Howland heading back to Madison city board

John Howland appears to be the winner of a special election for Madison alderman at large.

In unofficial results, Howland garnered 916 votes, or 52 percent, to Eddie Tanner’s 847, or 48 percent. Absentee and affidavit ballots were yet to be counted at about 10 p.m. Tuesday.

"I look forward to being back on the board again,” said Howland, a former Madison alderman. “It’s a tall order for anyone to run a citywide campaign in three weeks. It was a hard-fought race.”

Howland and Tanner, a former director of parks and recreation for the city of Madison, vied for the post vacated by Lisa Clingan-Smith in October.

Howland will complete the 2 years remaining of Clingan-Smith’s term. He will take a seat when the Board of Aldermen, meet Dec. 7.

Howland, 48, served one term on the board from 2005-2009. He decided not to run for re-election last year when redistricting carved his existing Ward 6 among three others and he found himself in the same ward as Alderman Pat Peeler.

Tanner, a former member of the Madison County School Board, ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Ridgeland in 2001 against current Mayor Gene McGee. He also previously served as Ridgeland’s director of parks and recreation after serving as Madison’s director.

Howland was endorsed by Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler.

Read More at MCH

We know how to get out of this mess. But, how much more damage gets done until then?

BY: B. Keith Plunkett

Even those of us with a little history of being on the wrong side of the political witch hunters in Madison County—one day, I’ll write that story and explain—have to look at the past few months of shenanigans with mouths agape in amazement. There is no definitive starting point, and apparently no ending point, to the political gamesmanship that occurs here in the “Land Between Two Rivers”. It goes back decades. But, if one were to try to define a timeline of events that have us where we are today, the ramp-up to our most recent toxic political climate can be traced back to February 2006 when Board President Tim Johnson and Supervisor’s Karl Banks and Paul Griffin formed a voting bloc and passed a $50 million bond debt program without knowing how the county would pay it back. That lack of budget sense was followed by a vote again in September 2008 to raise taxes to the tune of 3.3 mils to cover the debt that was incurred from it.

Before the 2008 vote, there was an attempt to stifle debate altogether by closing the public hearing, followed by a surprisingly inept attempt to double the increase to 6.33 mils. Due to public outcry and the threat of legal challenges, it was quickly reduced back to the original 3.33 mils. But a new way of doing business had been put into play:

Johnson, who said he worked with an “ad hoc” committee comprised of County Engineer Rudy Warnock and road department officials to develop the plan, said he intentionally did not solicit input from either Jones or Taggart. Johnson, who said he did not need public input to determine the county’s greatest transportation needs, said he did discuss the plan and how best to finance the individual road projects chosen as priorities with District 4 Supervisor Karl Banks and District 5 Supervisor Paul Griffin.

“They were a part of it, yes,” Johnson said.

Warnock, who formally drafted the presentation document outlining almost $100 million in road construction and repair projects, was approved as part of the road plan’s 3 to 2 adoption to serve as the lead engineer for the entire road plan project – a responsibility that could potentially earn his engineering firm up to 20 percent of the road projects’ total costs.

“I will be the lead engineer for the road work,” Warnock said.

“It’s what the board decided.”

Plans for the future had been made behind closed doors. It was a sign of things to come.

Wary citizens talk of the lack of open government and restraint in Canton reached the stratosphere by 2009. One road project that had fallen out of favor within the newly developed road plan was holding up development in the City of Madison and Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler began a closer look at the county spending. The result was notice of potential double-dipping by County Engineer Rudy Warnock in his billing practices with subcontractors.

A subsequent report by an independent engineering consultant, Richard McAfee, funded by concerned citizens in the City of Madison found several red flags in Warnock’s cozy relationship with Madison County. The allegations became public in March of 2010, and calls for a visit from State Auditor Stacey Pickering ensued. Board President Johnson and Warnock looked on that as the seminal shot fired. With the help of the voting bloc that now controlled the Board of Supervisors, they began implementing a scorched earth retaliation policy, and a game of “hide-and-go-seek” of the county’s invoice approval process.



