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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| I was surprised by the number of negative comments against Curtis and Lynch. |
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Fri Aug 05, 2016 6:00 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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GENESEE FLINT . COM: MAYOR THROWS KATE FIELDS AND ...
goodmorningflint.blogspot.com/2011/.../mayor-throws-kate-fields-and-advanced.htm...
Jul 26, 2011 - Yesterday 07/25/11 Droid thumb live blogged the Flint City Council meeting typos and all. ... From the Mayors announcement to council one corruption target of the FBI is an ... Mayor Walling talked about the FBI investigations.
Terry Bankert reported live from the hearing involving the lost DOE grant fom Kate Fields and Advanced Solutions. |
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Fri Aug 05, 2016 9:19 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Kate Fields was one of two council members targeted by th robocalls. Could this be the reason?
Highlights of testimony from Flint City Council investigative hearing on grant spending
Kristin Longley | klongley1@mlive.com By Kristin Longley | klongley1@mlive.com
on November 23, 2011 at 11:06 AM, updated November 23, 2011 at 11:32 AM
FLINT, Michigan -- The Flint City Council questioned five witnesses at Tuesday's investigative hearing on a $1.1 million energy grant that was terminated for "mismanagement" alleged by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Many of the questions were directed at Kate Fields, CEO of Advanced Solutions Group, which had a $250,000 consulting contract with the city for the $1.1 million energy grant.
The city is appealing the termination, and the demand that $214,000 of the grant be repaid. The termination of the grant led city council members to call the hearing.
The majority of the funds questioned by the department of energy are related to Advanced Solutions Group. Nearly $164,000 of the costs by Advanced Solutions Group and about $51,000 in costs by the city of Flint were identified by the department of energy to be unallowable, unsupported or unresolved, according to the letter.
In her testimony, Fields said the city of Flint did "next to nothing" to follow and implement the plan she wrote, which was approved by the department of energy. She also said she believed the city was spending grant funds on activities that had not been pre-approved by the feds.
As for the money she was paid, Fields said she has supporting documentation for all of her expenditures and doesn't know what costs the department is referring to in the letter because she hasn't spoken with the department of energy.
"I don't really know why in the termination letter they're making those allegations or statements," she said. "I would like to."
Council members asked Fields to submit her documentation for a later hearing.
Fields was paid nearly $250,000 to prepare an energy efficiency and conservation strategy, which was submitted to the department of energy in December 2009 and resulted in the city being awarded the balance of the $1.1 million grant in March 2010.
Fields was not the lowest bidder to submit a proposal to prepare the strategy, but said she believes she was the "lowest responsible bidder," which is the language used in federal regulations, she said. The Flint City Council approved her contract in September 2009, she said.
Council members questioned the funds Fields was paid in light of the allegations in the letter from the department of energy.
"If you were the most responsible bidder, it doesn't look that way," Councilman Bryant Nolden said.
Fields said the letter has inaccuracies.
"I don't think the city would have had any problems with this grant, if they'd simply implemented the projects," she said.
Council members also took testimony from the city's Green Coordinator Steve Montle, who said he was responsible for doing some administrative work on implementing the grant.
Montle and the city's grants manager, Tracy Atkinson, were among several employees paid for in part with funds from the grant, they testified.
Montle said none of the city's grant projects had been completed by the time the grant was suspended by federal investigators, but at least one was on its way to being done and several others were in the process.
Montle said he brought a recycling proposal that would have been grant funded to the council during the last year, but the council voted it down. Councilman Joshua Freeman said it was a deviation from the energy grant plan.
Atkinson, who oversaw implementation of the grant for the city, said she was surprised when the grant was suspended. She said her work on the grant had been "frustrating" because she wasn't able to get information she needed from city officials to submit reports on time to the department of energy.
Karen Morris, a former employee of the city, testified that she filed a complaint about potential grant violations in May 2010 with the city, which was later forwarded to the city's legal department. She said she also voiced her concerns to the department of energy.
Morris filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the city after she was fired Nov. 11.
Lastly, council members questioned City Attorney Peter Bade about the termination letter from the department of energy. Bade denied the existence of the Oct. 27 letter to Councilman Sheldon Neeley in a phone call last week.
