississippi Code states:
"(a) The board of supervisors shall have the power, in its discretion, to employ counsel by the year at an annual salary at an amount that it deems proper, not to exceed the maximum annual amount authorized by law for payment to a member of the board."
A board can thus hire an attorney for one-year terms and can't be paid more than a Supervisor. The statute does allow for special work that needs to be done:
"(b) The board of supervisors shall have the power, in its discretion, to employ counsel in all civil cases in which the county is interested, including eminent domain proceedings, the examination and certification of title to property the county is acquiring and in criminal cases against a county officer for malfeasance or dereliction of duty in office, when by the criminal conduct of the officer the county may be liable to be affected pecuniarily, with the counsel to conduct the proceeding instead of the district attorney, or in conjunction with him, and to pay the counsel out of the county treasury or the road fund that may be involved reasonable compensation, or if counsel so employed is retained on an annual basis as provided in this subsection, reasonable additional compensation for his services."
The Attorney General has chimed in more than once on how a county attorney is to be treated. The 2004 Flanders opinion states:
"May the county pay the Board Attorney on an hourly basis for all his services?
No. Section 19-3-47 requires the Board of Supervisors to pay its Board attorney an annual salary. In the event that the Board of Supervisors finds that there are special cases or circumstances which are not within the scope of the duties of the regular board attorney; that additional legal services are reasonable and necessary for conducting the county's business; and spreads such findings on its minutes, the board has the discretion to hire either the board attorney or another attorney on an hourly fee contract to attend to those additional legal needs. MS AG Op., Wolfe (May 11, 2001).
The opinion also states Mr. Hamer is an employee:
"Is the county board attorney an employee or not?
Yes. Section 19-3-47(1)(a) states that the board of supervisors “may employ” counsel at an “annual salary.” Thus, counsel for a board of supervisors is a county employee and not an independent contractor."
Flanders also states the attorney is to be employed from year to year:
"Based on the above cited statute, it is our opinion that employment of a county board attorney pursuant to Section 19-3-47(1)(a) is for a one year term. Termination of such board attorney prior to expiration of the one year may only be for cause and due process must be afforded. MS AG Op., Hall (August 9, 2002)."
Then-Attorney General Mike Moore reinforced this opinion with his own in the 2002 Hall opinion:
"Based on the above cited language, it is our opinion that employment of a county board attorney pursuant to 19-3-47(1)(a) is for a one year term. Termination of such board attorney prior to expiration of the one year may only be for cause and due process must be afforded"
The Madison County Board of Supervisors did not hire Mr. Hamer as prescribed by Flanders, Hall, or the statute. The minutes from the January 28,2008 meeting state:
"Mr. Tim Johnson did offer and Mr. John Bell Crosby did second a motion to establish the salary of Board Attorney Eric Hamer at the annual sum of $42,000 with compensation for other legal expenses authorized by the Board will be at the rate of $195 per hour, to approve the letter of engagement as presented.."
The vote was unanimous. Mr. Hamer states in his letter to the Board "the applicable Mississippi Statutes are less than clear". Mr. Hamer opines the salary should only be used to cover his responsibilities "in preparing for and attending all the meetings of the Board" and a "review of the minutes and other matters" at the meetings." Here is a copy of the minutes and the engagement letter (right-click and rotate or download and rotate):
There is no ending date on the contract nor is one mentioned in the minutes. A review of the minutes in 2008, 2009, and 2010 show that the issue of Mr. Hamer's employment was never raised nor was a new contract issued by the board. In light of the standards raised by Section 47 and the AG opinions, the question must be asked if the payments to Mr. Hamer were legal and if the Board should be held responsible. The State Auditor alluded to this when he said contracts lacked termination dates. The Board met on September 30 stated in the minutes:
"The Minutes of this Board of January 28, 2008, particularly as they pertain to the term of the Letter of Engagement with Board Attorney Eric Hamer, are hereby amended so as to reflect that the term of such contract shall run concurrently with the term of office of the current Board of Supervisors."
The only problem with this resolution is the statute clearly states the board attorney is to be employed year by year and not for a four-year term. Mr. Moore and Mr. Hood both state this in their opinions (It should be pointed out such opinions are not binding.).
If Mr. Hamer is indeed an employee and not an independent contractor, the question must also be asked if the county withheld his taxes and if the county faces any liability to the IRS and State Tax Commission as the invoices state every month the County pays Mr. Hamer $3,500 a month in salary.
Thus, the Madison County Board of Supervisors paid Mr. Hamer over $24,000 a month on average for over two years with no contract as apparently required by law. Mr. Hamer is projected to make over $320,000 from representing Madison County if this year holds. By contrast, Attorney Crystal Martin represents the Hinds County Board of Supervisors and is paid only $45,000 a year and works part-time. There are no invoices to Hinds County because Mrs. Martin is paid strictly on salary and not for any extra "special work".
Next post: A review of Mr. Hamer's invoices.
Note: The Board of Supervisors approved the following invoices on the claims docket:
July: 2008: $15,945
August 2008: $20,529
September 2008: $23,287
October 2008: $22,859
November 2008: $19,698.86
December 2008: $20,219
Total: $122,537
January 2009: $22,040
Feburary 2009: $26,925
March 2009: $28,883
April 2009: $29,495
May 2009: $23,046
June 2009: $21,382
July 2009: $23,293
August 2009: $15,988
October 2009: $24,182
November 2009: $19,692
December 2009: $21,865
Total: $256,791
January 2010: $18,660
February 2010: $28,300
March 2010: $29,175
April 2010: $30,436
May 2010: $23,513
June 2010: $27,845
July 2010: $22,910
August 2010: $35,567
September 2010: $30,364
October 2010: $28,601 (pending but included below)
Total: $275,371
Projected for 2010: $323,867 (Using average payment for Nov. & Dec, projections not included in overall total)
Overall total: $654,699
Number of months: 27
Average amount paid per month: $24,248
Note: Paid $3,500 per month salary included in each monthly claim.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Board of Supervisors pays Eric Hamer over $24,000 a month, no contract for two years
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
EDITORIAL: Hiring of Madison County Lobbyist not legal.
Madison County recently expanded the duties of its lobbyist C. Stevens Seale of the Wise Carter & Carraway law firm. The Board of Supervisors hired Mr. Seale in 2008 to provide federal lobbying services at a salary of $75,000 a year and reimbursement for expenses. The board voted 4-1 (Mr. Smith objected) to pay Mr. Seale an additional $2,500 per month to lobby at the state capitol. Such a practice is rare as only Jackson, Alcorn, Marshall, and Wayne counties retain lobbyists.
