September 21, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS RELEASE
Contact Joe Saino, 7540699 or 2402689, John Malmo 260-4115 (O), 754-9258 (H),
MAYOR'S PALS TARGET OF OPEN RECORDS LAWSUIT BY COUNCIL CANDIDATE, SAINO
Council candidate says we can no longer afford these special
contracts given to Reginald French, Paul Rodgers, Marvel Mitchell
and Darryl Thomas
One city council candidate promises that if he’s elected he will work for an ordinance to require absolute transparency in all City of Memphis financial transactions. This change in the City Charter will do more to insure honesty in government than the ethics rules recently passed by the City Council.
Joe Saino, candidate for District 9, Position 2, says, “Memphis is possibly paying millions of dollars more than is necessary under the ACS contract. I filed an open records request on April 13, 2007 and did not receive an answer until June 7, 2007 on Mitchell and Thomas and until July 23, 2007 on Reginald French and Paul Rogers”. The tax paying public is entitled to know what these sub-rosa contracts are costing compared to market prices.
The answer from Elbert Jefferson, City Attorney, and Charles Elliott, ACS Account Manager, was bizarre. They claim that the firms run by these two individuals are part of ACS Full time Equivalent Account (FTE) and they do not provide salary information on their employees. Jefferson claims that the contract between ACS and the City of Memphis is analogous to a General Contractor submitting a bid and including the names of business that will provide subcontractor services.
Joe Saino believes that this is a sham and a way to insure that there is no real competition for these millions of dollars of tax payer money. The total figure from ACS Summary reports for these four firms from July 2002 to March 2006 and July 2006 to February 2007 is $8,542,472.09.
Saino is a retired engineer whose family has lived in Memphis since 1856. He owned a manufacturing business in Memphis until his retirement and was a member of the MLG&W board of directors for six years, a year as chairman. He has spent the past three years investigating City of Memphis government and finances.
“No one is even discussing these important issues that affect each one of us. Is our city government, our council, overlooking these facts? Are they ignorant of them? We must have leaders who understand these complex issues and can deal with them.”
Click here to read the letters from Elbert Jefferson, City Attorney, and Charles Elliott, ACS representative claiming that Reginald French and others are full time equivalent employees of ACS and therefore the public is not entitled to information about taxpayer money sent to them
Click here to read the chancery court petition for access to open records concerning the ACS contract and information about Reginald French and other cronies of the Mayor and their millions of dollars in contracts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS RELEASE
Contact Joe Saino, 7540699 or 2402689, John Malmo 260-4115 (O), 754-9258 (H),
MAYOR'S PALS TARGET OF OPEN RECORDS LAWSUIT BY COUNCIL CANDIDATE, SAINO
Council candidate says we can no longer afford these special
contracts given to Reginald French, Paul Rodgers, Marvel Mitchell
and Darryl Thomas
One city council candidate promises that if he’s elected he will work for an ordinance to require absolute transparency in all City of Memphis financial transactions. This change in the City Charter will do more to insure honesty in government than the ethics rules recently passed by the City Council.
Joe Saino, candidate for District 9, Position 2, says, “Memphis is possibly paying millions of dollars more than is necessary under the ACS contract. I filed an open records request on April 13, 2007 and did not receive an answer until June 7, 2007 on Mitchell and Thomas and until July 23, 2007 on Reginald French and Paul Rogers”. The tax paying public is entitled to know what these sub-rosa contracts are costing compared to market prices.
The answer from Elbert Jefferson, City Attorney, and Charles Elliott, ACS Account Manager, was bizarre. They claim that the firms run by these two individuals are part of ACS Full time Equivalent Account (FTE) and they do not provide salary information on their employees. Jefferson claims that the contract between ACS and the City of Memphis is analogous to a General Contractor submitting a bid and including the names of business that will provide subcontractor services.
Joe Saino believes that this is a sham and a way to insure that there is no real competition for these millions of dollars of tax payer money. The total figure from ACS Summary reports for these four firms from July 2002 to March 2006 and July 2006 to February 2007 is $8,542,472.09.
Saino is a retired engineer whose family has lived in Memphis since 1856. He owned a manufacturing business in Memphis until his retirement and was a member of the MLG&W board of directors for six years, a year as chairman. He has spent the past three years investigating City of Memphis government and finances.
“No one is even discussing these important issues that affect each one of us. Is our city government, our council, overlooking these facts? Are they ignorant of them? We must have leaders who understand these complex issues and can deal with them.”
Click here to read the letters from Elbert Jefferson, City Attorney, and Charles Elliott, ACS representative claiming that Reginald French and others are full time equivalent employees of ACS and therefore the public is not entitled to information about taxpayer money sent to them
Click here to read the chancery court petition for access to open records concerning the ACS contract and information about Reginald French and other cronies of the Mayor and their millions of dollars in contracts
posted by watchdog at
8:19 PM
1 Comments:
Right On, Mr. Saino and Memphis Watchdog!! Keep up the good work !
If I'm elected to the Memphs City Council from District 5, I will join your work from the "inside" and help end this and other shameful practices of this city government and "business as usual" Memphis politics
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Anonymous, at 7:16 PM
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