Bade said the letter was confidential under attorney-client privilege because the city was appealing the energy department's findings. He said he released the letter soon after the conversation after reviewing the matter.
Neeley, however, disagreed that the letter was confidential. Freeman said the letter should have been divulged.
"In my opinion, you lied to Councilman Neeley," Freeman said. "By doing that, you denied him his ability or us as a body our ability to perform our functions."
As the city attorney, Bade said he had an obligation to protect the city's legal position.
"I have certain legal duties," he said. "I have no problem as a lawyer protecting the confidences of my client."
Comments:
Flintasite
Flintasite
Nov 23, 2011
Why does every project start with a quarter of million dollars in consulting fees? Just replace all lighting with LED's (not CFL's which emit EMF's and contain mercury) Update energy efficient windows and insulation. Common sense costs nothing, it's the stupidity and arrogance in government that is costly.
mo-drama
mo-drama
Nov 23, 2011
Thats for sure! what do these "consultants" make, like $20 thousand an hour or something ? its ridiculous> she must have been somebodys friend.
zz20yy
zz20yy
Nov 23, 2011
H20, it is you who is missing the point. Kate Fields was selected and approved by the City Council, not Walling. Why don't you ask the council to explain their decision of going with Ms. Fields when she was the HIGHEST bidder, and quite obviously incompetent. The other company was far more reputable.
Who, on the council, was friends with Ms. Fields prior to her being selected for this position? Funny how it is the council asking all the questions. Seems like it might be time for them to do some explaining.
h20h20h20h20
h20h20h20h20
Nov 23, 2011
All of you are missing the point......... walling paid his friends salaries out of federal funds that were earmarked for energy programs, not to mention the large monies paid to his friend Fields, who apparently according to the feds didn't do her job either.
That's borderline indictable for walling, montle, & fields. No wonder fields and walling are trying to point the fingers at each other. Montle is behind all of it, along w/eason & poplar. They all need to go.
stikimout
stikimout
Nov 23, 2011
Our city council can't even function as a city council let alone questioning their own peer's and a city attorney !
(I would have said "our city council minus Mr. Freeman, but when he voted in favor of the Smith village boondoggle- he lost my support)
They should have gotten their own attorney (at the expense of the taxpayers, of course)...& did it right- and how convenient that they "ran out of time" to question Mr. Mayor.....!
votetracker
votetracker
Nov 23, 2011
Council sure sounded like a joke in this hearing from what I've been told. Unprepared and unable to articulate appropriate questions. Several folks who were there indicated that council should be embarresed by their performance
for the kidz
for the kidz
Nov 25, 2011
votetracker.....the ONLY embarrassment here is team Walling.........Bade, Montle, Eason and Walling are as corrupt as it gets and they have been arrogant and blatant about it for years. Now they not council will most likely see some prison time. The council headed by CROOK Kincaid now awakens and plays dumb to these schemes? The majority of council are corrupt and covering rears as well right now....hats off to Neely, Weighill and Sarginson......they are the only ones who have the cities interests at heart and havent been corrupted.
gogroup
gogroup
Nov 23, 2011
Confidential information disclosed to some members of this Council would end up in the Journal and on Facebook the next day and on TV12 a few days later. |
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Fri Aug 05, 2016 2:27 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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UPDATE: Flint councilman responds to new robocall over trash contract
Updated: Thu 3:46 PM, Aug 04, 2016
By: Damon Maloney - Email
A longtime Flint council member says a robocall targeting him is again spreading lies. The recorded message deals with council
FLINT (WJRT) - UPDATE: (08/04/16) - A longtime Flint council member says a robocall targeting him is again spreading lies. The recorded message deals with council's fight with the mayor over a new trash contract.
A woman delivers the latest version of the robocall paid for by the nonprofit Citizens for Accountable Government. On Wednesday, ABC12 shared another robocall by the group with a man leveling criticism against council members Scott Kincaid and Kate Fields.
Kincaid spoke to ABC12 about the latest recorded message.
"What it tells me is that there are individuals that are potentially going to profit from this," Kincaid said.
He said Citizens for Accountable Government isn't telling the truth.