The question must be asked if Mr. Seale is providing lobbying services or legal representation to Madison County. Mr. Seale's contract drafted by him on April 21, 2010 states "the primary focus of such representation will be to obtain federal funding for various projects as Madison County may direct." Mr. Seale's other contracts contain the same exact language in describing his services.
The board minutes of the October 18, 2010 meeting contain the headline "Discussion of Lobbyist for Purposes of State Legislative Lobbying". The minutes state "Following discussion, and at the recommendation of Board Attorney Eric Hamer, Mr. Paul Griffin did offer and Mr. John Bell Crosby did second a motion to retain for the next six months to provide state legislative lobbying services to Madison County. The vote..."
The Board of Supervisors call Mr. Seale a lobbyist and his services "lobbying services" in clear, unambiguous language. What does Mr. Seale call his services? Board referred to him as a lobbyist in the May 19, 2008, September 15, 2008, September 7, 2010, March 1, 2010, and January 5, 2009 meetings. The minutes call his contract a "lobbying contract" in the April 19, 2010 and April 20, 2009 meetings.
Mr. Seale even referred to himself as a lawyer/lobbyist on the Flora Harvester blog. A check of the Secretary of State's website reveals shazam, Mr. Seale is indeed a lobbyist and has eight clients: Cellular South, Pull-a-Part, TNT Fireworks, Pioneer Aerospace, Consumer Data Industry Association, Imperial Finance, and SAP America, and of course, Madison County. Mr. Seale also has three clients as a registered federal lobbyist.
It is now established Mr. Seale is a lobbyist. The Board of Supervisors calls him a lobbyist, the media calls him a lobbyist, the Board minutes refer to his "lobbying contract"s, and Mr. Seale is registered as a lobbyist. The question that must be asked is can Madison County actually hire a lobbyist?
Section 19-3-69 of the Mississippi Code states:
"The board of supervisors of each county may, in its discretion, contract with certain professionals when the board determines that such professional services are necessary and in the best interest of the county.
The board of supervisors shall spread upon its minutes its finding that the professional services are necessary and in the best interest of the county. The contract for professional services shall be approved by the attorney for the board of supervisors and made a part of the minutes.
A professional within the meaning of this section shall be limited to:
(a) Attorneys at law, admitted to practice law in this state by the State Board of Bar Admissions;" and accountants, doctors, engineers, surveyors, appraisers, and Realtors.
The law does not include lobbying in its very specific list of professional services a board can retain. While one must be barred to practice as an attorney, one does not have to be barred in order to work as a lobbyist. Mr. Seale will likely argue he is an attorney providing legal representation to Madison County and Section (a) of the statute permits the Supervisors to employ his services. However, Mr. Seale is not providing legal representation as anyone else who registers with the state as a lobbyist can provide the same services to Madison County. Thus, Mr. Seale's activities are not of a legal nature. Indeed, he refers to his "primary" function as one in which he will "obtain" funding for Madison County. If Mr. Seale was also licensed as a massage therapist, that doesn't mean the board can hire him to give massages to county employees just because he is a licensed attorney.
The controlling issue should be whether the function of the service itself qualifies for a lawful professional services contract under Section 19-3-69 of the Mississippi Code. Attorney General Jim Hood addressed a similar issue in 2005 in an answer to Marshall County: "With regard to the governmental relations (lobbying) component of the contract we find no provision of state law which would preclude a county board of Previous supervisors from employing a lobbyist or consultant to perform governmental relations work." However, Assistant Attorney General Reese Partridge completely ignores section 19-3-69, which is directly on point about who a county can engage for professional services. One can only wonder when reading the opinion if Mr. Hood already had an outcome in mind before his office studied the law as there is no mention whatsoever of the professional services statute in his opinion. Mr. Hood also does not address the issue of whether a lobbyist can qualify under Section 69 due to the fact he is an attorney.
The question of whether the Madison County Board of Supervisors can retain a professional lobbyist who just happens to be an attorney is an excellent question to submit to the Attorney General for a re-examination of his opinion under Section 1903069. It should also be pointed out the A.G.'s opinion is not binding. Madison County taxpayers deserve to know if their supervisors have the right to spend nearly $100,000 a year of their hard-earned money of a lobbyist regardless of how many millions he may obtain for the county. It is the opinion of this website the board's hiring of Mr. Seale for his lobbying services is not legal and the board should be held accountable for his employment.
West Jackson blog up and running
Check out this blog about West Jackson. Interesting stuff and nice to see one highlighting another part of town.
Click Here to Read More..
The stars come out for Billy
November is definitely upon us. Phil is supposed to announce any day now as should Lee Yancy. This little fundraising invitation below someone emailed to me shows things are start to heat up.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Medicaid pays millions a year to company to "review" claims, company keeps contracts secret
Healthsystems of Mississippi (HSM) is a vendor with the Mississippi Division of Medicaid. HSM is the "gatekeeper" to services available under Medicaid. HSM dictates which services, the scope of services, amount of services, and services stop/start dates of the services. While Medicaid may approve claims, parents of Medicaid kids have learned it is the HSM gods they should fear as HSM completely controls their medical care. HSM was the focus of some controversy last week at a hearing held by the House Committee on Medicaid as Chairman Steve Holland (D-Lee), legislators, and parents sharply criticized decisions by HMS and Medicaid to deny eligibility to kids suffering from Downs Syndrome.
Healthsystems of Mississippi is the d/b/a name for EQHealth Solutions (formerly Louisiana Health Care Review), a non-profit corporation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Gary Curtis is the CEO. Although most people still refer to the company as Healthsystems of Mississippi, its legal name is now eQHealth in Mississippi. HSM's website states it has reviewed Medicaid claims since 1997. The contracts were apparently issued for four-year terms as Medicaid renewed the contracts in 2001, 2005, and 2009.
JJ attempted to obtain copies of the contracts but ran into a brick wall of secrecy. This correspondent submitted a public records request to Medicaid on October 11. I personally submitted the request at their office and received a stamped copy of said request. The request was given to Dr. Bob Robinson's assistant. I informed her of the nature of the correspondence. Two weeks passed by with no response nor were any of my phone calls returned. I finallly contacted William Mounger, the counsel for the Division. Mr. Mounger said they could not find my request anywhere but if I did indeed have a stamped copy, he would immediately make sure my request was answered. I personally delivered the copy only to receive a letter a few days later informing me an injunction was in place preventing the Division from releasing any HSM contracts.