It has engulfed the county’s business ever since. Now including Board Attorney Eric Hamer’s billing practices:



The questions of financial irresponsibility also extends to questions over the salary of lobbyist C. Steven Seale, and even if his employment is legal under Mississippi code. Nothing at this point appears to be viewed outside the prism of doubt and mistrust.

I’d be willing to bet that former County Administrator Donnie Caughman and Comptroller Mark Houston are happy as two pigs in slop that they got out when they did.

The latest installment of the timeline has the Board of Supervisor’s trying to lock Supervisor D.I. Smith out of any executive sessions by charging him with leaking sensitive legal information to MDOT regarding one of the privately planned road projects.

The tactic employed by Johnson and company is to deny everything, admit to nothing, and to lay waste to everything through counter charges. There is a void left from the board’s refusal to come clean, and citizens are left guessing at why this is all happening. The vacuum created by a Board of Supervisor's unwilling to explain themselves is filled by any number of rumors.

There is Supervisor Banks land holdings and the question of whether he has personally profited from his votes on the board. There have been concerns of the possible uber-politicization of the upcoming redistricting process to allow the control of the power levers to remain in Johnson’s hands as, are you sitting down . . . County Administrator. That's right folks, rumor is he has his sight set on a job to run the whole county; Boss Hogg in a sequened jumpsuit.

As puzzled citizens scratch their heads, old rumors of the county engineer’s epic shindigs have again been brought to the fore, as well. Warnock’s soiree’s, the rumor goes, supposedly helped him gain enough dirt on public officials that he could get away with the billing deceptions and the closed door road planning meetings. No one would dare cross him lest he go public.

Is this all true? I’m not sure. There is almost always a hint of truth in the most deceptive of lies. That’s what makes them believable. But one thing is for certain; the fact that it is all being talked about as the back story to the ongoing head-butting between factions is not financially or civically healthy for any of us.

This is what we Madison Countians have been reduced to by the mismanagement of a few who want all the power all the time. It didn't just start this year, and it won’t be fixed overnight. Most voters probably now realize it will require some serious purging come Election Day before that fix is possible.

The question becomes, “Can Madison County keep from imploding until then?”

MCJ: Audit shows contracts protect engineer instead of taxpayers

The performance audit recommends in the future that supervisors do more to negotiate the lowest price for the best service.


"OSA recommends that the county should at least consider using the bidding process in the future where competition exists, even for personal service engineering contracts," the report said.

"Even though current law does not require it nothing prevents a board from using bidding for engineering personal services to get the best product for the best price."

Toward the end, the report notes that a financial analysis of their findings has yet to be released and could address other issues not covered.

"The next report will focus primarily on the financial review of payments from the County to Rudy Warnock and from Rudy Warnock to his subcontractors and consultants for selected contracts," it reads.

Warnock's use of subcontracts have at times been the center of the controversy with Hawkins-Butler long calling on him to produce invoices.

"If Mr. Warnock would produce the subcontracted invoices a lot of this could be put to rest," Hawkins-Butler said last year. "It would be so easy and would not cost a dime to produce those contracted invoices."

In question she insists is $326,000 Warnock's firm charged the county in environmental engineering fees for Calhoun Station Parkway before subcontracting the work to another firm.

The terms of those subcontracts are not public record, but critics have insisted that Warnock charged the county for the work then farmed it out at a much lower price and pocketing the difference.

Warnock has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.

Read More at MCJ

Alderman-at-large resigns from Madison board

Madison Alderman-at-large Lisa Clingan-Smith has resigned after 17 years in her elected position.
Clingan-Smith submitted her resignation to Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler and the Board of Aldermen on Tuesday. Clingan-Smith is starting work Nov. 1 with the Mississippi Public Service Commission in a federally funded position.

Under the federal Hatch Act, Clingan-Smith said she can not serve in her elected capacity while on the federal payroll as a special staff chief for the PSC.

“Had it not been for her strong convictions and dedication and love for community, always voting for the people, we wouldn’t see the Madison we have today,” Butler said in saluting Clingan-Smith, the longest serving member of the current board.

“I thank her for her courageous 17 years of service,” the mayor said.


