The lease agreement was signed by Rankin County School Board President Cecil McCrory, Rankin County Board of Supervisors President Greg Wilcox, RCSD Superintendent Dr. Lynn Weathersby, and Secretary of State Hibbit Hosemann on December 13, 2013. The Rankin County School Board approved the lease at its December 11, 2013 meeting. The site is a vacant lot on Government Street.
The lease states that PGM will lease the land from October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2038. The initial lease will be $3,500 per year although it can be adjusted. Posted below is the signature page of the lease.
Interesting. Very interesting. Interesting because the School Board President and Manager of PGM properties were both partners at Delux Auto Sales, Inc. when this lease was signed. The information posted below is a screen shot of Delux Auto's corporate information posted on the Secretary of State's website (See p.16 in documents posted below.). Cecil McCrory was President and Jeff Goodwin was Secretary of Delux. Remember, they both signed the lease agreement for the landlord and tenant.
Don't touch that mouse because there are more connections between both sides of the table. David "Grumpy" Farmer was a member of the school board in 2013 when the lease was signed. Mr. Goodwin and Mr. Farmer are both employees at Performance Drilling. Grumpy Farmer was the President while Mr. Goodwin served as the Chief Financial Officer in 2013 when the lease was signed. Performance Drilling also submitted a plan of reorganization to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in January 2013 that stated Mr. Goodwin was the CFO and Mr. Farmer was the President (See p.18 posted below) of the company. Posted below as well is a screenshot of the website of Performance Drilling. Performance Drilling is owned by Ben Turnage.
The Rankin County School Board approved the lease as part of the consent agenda at the December 13, 2013 meeting. All members of the school board were present. No one voted against the lease nor abstained from voting.
Thus it would seem Messrs. Farmer and McCrory voted for the lease despite their connections to Jeff Goodwin. The December 11, 2013 minutes state:
Thus two business associates of Mr. Goodwin voted for the lease while one of them signed the lease. The phrase "conflict of interest" apparently is the new Latin as dead languages are rarely studied in Rankin County.
Kingfish note: This post is not accusing anyone of any skullduggery. The rent stated in the lease may indeed be fair market value. However, the multiple connections between parties sitting on both sides of the table should be reported. The Mississippi Way it would appear, permeates everything. However, no accusations are made in this post as these are all honorable men.
29 comments:
Dig a little deeper and you'll find their love for Gregg Harper.
Mississippi should form an Ethics Commission and State Auditor's Office.
I agree with 9:44 a.m. Who knows? Maybe we could get an AG and Secretary of State while we're at it.
Much to do about nothing in this post. 16th section land is leased to the highest bidder. If you don't know that property, it's a sh!t hole and I'd venture to say that no one else was interested in leasing it. Those guys are smart and will take an opportunity to make a dollar. Hey saw a piece of 16th section that wasn't being leased and decided to lease it. Rankin county is small and those guys all grew up together. Who would you prefer the school board lease it to? We're there any other bids higher than the $3500? That would be an issue if so.
I said it was a vacant lot. There is nothing there. I even said it was probably fair market value.
Of course, government ethics mean nothing to people such as yourself. There is a simple solution: You recuse yourself from the vote and signing the deal. There are still three school board members. Of course, if they do it on something insignificant such as this deal, then what about other ones?
Want to know why Mississippi is last in everything and is the most corrupt state? Go look in the mirror.
@10:24 - Because we will vote for anyone who calls themselves a Republican?
Much to do about nothing??? I beg to differ. It's wrong to have such a high conflict of interest. I grow weary of these. This must be Cecil McCrory, Grumpt Farmer or one of the numerous members of the Weathersby family that are employed at ridiculous salaries in RCSD or government.
A vacant lot they are paying $3500 a year lease on to the rankin county school board, seems like they are helping rcsd versus hurting it. A donation if you will. Who of those complaining will find a piece of land with nothing on it that you'll never own outright and pledge $3500 a year for? There very could be skeletons in the closet between some names mentioned, but this isn't. Want to find a real smoking gun king fish, why not find out why the attorneys office for the school board attorney burned right before all of that came out about Cecil?
Trust me when I say that Grumpy Farmer is a weathersby's worst nightmare. The only reason he is in the school board is/was to opposed Lynn Weathersby and his corruption. That's a noted fact and why he was elected.