HSM obtained the permanent injunction on October 7, 2008. Section 25-61-9 of the Mississippi Code states:
" Records furnished to public bodies by third parties which contain trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information shall not be subject to inspection, examination, copying or reproduction under this chapter until notice to said third parties has been given, but such records shall be released within a reasonable period of time unless the said third parties shall have obtained a court order protecting such records as confidential."
Several competitors of HSM filed requests with the Division in 2008 for a copy of HSM's contract (See above link to injunction). The request was obviously filed so they could submit more competitive bids when the contract expired. HSM opposed releasing all costs and technical proposals, calling them "trade secrets" and proprietary in nature. Mr. Mounger informed JJ the court order prevented the Division from releasing any copies of HSM's contracts.
I called and left a voice mail with Mr. Mounger reminding him my request was two-fold: I requested copies of the contracts and how much Mississippi paid HSM each fiscal year for the last five years. Mr. Mounger did not return my phone call but instead sent me another letter stating:
"Healthsystems of Mississippi takes the position that any funds paid to them by Medicaid be as a result of a contractual relationship. As a result, they have advised Medicaid that the injunction would prevent Medicaid from disclosing this information to you. For that reason, Medicaid will be unable to furnish you with any of the information you requested in your letter dated October 11, 2010."
The first question that must be asked is who does the Division of Medicaid thinks pays its bills? The taxpayers of Mississippi or Healthsystems of Mississippi? The court order decrees the Divison shall not disclose "any documents or the contents thereof". It doesn't say anything about disclosing how much money the state pays HSM on an annual basis.
Does HSM oppose releasing such information because it wishes to avoid any scrutiny of how much money it receives from Mississippi taxpayers? Fortunately, I do have some idea how much money is paid to HSM since in a rare fit of good sense I submitted a similar request back in 2006 for the amount of money paid to HSM for the current fiscal year. The Division informed this correspondent on June 2, 2006 it paid HSM $6,829,387 since July 2005. Nearly $7 million. The Department of Finance & Administration states on its website* the Division of Medicaid paid EQHealth Solutions $4,423,716 in fiscal year 2010. Mississippi thus clearly pays HSM millions of dollars a year to "review" Medicaid claims. Good grub if you can get it. However, no other payments nor do any contracts appear on DFA's website.
EQHealth Solutions. How well does this non-profit company do? Quite well as its Form 990's reveal. It earned revenue of $22,202,756 in 2008 and a "profit" of nearly $2 million. It paid $13,331,298 in employee compensation. It reported assets of nearly $12 million. EQ paid Mr. Curtis $253,898 in 2008 compensation (see p.26 below) and several other employees over $195,000 as well (It must be pointed out some are M.D.'s.).
HSM also retains Charles Lea for lobbying services. HSM paid Mr. Lea some handsome fees for his services:
2009: $36,095
2008: $36,293
2007: $27,000
2006: $27,000
2005: $29,537
2004: $25,526
2003: $27,000
2002: $27,000
2001: $30,000
2000: $30,000
Total: $295,451
Employees earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in salaries, several hundred thousand dollars paid to Mississippi lobbyists, millions of dollars a year charged in fees to "review" Medicaid claims while stonewalling any requests for fees paid or copies of contracts. What Medicaid and HSM apparently ignore is they both work for us, the taxpayers. The taxpayers have a right to know how much money is paid to this non-profit company. Mr. Curtis has no problem cashing our checks to help pay for his quarter-million dollar "comp plan". Medicaid apparently has no interest whatsoever in protecting the taxpayers as it did not file any objections, suggestion any compromises, or argue the injunction did not apply to disclosing the annual compensation paid to HSM.
There is no question Medicaid costs are a tough burden to bear for a crippled state budget in lean times. The public sector can often use private sector efficiency to improve the bottom line and performance. However, one has to wonder what is going on at the Division of Medicaid when millions are paid every year to a company that hides contracts and refuses to tell those it serves how much it gets paid. While sunlight shines more and more on government in Mississippi, the Division of Medicaid and its vendors prefer to remain in darkness.
*Mississippi law now requires all the state to post all vendor payments and contracts on the DFA's website. Subject to court order, of course.
Soaking too long in the hot tub?
We haven’t figured out if it was the year’s longest-running conference, or if the hotel, after billing the agency for $9,500, found another three thousand dollars’ worth of charges it forgot to include in the first bill. (Payments were made to John Q. Hammons Realty, owner of the Hotel & Spa, and are recorded under the Subsistence Lodging category devoted to out-of-state travel.) See this and more at SeeTheSpending.org.
This post is a paid advertisement.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Is Obamacare squeezing Medicare?
Medicare cutting home health budget by nearly a billion dollars and cutting therapy services by 25% at the beginning of next year. Won't surprise me if more similar cuts are rolled out in the next few weeks.
Click Here to Read More..
JJ poll: Run Mac Run
Its official: a majority of JJ readers think Mac should run for re-election. 28% of you thought its time for someone else but 44% want him to continue as Hinds County Sheriff.
No | 61 (15%) |
hell yes, best Hinds Sheriff ever | 117 (28%) |
Hell no, worst Hinds Sheriff ever | 53 (13%) |
Yes | 68 (16%) |
Don't care | 79 (19%) |
Its all a Two Lakes Conspiracy | 28 (6%) |
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Republicans: Here is a good place to start
Dear GOP:
Want a good place to start in cutting spending and opposing some of Obama's irresponsible policies? Take a look at this Wall Street Journal story:
"according to documents filed with federal regulators, the revamping left the car maker with another boost as it prepares to return to the stock market. It won't have to pay $45.4 billion in taxes on future profits.
The tax benefit stems from so-called tax-loss carry-forwards and other provisions, which allow companies to use losses in prior years and costs related to pensions and other expenses to shield profits from U.S. taxes for up to 20 years. In GM's case, the losses stem from years prior to when GM entered bankruptcy.
Usually, companies that undergo a significant change in ownership risk having major restrictions put on their tax benefits. The U.S. bailout of GM, in which the Treasury took a 61% stake in the company, ordinarily would have resulted in GM having such limits put on its tax benefits, according to tax experts.
But the federal government, in a little-noticed ruling last year, decided that companies that received U.S. bailout money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program won't fall under that rule.
"The Internal Revenue Service has decided that the government's involvement with these companies, both its acquisitions plus its disposals of their stock, means they should be exempt" from the rule, said Robert Willens, a New York tax consultant who advises investment banks and hedge funds.
