Calls out Councilman Aaron Banks
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba issued the following statement.
“I
would like to reiterate the comments I made yesterday in support of or
CAO and my gratitude for all the great work he has done for the City. He
has not only done an excellent
job on behalf of the citizens, he’s done so in great sacrifice for
himself and his family.
To
explain the circumstances, first I want to tell you the purpose behind
the contract. The contract was an effort to rectify the fact that our
billing software were on
servers that continue to crash our water sewer billing system. Those
crashes were leading to a failure to get bills out and stranding bills
so we found ourselves in an emergency circumstance. That scope of work
was presented to council and it was expressed
the need to rectify.
The
decision was made that we were going to take the data off the servers
and put them in a cloud to secure them and make certain we wouldn’t have
that problem anymore.
A contract was presented to council. The contract was approved by the
council and it was approved unanimously. They knew Experts Solutions, a
company that had done work, not only earlier in this Administration, but
had worked for the City predating this Administration.
Not only was the contract presented but the work was performed. It was
later noticed by the Administration Office that the scope of the work
had exceeded the contract order and had gone past the period of time.
Once that was noticed, it was reported to my
office.
We
called the City Attorney and we self-reported to the council. We felt
that it was important that we be transparent and let them know that this
error had occurred. I want
to make it clear in this, as the suggestion has been made in some way
that this was based on a relationship to myself that this contract was
awarded. First and foremost, as I stated in the beginning of my remarks,
this is a company that has done work with
the City of Jackson before I even came in office. This also was a
company that council obviously had approval for it because they
unanimously supported this next area of work.
Lastly,
as we acknowledged the error, we self-reported it and we also supported
the action to take legal action against the company. If this was based
on a relationship
or steering some type of contract, I don’t think anyone steers a
contract and self-reports an error. And then after self-reporting an
error, they support legal action to take against the company. In order
to further support the position and the information
that this was in error, there are a few documents that are critical to
tell the story.
The
first I have is the email chain from the CAO’s Office. An email chain
that says ‘He’s still working under contract. There is no end date to
it.’ So it was made in an
honest error that there was no end date to it. Next, I present the
contract. The contract has stated no end date in it. Someone who reviews
the contract for the work that we were doing for this emergency
circumstance to save the City from financial challenge,
will see there’s no end date so they were operating under good faith
that they believed there was no expiration date.
Where
the error was discovered was the reconciling of the contract with the
order. It is the order that stated it had to be done within the
prescribed period of time and
for the amount of money that was recognized. What is unique in this
circumstance is that this Administration had the integrity to
self-report the error not that there was some effort to do anything
nefarious.
There
has been an effort to weaponize our transparency. There has been an
effort to take what we wanted to demonstrate open and honestly and use
it for political gain. Sometimes
as Mayor, you make a decision not to speak to things that you see that
are politically based because it is beneath the Office and it is not
what the citizens want you to focus on. But it is very clear that
there’s an effort by a certain council person to look
for any opportunity to score political points on things that he knows
were not done in any nefarious intent. In fact, if he believes that
there was some nefarious intent or the contract was not justified then
you must ask Councilman Banks why he voted for
it?
Going
forward with what we know, is that we can’t make these types of errors.
More importantly, we would hope that the constituents know that in the
event that an error
occurs they have an Administration which will be forthcoming and take
the appropriate steps to rectify it.
21 comments:
Much to do about nothing. One politician attempting to make points against another politician!
1.) He should have used a Thesaurus.
2.) He is too defensive and talks about double standards as if it isn’t evident the contract dates were intentionally left off. What’s foolish is that he thinks he can fool someone.
Baby chokwe is just that a feeble minded brat. No one really takes him serious. He's more amusing. Much like Carlos the clown.
The Council voted unanimously to censure Blaine. That's more than just "one politician against another politician". They are obviously concerned about something wrong about this administration and its spending priorities (since they can be held personally liable), and are sending a clear warning shot to the Mayor and his people.
God; I could not read further than halfway through the third paragraph. What JPS ninth grader wrote this press release?
Ummmm, executing a contract w/ no end date is a critical error, and should be something that a CAO catches everyday and twice on Sunday. This is grounds for termination just from a business best practice perspective. The fact that the Council want to get the State Auditor involved is very interesting, and even for our council, would point to more than meets the eye. All that to say, reading the Mayor's statement; that's a lot of defensive posture for a "honest mistake" (I'm not touching the "I'm a LAWYER" stuff with that writing).
I wonder if “Expert Professional Solutions, LLC” did any business with the city before his father’s administration. Can’t find a website for them. Seems legit for an IT consulting company. Business email on file in their 2019 annual report filed with the SOS is Julia@swayfitness.net.
2:23 x 2. Why use 80 words when you can smother your reader with 800?
10 paragraph statement on what? I really need some bullet points here, no pun intended.
Too long didn't read...but can I get at least one Ooops anyway?
Contract was for Akil Bakari. Funny dude. Mayor's man. When Mayor assumed office, Akil wanted to create a website to compete with me. Think's he is a somebody.
How does a city contract get executed without having Legal confirm it meets standards, such as a end date? Why isn't the City Attorney also being held publicly accountable?
Well Kingfish, he didn’t succeed. As you seem to be the only one that knows about his blog/website.
Wait KF...Akil whose real name is Billy?
Anywho, I know Akil’s technical prowess is far greater than yours.
Who the hell wrote this? No end date on a contract? Good grief.
Idiocracy Too - the Move E.
Never said it wasn't. At all.
This defense is misdirection. Blaine has taken the fall for a decision that he didn't actually make. 'Weaponize our transparency'? Can't 'weaponize' Antar something you are not.
2:23. Well said. I could not finish reading. By the way. The people that still live within the city limits of Jackson are RESIDENTS. Not Citizens. They are Citizens of the USA. They are residents of Jackson
I agree with 9:12 a.m. & 7:51 p.m., and wonder why this doesn't fall on the city attorney. Any competent attorney should at least make sure all material terms of a contract are sufficiently-specific.
This defense is misdirection.
Chuckway caught feathering the nest of someone who has served as a capo to the Lumumbas for a long, long time. Was the work bid out? I doubt Webster/Bakari's service fell within the legal definition of professional services. The idea that this was an emergency is a red-herring to, as the comment @9:12 notes, direct attention away from Junior's lavishing a sweetheart contract to a close confidant. There is no grey area here. Chokwe Antar Lumumba is caught.
Akil most likely had to shorten his name from Billy... He's about as sharp as a bowling ball. I've met him on a number of occasions. Couldn't make it on his own in the real world. Like I said... He's a dummy. I wish he would start his own news site... it would be much needed comedy relief
Post a Comment