If I'm not mistaken an appraisal must be made on all 16th land and the land will be offered based on market rent and not to the highest bidder. It would be interesting to see who provided the appraisal. May be more culprits involved than just the parties listed.
AMEN KINGFISH @ 10:24 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Remind me again as to why we had to pass a school bond in Rankin County, because they give away the 16th sec land a ridiculously low prices!
Mississippi is not last in everything, we are number one in obesity, corruption and charitable giving.
10:48, you are aware the R's have only been in charge since Fordice, right? Care to guess the party affiliation of Mussgrove or Mabus? The Legislature was all D until when? Problem ain't the parties. Problem is the politicians.
These are the same players from the Stonebridge subdivision deal
My question is who cares? Rankin County? Are you kidding? The place is small and you've got a couple of hustlers (McCrory & Goodwin), wow.
Yawn!
Kingfish, I'm a little confused as to why this is relevant? The board has changed drastically since 2013, as has the administration. Seems like old news? What exactly IS your purpose in this "news" item?
Anyone care to run down to the court clerk's office and read up on mineral rights on these lands? I bet you might find your smoking gun that I turned a blind eye to.
Drilling company....mineral rights.... drilling company.... mineral rights... Hmmmm I must be missing something.
KF--Are you including Cecil McCrory in your list of honorable men? I sometime have trouble with sarcasm
Hey pineapple boy at 2:10. Madison County population 94,00+, Rankin County population, 145,000+. Of course, if we are comparing faux brick, Madison wins...
What does it take for a regular person to get something done in Rankin county. I am told that if you are not in their club you will get voted down. Is this true or are some supervisors doing things based on the good of the county?
I tell you what, these guys are just incredible entrepeneurs. Land development, chicken processing, behavioral health, telecommunications, used cars, oil and gas...what can't these guys do? Rankin County is just fortunate to have such brilliance burrowed into every arm of government in the county. And Ben Turnage...no wonder he was paying himself 45k a month at his own company Performance Drilling...man is a regular Captain of Industry.
Rudy made more money off of the idiot leaders of Madison County than all of these Rankin yokels combined.
Family Values:
Nepotism is not just dishonorable but a way to insure that children never had a sense of their own worth and never owned their success.
Doing business with friends is the easiest way to ruin your friendships and reputation. If a friend needs help , make clear it's a gift and not an obligation and don't do it if it won't really solve whatever problem they have.
Needing a politician's favor is a weakness and admission you couldn't succeed on your own. Taking government tax dollars is a handout no matter why you took those dollars unless you return the value with your labor and skill.
A person should be like Caesar's wife...never put themselves in a position to have their honor questioned.
The end never justified the means. The means is everything. And if you can't win fair and square on your own merit, you are, in fact, a loser and a cheat.
To do other than the above is primitive tribalism and uncivilized.
But, when wealth is the only measure of success, such values disappear.
Hey 9:00pm, spoken like a classic fry cook at Wendy's (haven't been promoted to McDonald's yet) or should I say a typical MS pessimist. I want and so should you 100 Turnage's et al in this market and 500 around the state creating jobs and yes they make money. Sorry.
6:13 Your post is fitting of a sandwich artist with delusions of grandeur. Those market geniuses you speak of are really cranking out the &7.50-8:50/hour jobs--including your own.
Well dang,I was reared and educated in Rankin county but I'm not forming a posse with my graduatimg class and screwing the citizens of my home state. I'm not stealing from the generations that came after me and screwing them out of a grade A education. I had to fight the mighty board for my son to get half the education I received and it only took me two weeks to follow the money all the way to the gravel pits. It's about time McCroryville was returned to the citzens of Rankin county.
Anything Turnage is involved in needs to be looked at carefully....note the article in today's Decatur Daily about his poultry company hiring child labor! You aren't in MS anymore Turnage! You can't buy people!
This is not just an "empty lot." It' a parking lot dead center of downtown Brandon which is so starved for parking it's preventing growth of businesses there. The owners purchased it and subsequently presented offers to surrounding businesses to use it at arguably ridiculous lease prices, beyond affordability which is why at least one business has relocated and the parking lot still sits vacant.
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