The government's rationale, said people familiar with the situation, is that the profit-shielding tax credit makes the bailed-out companies more attractive to investors, and that the value of the benefit is greater than the lost tax payments, especially since the tax payments would not exist if the companies fail." Article
Thursday, November 4, 2010
More cutbacks at the Clarion-Ledger
The Clarion-Ledger laid off more employees today and cut back award-winning columnist Marshall Ramsey to part-time status. What idiots. Mr. Ramsey is the star attraction for the paper and draws the most traffic online. Sources at the Gannett publication inform this website Mr. Ramsey no longer has any benefits as well.
Seems as though Gannett screwed their star but just wanted to keep his name on the by-lines. Bastards. If he didn't still work there, I'd say they deserve to go under.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Mississippi Murder Mysteries comes to Olga's November 8.
Mississippi Murder Mysteries comes to Olga's November 8. Enjoy solving a good murder mystery? Mississippi Murder Mysteries presents "The Case of the Birthday Surprise". See MMM's Facebook page for more information.
$40/person... Includes 3 course meal of Salad, Entree & Dessert.
Restaurant opens at 6:00pm, Cash Bar. Seating at 6:30, show starts at 7:00pm
*Price includes Meal & Show, Tips & Alcoholic Beverages not included. Reservations Required - 601-366-1366 (please call early, show is expected to book up quickly).
Lobbyist Quentin Whitwell announces his candidacy
Lobbyist Quentin Whitwell sent out this email today:
"Dear Friends –
After much deliberation, and with so much at stake for our City, I do plan to announce my intention to run for the open Jackson City Council, Ward 1 seat. I would appreciate your support and help in this effort. Specifically, on Friday the 5th at 8 a.m. at River Hills Club we will hold an organizational meeting to discuss the campaign. Most important are your opinions on the issues affecting our City, the timing of the race including message and spreading the word, and fundraising. I am certain that I do not have the e-mails of all the people that should attend this meeting. Please feel free to invite others that will want to attend and show their support.
Generally speaking I am emphasizing my record as a consensus builder, an entrepreneur, and the newly elected president of my homeowners association. The top priorities that I plan to emphasize are the three R’s: Reduce crime, Recruit businesses, and Restore a positive attitude in our city government. With so many concerns about our water sewer system, our tax rates, our crime problems and the fiscal challenges ahead, we need to actively be involved in fighting to improve our Capital City. I hope you will work with me to get that job done as I see bright days ahead for Jackson.
I hope to see you there.
Many thanks,
Quentin Whitwell"
Informed opinion says Lee Paris III, mogul of Meadowbrook Capital, is the driving force behind the Q.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Let's have some fun.
Not in front of a tv right now but with the internet, who cares? ;-) Lets take a look.
Nunalee up by 60-30 with 3% in. Bennie up 60-40 with 2% in. We've all heard the rumblings about it being a real tight race today. Should be fun to watch. Harper down by 400 votes with 4% in. Taylor up 60-40 with 1% in. Weill up by 48-34 with 32% in. Burton has 14% of the vote. Of course I'm pulling for a runoff in some of these races. That means AD REVENUE and THAT is what is important. Gowan up 60-40 with 3% in. Madison County Court will not be coming for awhile as they are still voting thanks to some incompetent election commissioners.
Over in the House and Senate, Republicans kicking ass. Stay tuned.
8:27 PM 17% in and Nunalee is up by 15 over Childers. Could the tidal wave drown Childers? Harper is now up by 13 with 18% counted. Palazzo is ahead by 200 votes with 11% counted. These two will probably battle back and forth all night long. Palazzo peopls I spoke to today were very confident and said their turnout was better than expected. Nothing has changed in the local races. 15% in and Thompson is up by 15% with double the votes which gets him declared the winner. I picked him to win by ten. Just too many precincts for Republicans to overcome. Machines are machines for a reason.
9:15 PM. Bennie got this one. No surprise here. Half the vote in and he's up 15%. I know Republicans hoped for an upset but this one is a hard slog. Marcy didn't get much support, didn't live in the district until recently, and Bennie has a machine. District is tailored to re-elect him. 60% of the vote in and Harper up by twenty points. Gill didn't run much of a campaign and Harper has represented his district fairly well. Now on to the 4th district. 53% of the vote in and Palazzo up by 3. 2300 votes. There are a few rounds left in this fight. I predicted Taylor by 3 and damn, Louis XIV just decided to camp out on my chest for a few minutes. Got him moved. Palazzo people I spoke to said they expected their guy to win by 3. Nunalee is beating the hell out of Childers. I don't think anyone thought it would be this bad. Half the votes in and Nun is up by 14 points, 10,000 votes.
9:23 PM. Just got update from Palazzo camp. 62,975 to 59,978 Palazzo ahead. Damn, this SC Governor's race is much tighter than anyone thought it would be a few months ago. Just checked WAPT's site for Madison County Court. Bluntson ahead with 43% of the vote counted. Made some phone calls and found out the Canton precincts were counted first and several in Madison STILL have voters filling out ballots. Longwitz and Ratcliffe are separated by a couple of hundred votes. The Bennie turnout machine brought out the vote for Barbara. One wonders what will happen if she makes a runoff and no Congressional race is on the ballot. Hinds County Court race. 35% counted. Priester has 41%, Farmer has 23%.
9:30 PM. Childers coming back a little. 55% and Childers down by 11 but his actual deficit is now up to 13,000 votes. 65% in and Harper now has nearly doubled Gill's votes. No locals on the networks yet. Cuomo won? Help. Man who single-handedly ruined the housing industry more than did anyone else. 57% of the votes in and Weill is up by 15. Not a sure thing because Weill's district is actually 50/50 in terms of race. Damn. 30% in and Gowan is down by 2. Maybe that online poll on this site showing Harrison winning was accurate after all. Emfinger winning his race but so far is falling short of avoiding a runoff.
9:44 PM. Here is the Madison County elections reports someone sent in to me.
9:49 PM. Latest update on #4. Palazzo up 92,982-75,148. 55%. Damn. Might pull this off after all.