"The Flint City Council is currently blocking a plan which would save Flint residents nearly $4 millions from the price currently paid for city trash pick up," the robocall states.
Kincaid said the call is comparing apples to oranges because the old trash contract was negotiated by an emergency manager and not city council.
"There was an inflated cost to that for the company buying our garbage trucks and hiring our personnel," Kincaid said. "So the real discrepancies today are the bid."
The fight is over whether the city should remain with Republic Services with a three-year deal approved by council for $11.5 million.
The other option is to go with Mayor Karen Weaver's choice of Rizzo Environmental Services, which offered a five-year contract at a cost of $17.5 million. That total is $2 million less than Republic's five-year offer.
"I don't think the administration has truly vetted this process. There was a real rush to get this through, especially for five years, and those numbers may not be accurate," Kincaid said.
"Council members Scott Kincaid and Kate Fields have been fighting Mayor Karen Weaver's plan to help save this much needed money," the robocall said. "They went so far as to temporarily stop trash pickup in Flint all to prove some political point."
Kincaid said he went to court to keep trash service running while a resolution was hammered out.
"Another thing that really disturbs me about this (robocall) is there are nine council members," Kincaid said. "And the only two council members that they targeted were the two white council people on the city council. And to me that perceives a very racial tone that we don't need in this community."
Next Wednesday, the state-appointed Receivership Transition Advisory Board (RTAB) will be in Flint to discuss the contract dispute.
Kincaid said there's a court hearing the next day and what happens is dependent on what occurs during the RTAB session.
---------------------------------
(08/03/16) - Flint's trash dispute has entered a new phase.
Some people are getting robocalls- criticizing city council's decision to the stay with current trash hauler Republic Services. The mayor supports Rizzo Environmental Services.
Citizens for Accountable Government paid for the robocall. They're a nonprofit registered with the state.
A Flint resident captured the robocall on her answering machine and gave it to ABC12.
"While Flint residents need every bit of help we can get to fix our water crisis- city council has turned around and started a garbage crisis," the recorded message said. "Mayor Karen Weaver asked for bids for trash hauler. By doing so she obtained pricing $4 million less than what we are currently being charged. But council members Scott Kincaid and Kate Fields decided to fight Mayor Weaver and block the huge saving."
Council President Kerry Nelson said people in his ward are calling him upset.
"It (robocall) was a low blow, and it's time to quite playing the games and giving out false information," Nelson said. "You know we went from two million dollars savings- now to a four million dollars savings. Where is it? Prove it."
Deborah Whyman is with Citizens for Accountable Government. She emailed a statement to ABC12's Damon Maloney.
It read in part, "We are shocked by the scandalous actions of eight members of the Flint City Council to prevent the taxpayers of Flint from realizing a $2 million savings in this bid process, which also amounts to a $4 million savings from what the current contractor is now charging the city."
Mayor Weaver supports Rizzo which offered a five-year/$17.5 million contract. It was $2 million less than Republic's offer for the same time period.
Council voted to give Republic a three-year/$11.5 million deal which the mayor vetoed. Council fought with with a successful override vote.
A court room show down led to a temporary trash agreement with Republic.
"RTAB's going to have their meeting on the 10th, and we'll see what happens after that," Mayor Weaver said. "But you know the one thing I want people to know is with putting a bid process in place it saved the taxpayers $2 million dollars."
This isn't the first time Citizens for Accountable Government has been involved with a trash dispute.
They reportedly sent robocalls when a contract was being discussed in Rochester Hills a few years ago. Republic and Rizzo were involved in that situation as well.
Off-road vehicle riders can use trails for free Aug. 20-21 |
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Fri Aug 05, 2016 2:45 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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"The Flint City Council is currently blocking a plan which would save Flint residents nearly $4 millions from the price currently paid for city trash pick up," the robocall states.
Kincaid said the call is comparing apples to oranges because the old trash contract was negotiated by an emergency manager and not city council.
"There was an inflated cost to that for the company buying our garbage trucks and hiring our personnel," Kincaid said. "So the real discrepancies today are the bid."
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So a $2 million inflation for buying our trucks and hiring our people?
And the public was never told this until now! |
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Fri Aug 05, 2016 2:47 pm |
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