Read More: MCH

MIM: A Republican Challenger To Pickering?

Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler

A couple weeks back state Auditor Stacey Pickering announced he will run for re-election rather than test the waters of a competitive lieutenant governor primary. I don’t think there is much denying that this was a victory for Republicans as Pickering looks likely to win a second term.



State Auditor Stacey Pickering

 However, last weekend Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler admitted that she at least had interest in running for state Auditor. She made that statement on the Red and Blue Review with Jere Nash as she was filing in for Andy Taggart.

To say this would be a shakeup in the race is an understatement. I would venture to say that Hawkins-Butler is probably one of the two or three most well known mayors in the state after the mayor of Jackson. Whether or not that is a positive remains to be seen. But for a Republican to run against a sitting Republican office holder would certainly be a game changer, and give political watchers like myself another highly competitive GOP primary.

MIM

Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler talks about a possible run for state auditor

Mayor Mary sat down with Terry Cassreino of the Better Mississippi Report recently to talk about her 30 years as Mayor of Madison and her future as a potential candidate for statewide office. You can listen to entire interview via podcast HERE.

While Mississippi and the nation have suffered through the worst recession since World War II, Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler said strong management and leadership have helped her city survive.


Butler, mayor of the city of 27,000 just north of Jackson, said Madison has benefited from such things as growth in retail and the opening of a branch campus of Tulane University. Construction continues on new retail along Grandview Drive.

“There are some things that we had to cut, tighten our belt,” Butler said. “But we never want to do anything that’s going to jeopardize the safety and the health and welfare if the people.”

Butler talked about the recession, retail growth, Tulane University and her political future in a wide-ranging interview featured on Episode 11 of the “Better Mississippi Report Internet Radio Podcast” – which was released today.

Better Mississippi Report

Kingfish has the skinny on the rejection of Rudy Warnock's complaint against independent investigator Richard McAfee

The Mississippi Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Surveyors cleared Richard McAfee of any wrongdoing in response to a complaint filed by Madison County Engineer Rudy Warnock.


Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler and Madison County Engineer Rudy Warnock skirmished a few months ago over his work for Madison County.

The Board took a nice long look at it all and told Rudy: sorry kid, better luck next time. The Board met yesterday and rejected Mr. Warnock's complaint. The Board informed Mr. Carson in a letter that was obtained by Jackson Jambalya through a public records request yesterday.

You can read the entire post and the document links at JJ

For Related Posts of all things Rudy go HERE.

Madison approves smoking ban

Mississippi Business Journal

MADISON — Madison has adopted a smoke-free-air ordinance, switching from a voluntary ban on tobacco that all city businesses followed.

The change passed unanimously on Tuesday.

Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler is expected to sign the ordinance Wednesday or Thursday. The law will go into effect 30 days after she signs it.

Butler tells The Clarion-Ledger the reason for moving from voluntary to mandatory is because of the growth of the city.

Madison joins more than 30 cities in the state that have smoking restrictions. In the metro area, Brandon, Clinton, Flora and Ridgeland have banned smoking in public places.

Warnock takes his gripe to the State Board of Licensure

Dorsey Carson, attorney for Rudy Warnock, has taken his clients gripe over an independent audit of his Madison County contracts to the Mississippi Board of Licensure for Professional Engingeers and Surveyors.

View a Copy of the Press Release here

View a Copy of the Complaint here

Related Posts: Warnock tells WLBT he embraces audit, But will there be a full investigation?
Madison County Supervisor Asks for Audit of Engineers Contracts . . . Again.

A Lesson In Deflection

Under pressure from Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler and a number of Madison County residents for a too-cozy relationship with County Engineer Rudy Warnock, Board of Supervisor's President Tim Johnson is deflecting accusations by pointing the finger back at the Mayor. Pointing to a legal contract between the City of Madison and developer Richard Skinner and calling it "extortion" doesn't make it so. In fact, Skinner and the Mayor on behalf of the city both voluntarily signed the agreement.