10:00 PM. Time for the local news. FINALLY. Kathryn Kite is at Bennie's crib. Bennie seems somewhat quiet in his interview. The Madison County report posted above shows Bennie pasted Marcy. Ouch. Hurt to look at it. Scott's at Harper's campaign looking rather Dapper. Harper looks happy. Just went to being in the majority in his own state and in Congress. Keith Plunkett right behind him on tv. Watch out for him folks. Might be a protege. DOWN GOES CHILDERS!!! The Nun is ahead 52-41 with 80% counted. He ran hard for this seat for more than a year. Stayed on message, took full advantage of the internet. I received an email update from his campaign every single day for at least six months. Smart. A SPORTSCASTER is running the campaign newsroom for WAPT? OOOOOOOOOOk. 75%, Bennie up by 20. Ouch. Stop the fight, please. Uh oh, Kim and Ronnie now making their analysis. No word if the Board of Realtors is outside protesting Kim's appearance.
Ronnie insists on talking with his hands. Looks and sounds wooden and might be ready to appear in some of the Christmas shows on TV. Would fit in great on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Damn. Kim "Next election cycle, a permanent injunction will be issued". Sharply disagrees with Ronnie. Doesn't pull any punches. Huge contrast between the two. Ronnie looks very very sad, like he is about to cry, Kim is in serious mode, very professional. Can't see that weight my friend has put on on the tv either. Stephanie looks hot as always. Am now getting tweets the Board of Realtors are massing in riot gear so they can assault the station. Louis XIV has that "Daddy, its time for bed" look on his face. Delbert now discussing Madison problems. I'm sorry but this is not the FIRST, OR THE SECOND, OR THE THIRD time Madison County has screwed up delivering voting machines. The truth is they are incompetent and THEY NEED TO GO!!! Guess it never occurred to them to hold some in reserve to deliver to precincts as needed. Damn WJTV, can't you afford decent cameras? Whoever this guy is reporting from a courthouse looks like he is on dialup. Damn. Linda Allen is HOT tonight. Red blouse. Black outfit. She's money. Trump couldn't afford her. Looks like Longwitz and Ratcliffe are heading for a runoff. 33-31-25. Barb looks to be out with most of the vote counted. This should be interesting and a real dogfight.
10:23 PM. Palazzo WON!!!. Won by 10,000 or so votes. Damn. Weill now up by nearly 5,000 votes with 89% reporting. 61% for Weill. Solid performance. Looks like Emfinger might just avoid a runoff. Matches up well with the JJ online poll on the race. Houston Patton wins with 505 of the vote. Should be in jail instead of a voting booth. Yup. Longwitz and Ratcliff off to a runoff. This one is going to get rough I have a feeling.
10:28. Ronnie and Kim at it again. Ronnie just has one of those voices that is nails on a chalkboard. Ugh. Kim doing a much better job than either Harvey or Leslie, and yes, even Matt Friedeman did in years past in that same spot. And he is not on the radio why? Davenport, Gallo, suck it up and put his ass on the air. Kim Wade or JT. Even a question?
Damn. 90% in and The Nun winning by 30,000 votes and up by 15%. He is KICKING Childer's ass. What is interesting is how Palazzo won by 5 and Nunalee by 15. Childers and Taylor are fairly moderate Congressmen, pro-gun, do vote against the Democratic Party at times but not enough for their districts. Damn. Felicia Rashad on Tavis Smiley. Does she EVER get old?
Long lines in Madison RIGHT NOW!!!
Update: Madison polls closed but in some like the one pictured, lines were so long they are now using paper ballots. HOW many times is it we have now heard about election problems in Madison County? 
Election night thread.
Going to start live-blogging in a little while so feel free to have at it right now on this post if you want to get started.
Here is one up to the minute deal on Redstate.
Dear Ladd, answer this question
Since you are taking shots at me on your site today why don't you fess up and tell us how much of your paper is owned by Barbara Blackmon. You know, Vice High Priestess of the Mississippi Democratic Party and former Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor. I know your paper is partly owned by her. Why don't you disclose how many shares she owns?
Click Here to Read More..
Turnout
Willie Morris Library: 700 at 3:05 PM
St Philips: 765 at 3:15 PM
Old Colonial Baptist Church: 500 at 3:20 PM
Fire station on Ridgewood (#79): 463 at 3:30 PM
Spann Elementary: 655 at 3:40 PM
Casey Elementary: 455 at 3:45 PM
Fire Station on Lakeland (#30): 360 at 3:50 PM
Belhaven (#9): 458 at 4:15 PM
Apparently the Bennie Thompson campaign is not too happy. Unprecedented number of poll watchers at precincts in District #2. Bennie people have been trying to have them thrown out and Republican party officials have been battling back.
Dale Danks is on the Evans case.
See the Evans Case page under Special Coverage section on the right side of the page for a collection of all posts on the Evans case.
Dale Danks entered a notice of appearance for G&B Investments in its lawsuit against Mississippi Valley Title Insurance Company and its parent company, Old Republic. G&B is now represented in its suit by Richard Montague, Ashlee Hederman, and Hizzoner.
Madison County Food Fight
The Flora Harvester, Madison County blog, has a few comments to make about the lobbyist hired by the Madison County Board of Supervisors:
"In a WLBT report on the recently released Auditors report into Madison County Supervisors lack of oversight in billing practices of Engineer Rudy Warnock, Madison County Lobbyist Steve Seale acts as spokesman for Board of Supervisors President Tim Johnson. Did the additional $2500 a month he was recently given on top of his salary of $75,000 give him the responsibility to lobby the general public and the media, too?"
He made a few other comments and quoted some from the WLBT story only to find the lobbyist himself had a few comments of his own to make:
"Steve Seale said...
Call me, Harvester, and I would be answer your questions. Unless, of course, you don't prefer to stand up in public like I did. I'm interested to learn what your basis is for your statement that I'm overpaid. Do you judge that based on some return on investment criteria? Do you have some special expertise on the work of lobbyists that allows you to opine as to which are paid too little, just enough or too much? Or are you just like many others who make charges and accusations and offer opinions without any evidence or basis? You answer those questions, Harvester, and I'll be happy to answer yours. Steve Seale October 29, 2010 11:49 AM" see rest of the post
Mr. Seale, you raise a very good and salient point. I have no way of knowing if you are overpaid and it would not be fair for me to comment about your pay SO your comments inspired me to file a public records request for a copy of all of your contracts and invoices submitted to the county for payment.
Mr. Seale, since you are so eager to defend your hiring and provide us with the facts, why don't you save the county staff some time and simply provide me with what I requested yourself. I'll even come to your office to pick up the copies.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Liveblogging tomorrow night.
The Kingfish will be live-blogging the elections tomorrow night. Tune in online to the best online party for election-watching. Don't bother being sober because I won't be.
Click Here to Read More..
Report says Mississippi Prepaid College Tuition Program is 75% funded, faces a projected $85 million deficit.