Unless someone comes forth to claim they witnessed the Mayor pointing a gun at Skinner's head and demanding he sign, this is much ado about nothing. In fact, if Madison County, under the leadership of Supervisor Johnson, would uphold their end of the deal on the Reunion Parkway project and complete it by December of 2011, then the money would be returned to Mr. Skinner as the deal clearly states (posted on Jackson Jambalaya). Then again if the State Auditor would subpoena the UNapproved subcontracts for enviromental work that Engineer Warnock ordered and then way overbilled for on the Reunion project and a couple of others, it would go a long way to help return money to the county that could then be used on construction.

It is a typical response from Johnson: create a problem by using your position to provide a loop hole for your friends to gouge the taxpayer, while shifting money from the original project to others which in turn slows the project (further providing your buddy the engineer with a chance to re-engineer the project). And then, when it comes to light what you have done and bites you in the rear end, blame it on the accuser.  Of course the tactic is used often by the other two Supes in the voting block of three, as well, as my friend Kingfish at Jackson Jambalaya reports and is busy uncovering today.

The lack of ethics in DC ain't got nothing on us!



CLASSY!

Related Posts: Madison County Supervisor's lobbying adds to county's woes

State Auditor's office sends a response team to Madison County to look at Warnock and Associates Contracts

The Flora Harvester has been informed that State Auditor Stacey Pickering's office has dispatched a team of 6 auditors as part of the offices Audit Response Team to Madison County today. The team is reportedly looking into contracts the county has with Warnock and Associates Engineering.

Warnock has been under fire from elected officials Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler and Supervisor D.I. Smith, as well as a chorus of county residents turned activists. All have been calling for an audit from the state to uncover what they believe to be a fiscally irresponsible arrangement between Warnock and three of the five Supervisors. Efforts to release subcontracts Warnock says were approved by the Board of Supervisors have met with stiff resistance from Supervisor's Tim Johnson, Karl Banks and Paul Griffin, while being supported by Supervisor's John Bell Crosby and the aforementioned Smith.

In a point by point rebuttal to Mayor Hawkins-Butler's commissioned review of engineering fees and practice, and published on Jackson Jambalya, Warnock denied any wrongdoing stating, "all subcontracts is furnished to the Madison County Board of Supervisors, which votes on them in open board meetings."

Warnock's attorney Dorsey Carson supplied the rebuttal with 31 pages of other documents to the local blogger, but only once touched on the issue of subcontracts. No subcontracts were actually produced or shared by Warnock.

The Flora Harvester has also received information from an informant close to the engineering firm that Warnock, fresh off a recent trip to the Bahamas, was recently heard discussing a planned trip to Paris at an event to celebrate the opening of Calhoun Station Parkway. Records show that Warnock's firm charged the county $150,000 for environmental engineering fees for Calhoun Station Parkway Phase II and $176,800 for Calhoun Station Parkway Phase III.

Related Posts: Madison County Supervisor Asks For Audit Of Engineering Fees . . . Again.
"To Audit Or Not to Audit?" That is the question
Madison County Journal--Report questions engineering fees.
WLBT Report--Madison Mayor questions county engineering fees

WLBT Report--Madison mayor questions county engineering fees (Video)

The verbal back and forth is ramping up between Mayor Mary and Rudy Warnock over the engineering fees. Around the one minute mark of the video is an interesting edit, as the Mayor asks why projects are engineered before construction funding is available. The video immediately cuts to Warnock saying, "it is a waste of time, and a waste of money." I'm pretty sure he wasn't commenting on the engineering fees he's been able to collect prior to funding of projects. Was the WLBT editor having a bit of fun?

Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler is demanding a forensic audit of engineering projects done in her city by Madison County Engineer Rudy Warnock.

This request comes after an independent audit done on Warnock that claimed to find discrepancies in how much he was charging for his work.

The audit was done by hired engineer Richard McAfee of Florida. In his report, he claimed to have found multiple instances of excessive charges to the city of Madison, and questionable payments to the Warnock and Associates Engineering Firm.

WLBT

Related Posts: Madison County Supervisor Asks For Audit of Engineers Contracts . . . Again
"To Audit Or Not To Audit?" That Is The Question.
Sound Off Open Thread: Did the State Auditor Address Madison Countians Concerns?
Madison County Journal--Report questions engineering fees

Madison Co. Supervisor Asks For Audit Of Engineer's Contracts . . . Again.

Current efforts to further examine Madison County's books continue to be embroiled in politics.

Madison County residents turned activists Frank Halford and Billy Redd were on the Gallo Radio Show Thursday morning to discuss the lack of answers coming from the Board of Supervisors. Supervisor DI Smith continues to take his calls for a procedural audit to the airwaves as often as possible. Meanwhile State Auditor Stacy Pickering is trying to steer as clear as possible as he positions himself for a run for higher office.

County Engineer Rudy Warnock, in true Democrat fashion, continues his non-answer answers and to play the "poor me" victim. Back in June he was quoted as saying he is the victim of politics.

"Everything that D.I. is alleging is totally false and slanderous,” Warnock said in June. “Every contract and invoice that I have submitted to Madison County has been reviewed by the administration and then approved by the Madison County Board of Supervisors."

Boo Hoo!

WAPT is reporting that a recent investigation begun by Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler has only served to bring up more troubling questions about Warnock's practices.

Hawkins-Butler said a six-month investigation has revealed that Warnock has been paying other contractors to perform his projects, which she said is not allowed without county permission. Butler said the subcontracting issue has been raised for months now, and it was most recently talked about at a board of supervisors meeting.

“Two member of the board of supervisors voted for Rudy Warnock to produce those subcontracts,” the mayor said. “Three voted ‘no,’ that he didn't have to produce it. If there's nothing wrong with them, produce the subcontracts and all of this will go away.”

In addition to the issue of subcontracting, Hawkins-Butler said the investigation notes $2 million in tax dollars was spent without question or concern from the board of supervisors.

There was no quote in the story from Warnock. "Why?" you may ask. Because he's in the Bahamas on vacation.

Bad timing Rudy!

The investigation cited a conflict of interest where Warnock, serving as county engineer, designs and approves his own work - something the report says flies in the face of the Mississippi Board of Licensure's code of professional conduct.

Warnock, holding true to form, blamed it all on "political theater" orchestrated by Hawkins-Butler.

In a statement released by his attorney--did I mention Warnock was in the Bahamas--Dorsey R. Carson, Jr., of Jackson and reported by the Madison County Journal,

Warnock railed against Hawkins-Butler, calling McAfee no more than a "hired gun" and questioning the integrity of the report.

The report's author, Richard J. McAfee of Detroit-based PMA Consultants, said with limited documentation he found no illegal acts, but pointed to over $2 million in questionable spending by the county.

"This bears further investigation," McAfee said. "Any government in the business of serving the people need to have better checks and balances. There are so many inconsistencies it would make sense to perform a thorough audit."

When Pickering was running for Auditor he said,

“State and local governments in Mississippi spend billions of dollars in taxpayer money each year. As a fiscal conservative, I want to make sure that our tax dollars are spent with the integrity the taxpayers expect and deserve.”

We're waiting sir.

Madison County Journal-Report questions engineering fees

Excessive fees and a lack of checks and balances were questioned in a report on the county's engineering services commissioned privately last year by the mayor of Madison.

The report is the latest in an ongoing political fight between Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler and certain members of the Board of Supervisors and County Engineer Rudy Warnock.

The report finds, among other things, that the county's expense reimbursements to Warnock and Associates were extremely high, including in one instance fees of nearly $19,000 over a nine-month period for use of a vehicle on a single project.

It also cites a conflict of interest where Warnock, serving as county engineer, designs and approves his own work - something the report says flies in the face of the Mississippi Board of Licensure's code of professional conduct.

Warnock has discounted the report as nothing more than political theater orchestrated by Hawkins-Butler.

The report's author, Richard J. McAfee of Detroit-based PMA Consultants, was in town Wednesday when he spoke on the Paul Gallo radio show and met with members of the media.

Overall, McAfee said with limited documentation he found no illegal acts, but pointed to over $2 million in questionable spending by the county.

Read the rest of the story at Madison County Journal Online