Michael Brister of BPS&M presented on September 10, a report to the Board of Directors of Mississippi's Prepaid College Tuition Program, showing the program is 75% funded and faces an unfunded liability of $84.7 as of June 30,2010. The Legislature created the program in 1997 and it is administered by the Treasury Department.
The program assumes an annual rate of return of 7.8% on investments and an annual tuition rate increase of 6.5%, yielding a spread of 1.3%. There are 21,257 participants enrolled in the program. The 2009 report posted below shows the program was 95% funded with an unfunded liability of $13.5 million in 2007. The program was 85% funded with an unfunded liability of $48.6 million in 2008. The 2008 meltdown hit hard as the unfunded liability skyrocketed to $86.8 million in 2009 while funding dropped to a level of 72.7%. The funding level improved slightly to 75% as the program enjoyed a 12.87% return of investment last year as the markets recovered.
Treasurer Tate Reeves spoke to this correspondent about the report last week and provided some additonal details. (It should also be pointed out his office was very quick in responding to my public records request. They provided me with all reports requested within a few hours). The report states on page six the weighted average of the tuition increases has been consistently below the 6.5% assumption used in the models. Mr. Reeves was very explicit in stating the deficit is a projection and the funds paid by enrollees are safe.
The program currently holds $211,641,934 in assets, with projected tuition payments of $18,812,396, according to Appendix B on page ten of the 2010 report. It must be pointed out when reading this table the projections assume no further participants are enrolled in the program and thus does not include their future payments. Mr. Reeves said the program probably had $230 million in assets at this time. The assets decline as tuition payments more than doubles (the enrollees are just now becoming of college age) in two years to $38 million and stays above $30 million in annual tuition payments until 2025. The report projects the program will enter into an actual deficit of $26 million in 2024.
Mr. Reeves said as the markets recover, the rate of return will improve. He agreed with me that the reason for the high rate of return last year was due to the "dead cat bounce" the markets enjoyed as they recovered from the crash of 2008. He said 7.8% is a realistic goal over a long period of time such as thirty years, as shorter terms are subject to more variations in the rate of return, but they tend to be more stable over time. He said the program is invested in equities (62.1%), bonds (27.7%), cash equivalents which include short-term treasuries (7.4%), and real estate (2.8%). The report states a future rate of return of 12.33% is required to meet all future expenses and liabilities. State Representative Cecil Brown said he read the report and was going to seek a meeting with Mr. Reeves to discuss the report in greater detail.
Attempts to contact board member Carlton Reeves were unsuccessful.
Electoral Irony
The Jackson Advocate makes the Palazzo and Nunalee's case without even realizing it:
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Monica steps up her game
Watch the end. Monica Hernandez, now at WWL-TV, takes it to David Vitter. Hehe. Click Here to Read More..
Friday, October 29, 2010
Election weekend thread.
Hmmm.....lets take a whack at the congressional races first. I think Taylor wins by 3. I know its starting to trend Palazzo's way but I think some of it is noise I hear from conservative websites. The polls are showing a shift but it still comes down to GOTV effort. North Mississippi? Nunalee by 5. Childers is no wild-eyed liberal but he's in a somewhat red district in a red year. Nunalee is not the best candidate but he's been running hard for a long time and its paying off. District 2? Bennie by 10. I know what that poll circulating around the web shows but I'm skeptical of it. Bennie's running hard and given the demographics of the district, I don't see Bennie losing this one. JFP had a story tonight questioning the poll and truth be told, I'd had similar thoughts myself. Harper gets 60%.
Judicial races? Weill wins by 15. Farmer and Priester make the runoff. Gowan wins his race (don't know enough about that one to predict the margin). Houston Patton's race? Who knows. He should be in jail but true to form in Mississippi, he probably returns to office by a comfortable margin. I predict Emfinger wins his race for circuit judge. Madison County Court? Longwitz 48% Bluntson 23% (I think Bennie turnout helps up in the northern precincts) Ratcliffe 25% Whatshisname 4%.
Interesting Congressional races nationally? Buck by 4 in Colorado. Rubio wins 52% of the vote in Florida. Fiorna by 1 in California. O'Donnell loses by 6 in Delaware. Dems screwed up with that Gawker crap as I warned and is now creating a backlash. Toomey by 3 over Sleastack. Feingold goes down. WV Governor pulls it out. Reid loses to Angle. Miller beats back Murkoswki. Paul-are you kidding? He kicks Conway's ass as the polls currently show. Scott wins governorship of Florida and Patrick goes down in Massachussetts. And yes, I think Barney Frank will win. Should be fun Tuesday night.
Weill, Marcy, and Longwitz all purchased advertising on this site, something all candidates are welcome to do, regardless of party, even "The License Plates Are Too Damn High Party".
Is Tea Party candidate on coast actually a Democrat?
Apparently the race on the coast is now a tossup between Gene Taylor and Steve Palazzo. There is also a third tea-party" candidate who apparently just endorsed Taylor:
"Tea party candidate Joe Tegerdine of Hattiesburg, who lost the Republican primary for South Mississippi's congressional seat to state Rep. Steven Palazzo, has endorsed incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor in Tuesday's general election." AP story
Weird? There may be a possible explanation. The American Spectator reported today:
"Yet the Democrats have other tricks up their sleeves this year. In many close races, third-party "independent" candidates appear to be running primarily as spoilers against Republicans, hoping to drain off enough anti-incumbent votes to enable Democrats to survive by narrow margins. In Nevada, for example, Scott Ashjian's is running as the "Tea Party" candidate for Harry Reid's Senate seat, although actual Tea Party activists there have denounced Ashjian as a phony, and Republicans suspect the Ashjian campaign is actually a Reid stalking horse. In other races, as Politico reported this week, Democrats appear to be "attacking" minor third-party candidates as a way to draw away conservative voters from the Republican challenger.
Here in Virginia's 9th District, businessman Jeremiah Heaton is on the ballot as an independent candidate. As Virginia conservative blogger Jerry Furhman notes, Heaton doesn't seem to be running against the incumbent Boucher, but instead "has chosen to devote his every energy to attacking the Republican in this race." With Boucher and Griffith in a dead heat, votes for Heaton might be enough to keep the Democrat from paying the price for supporting Obama's agenda in a district where the president is deeply unpopular." Article
Things are not always what they seem to be.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tim Johnson to Pickering: "You lack the authority to mandate"
Here is a copy of the State Auditor's report on Madison County. 75 pages long. Read the letter to Tim Johnson and then the Executive Summary. Tim and his gang of five have a press conference scheduled for later this afternoon. There is some interesting reading in the report. Have fun. See Tim Johnson's response at the end if the report.
Pickering releases Audit Report on Madison County
Update: See this post for copy of report.
Note: Have copy of report but am having trouble uploading it. If you want a copy NOW, shoot me an email and I'll send it to you. Kingfish1935@gmail.com
State Auditor Stacy Pickering released the following report on Madison County's employment of Rudy Warnock as County Engineer. If you read the earlier post reporting on the preliminary report, there is apparently one statement removed by Mr. Pickering's office such as: "Contracts are geared to protect engineer's interests instead of Madison County taxpayers." Read the press release for yourself.
"(Jackson, Miss.) - State Auditor Stacey Pickering released the Performance Review of Madison County Contracts with Rudy Warnock. Based on the limited review done by the State Auditor’s Performance Audit Division, it is OSA’s recommendation to Madison County to improve its oversight and management controls.
“This report includes a review that can be helpful to many counties and cities across Mississippi to ensure the taxpayers are protected against potential loss as a result of weak contracts,” said State Auditor Stacey Pickering. “Contracts are an important part of management and operations for local governments but it is critical that all of the necessary precautions are taken by elected officials and management when entering into and executing contracts.”
The following issues were identified that create control weaknesses and could lead to potential losses to the County:
Of the contracts reviewed:
The State Auditor’s Office received several requests for a review of contractual issues specifically relating to Madison County and the contracts with the County Engineer, Rudy Warnock and the effectiveness of the contract management by the County in March 2010. The review began in April looking into road construction contracts with Rudy Warnock of Warnock and Associates. The review was divided into two parts – a contractual analysis and a financial analysis. The contractual analysis is provided in this report. The financial analysis will be released at a later time."
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Is this the future of flood control in Jackson?
Update: What a surprise. No mention of this in the JFP coverage of the meeting yesterday. Also notice how Ms. Ladd takes issue in the comments with Mr. McGowan addressing the Board. How dare private citizens petition the government.
Fort Worth and other entities created the Trinity River Vision Project to solve its flood control problems. This project was developed in conjunction with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and can be studied in further detail on its website. The Levee Board met today and discussed the similarities between the challenges faced by both Fort Worth and Jackson. The board will travel to Texas to learn more about Trinity. More videos as well as a white paper on the project are available below. Well worth watching.
Click Here to Read More..
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Is the Evans case fight becoming a war?
For a collection of all posts on the Evans case, see Evans page under Special Coverage section on right side of page.
Highlights:
-Compromise settlement between G&B and Trustee approved
-limited protective order approved
-G&B and Mississippi Valley Title files notices to depose each other
-Trial is set for February, discovery due by December.
Another hearing in the Evans case took place last Thursday in Judge Neal Olack's courtroom. Mississippi Valley Title filed a motion for a protective order on October 4 seeking to seal all discovery in the lawsuits filed against it by G&B Investments, Bank of Forest, and Merchants & Farmers Bank. Copy of proposed protective order.
G&B filed suit against the Evans brothers, various Evans-owned companies, Mississippi Valley Title Insurance Company, and MVT's parent company, Old Republic. G&B owned 105 acres of land on Hwy 463 in Madison. G&B sold the land to the Evans brothers in 2008 for $16 million. The Evans brothers made a $5 million down payment and G&B provided owner financing for the rest of the land. What G&B did not know is that the week before the closing, the Evans brothers obtained the down payment through mortgage fraud. The Evans brothers represented to M&F, Bank of Forest, and Heritage Bank using phony title certificates it indeed owned the land and borrowed $5 million on land they did not even own. The brothers then turned around and used the money as the down payment. See earlier post. The brothers used 77 acres of the land as collateral for the deed of trust they issued to G&B. G&B argues since Mississippi Valley Title allegedly insured a portion of the 105 acre tract for 200%, it should have known wrongdoing was taking place. G&B asked for punitive damages as well as other forms of relief. G&B had foreclosed on the 77 acres used as collateral but the foreclosure was put on hold by the bankruptcy trustee.
G&B (posted below), Bank of Forest, and M&F objected to the proposed sealing of discovery and instead proposed a limited protective order to protect proprietary and confidential financial information. G&B argued Mississippi Valley Title had not even specified which records were should be kept confidential- the title insurance company wanted to keep all records under seal (page 7 of objection posted below). Judge Olack issued (see order posted below) a limited protected order allowing the parties to designate information as confidential but giving them the right to object to such a designation by another party. Judge Olack also reiterated the case was going to trial in February and gave the parties until December 12 to complete all discovery. Judge Olack then approved a compromise settlement between G&B and the trustee. G&B thus regained its 77 acres but retained the right to take action against Mississippi Valley Title and Old Republic on any claims or injuries involving the remaining land which is the source of contention between all of the parties.
Another bombshell was dropped in the proceedings when Attorney Kristina Johnson, representing Bank of Forest, announced that two attorneys, Lawrence Deas and William "Sonny" Liston III, would be pursuing her client's claims against the insurance companies for damages. Sources in the legal community informed JJ both lawyers are good plaintiff's attorneys. The close of the hearing didn't end the skirmishing either as G&B and Mississippi Valley Title both served notices to depose on each other. Copy of G&B notice, Copy of MVT notice.
It is no surprise the legal battle came to this point. If there has been one consistent theme in this whole mess besides the greed of Charles and Chris Evans, it has been the hardball tactics used by Mississippi Valley Title and Old Republic. When Mississippi Valley Title first took action against the Evans brothers in Madison County Chancery Court, it filed an affidavit by its investigator explaining how the fraud took place under seal. A crossclaim filed by the Bank of Forest alleges the bank made repeated inquiries to Mississippi Valley Title on what the "problem" with its loan was only to run into a stone wall (see p. 25). It was not until the case was finally heard over five weeks after the lawsuit was filed any explanation of the mechanics of the fraud itself were presented. Mississippi Valley Title finally filed an exhibit in bankruptcy court in November that was an affidavit of its investigator that is an likelihood, a duplicate of the affidavit presented in chancery court.
Mississippi Valley Title then threatened at least one bank attempting to assert its rights in bankruptcy court with action stating the bank was acting adversely to its claim. Mississippi Valley Title then fought all requests for a 2004 exam despite the fact the bankruptcy code allows for any party to examine any other party in a bankruptcy. Mississippi Valley Title then fought the attempts by the banks to obtain their policy manuals, claiming it was proprietary information that would aid their competitors. The banks desire the manuals so they can examine what MVT's underwriting standards are and if they deviated from them on the Evans' loans. Mississippi Valley Title then played games with the Court in drafting an order requested by the Judge to the point where Judge Olack threatened in writing to impose sanctions (on all parties) if such conduct continued. It should be noted throughout this ordeal Mississippi Valley Title has not paid a substantial number of claims and didn't pay other claims until several months had passed.
The protective orders sought by Mississippi Valley Title are merely a continuation of the strategy it has followed from day one in the Evans case. Given the speed in which the deposition notices were issued, the disagreements over the protective orders, and the retaining of additional counsel to pursue claims against Mississippi Valley and Old Republic, its clear this fight is now becoming a war.
Stay tuned.
Click Here to Read More..
CAIR spokesman denies Iran is a problem
Bill O'Reilly had a representative from CAIR on his show last night. The mouthpiece for the terrorist-sympathizing organization claimed Iran has not attacked anyone in the last thirty years. Watch for yourself at 3:40:
Now I can understand why some dislike O'Reilly. Is the subject of the "Muslim extremist threat" one for debate? Absolutely. However, saying Iran has not attacked anyone and playing word games to avoid questions on that issue shows his Mr. Rehab's true sympathies. Iran has funded, trained, and supported Hezbollah for decades. Hezbollah does not run a major operation without Iran's direct orders. Remember the marines in Beirut? That was a Hezbollah operation. The Washington Examiner reported yesterday Iran is training the Taliban in the use of surface to air missiles. Iran's Quds forces assisted Al Qaida and other insurgents in Iraq and has been listed as a terrorism sponsor (this is a good story to read on the subject) for over twenty years. The Times reported hundreds of Hamas fighters have traveled to Iran for advanced military training to wage war against Israel.
Do I need to continue? Keep in mind CAIR has been named as an un-indicted co-conspirator in a terrorism case and a federal court just rejected arguments to remove that designation and instead chastised the government for releasing a sealed document. Debates on possible threats to national security are healthy and necessary but listening to CAIR hacks actively defending Iran reminds one of Pravda whenever the Soviets when invaded a county. CAIR is nothing more than a PR operation for Muslim terrorists and should be treated as such.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Breaking: Kuebler bond $250,000
Judge Kidd set bond for Charles Louis Kuebler at $250,000.
Click Here to Read More..
Ivy/David Moore Bonding Company spat continued.
The hearing scheduled last week on a motion to dissolve a temporary restraining order obtained by David Moore Bonding Company against former employee Mike Ivy was canceled last week. David Moore Bonding Company obtained a TRO enforcing a non-compete agreement against Mr. Ivy on September 3, 2010 after he began working for American National Bonding Company. Mr. Ivy filed a counter-claim on September 14 and a motion to dissolve the TRO on September 23. The administrator told this correspondent both parties desired a half-day for trial and they are waiting to get a date on the Chancellor's docket (which she said was pretty backed up.).
Mr. Ivy, a former police officer with JPD and the Hinds County Sheriff's office, signed a non-compete agreement on March 8, 2010 with DMBC (See page 3 in documents below). The agreement states Mr. Ivy is prohibited "directly or indirectly from competing with the company within a 120 mile radius of Jackson, Mississippi for a period of two years from the date of termination voluntarily or involuntarily."
Mr. Ivy was fired by DMBC on August 6, 2010. Mr. Ivy alleges in his counter-claim he was returning from transporting a prisoner to a "facility in South Mississippi". Mr. Ivy returned to Jackson later that day and became "involved in the search and rescue" of Officer Agee. Mr. Ivy then claims he gave CPR to the officer and thus ignored his cellphone as it was ringing. Mr. Ivy finally answers his phone several minutes later, was cussed out by DBMC co-owner Mark Culberson, and that Mr. Culberson then told him he was fired. Mr. Culberson allegedly left a voice-mail stating he was fired. Mr. Ivy then accuses DBMC of threatening and harassing him via cellphone.
The Clarion-Ledger reported Mr. Ivy said at the September 16 hearing: "He told me I wasn't a cop any longer and when he calls I should answer the phone," Ivy said. "I told him if he thought I'd stop doing CPR on anybody, much less a police officer, and answer the phone he was wrong." The newspaper article reports Mr. Moore claimed at a September 16 hearing he tried to work with Mr. Ivy and Mr. Ivy was absent from work frequently.
Mr. Ivy ends his counter-claim by asking the court to award him $6,000 in commissions he claims are due him by his former employer. Mr. Ivy also took issue with the claim he was an employee as he states he was an independent contractor responsible for his own taxes, insurance, and that no withholding by DBMC took place.
Interesting case. The non-compete agreement is time and geographic specific. Mr. Ivy argues he was an independent contractor but courts can enforce such an agreement even if he was not an employee. The issue will probably be whether the rest of the agreement is so vague it is unreasonable and if the issue of termination voids the agreement. One curious part of this litigation is Mr. Ivy states Mr. Culberson owns 50% of David Moore Bonding Company yet the Secretary of State's website states Mr. Moore is the only owner of the company. Another example of why Delbert wants to reform the LLC registration laws. While this seems as a dispute between an employee and his employer, one hopes Mr. Ivy was not fired because he did indeed stop to aid a fallen officer.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Daily Kos in 2008. Enjoy.
"Republicans lament 2008, but they profess hope for 2010:
'One indication of the Republicans’ mood: They’re already looking past this grim election season.
“2010 looks pretty good for us to pick up three or four or five seats pretty easily,” the McCain official said.'
Boy, delusional to the end. As I've written before, the 2010 map looks even better for us, on paper, than this one did earlier this cycle.... "
"So off the bat, we have 13 potentially competitive GOP-held seats, and few Democratic takeovers. So no, 2010 won't give Republicans 5-6 "easy" pickups. That's ludicrous.
Things will be much different in 2012 and 2016 when we're slated to play HUGE defense (defending our gains from 2006 and this year). Republicans can brag about the gains they'll make those years because chances are they will. But 2010? Heck no. At this pace, we're headed toward a 65-70-seat Democratic majority in the Senate by the end of 2010.
Yup, those are gaudy numbers, and it's never wise to count your chickens before they hatch -- political winds can change quickly as Republicans just found out. But assuming the current trends remain and Obama is even half-competent in the White House, we'll have little to worry about in 2010. Our majorities should be safe for some time." Read the rest of the analysis
