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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

West Flint Optimist Newsletter – 2/9/17
Feb 15, 2017

Anthony Branch & Cloyce Dickerson, both from the Genesee County Road Commission, spoke with us today about the difficulties of managing the needs of the many miles of County-maintained byways with “underfunded” resources: The “gas tax” basis for financing County Road work was initiated in legislation from 1951 with limited revisions since, and it has to provide for addressing “$2 Billion dollars in deferred maintenance, 120 miles of annual “chipseal” projects done on a 6-year rotation, with a diminishing work force (down to 73 from 300 employees/operators) and increased expense ($1 Million per mile of standard 2-lane road paving).


Dickerson had no problems talking about the financial difficulties of the Road Commission and then criticizes Daly. Commissioners have wanted to take over this function for years. Do we think they would do better?


Grand Blanc View
810-664-0811

2010-01-28 / News
Dickerson to fill empty spot on Genesee County Road Commission left by Bradshaw
GENESEE COUNTY — The Genesee County Road Commission announced on Jan. 22 that the Genesee County Board of Commissioners appointed Cloyce L. Dickerson to fill the unexpired term of recently retired Road Commissioner Billy Bradshaw.

Bradshaw left the Road Commission at the end of December to take up retirement full-time in Georgia.

Dickerson is a long-time Flint area resident, currently residing in Flint Township. He is a retired member of UAW Local 659, having served as International Representative for EAP, Health and Safety, as Jobs Bank Coordinator, and as a member of the CAP Council for 12 years.

He has been involved in the community, serving as a past president of the NAACP, past board member of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and he is currently a member of the Genesee County Democratic Black Caucus and the Michigan Black Caucus. He is a former chairperson of the UAW Local 659 Black Caucus. He received the Walter Reuther Award in 2007, in recognition of his contributions to the advancement of working people and their families.

Dickerson was a member of the Championship Double A basketball team while at Mott Community College and participated in the Michigan Open Championship.

Dickerson begins his tenure on the five-member Board that oversees the operations of Road Commission at the Board’s February 2, 2010 meeting. The term expires Dec. 31. — R.A.
Post Wed Nov 22, 2017 7:08 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

He has been involved in the community, serving as a past president of the NAACP, past board member of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and he is currently a member of the Genesee County Democratic Black Caucus and the Michigan Black Caucus. He is a former chairperson of the UAW Local 659 Black Caucus.

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Dickerson has ties to both Reta and Woodrow Stanley, as well as other black politicians and supporters of Weaver. Since Mandelis is the former Corporation Counsel or Genesee County, why did Dickerson not seek legal advice before presenting a termination notice he knew would not be legitimate without a vote?

Was the presence of Weaver, Mays and Gilcreast a hint of more retaliation to come? Was this a political ploy to humiliate Daly? Has Donna Poplar been released from her job at the Drain Commission because of her support or Kincaid and her objection to Gilcreast, an unpaid "political advisor to Weaver who is allowed to determine policy?
Post Wed Nov 22, 2017 7:22 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

How Rizzo Services built a garbage empire in ... - Detroit Free Press
www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2016/10/.../rizzo.../92048890/
Oct 15, 2016 - Migena Gjonaj, a former Rizzo billing department manager, sued the company as well as Charles Rizzo Sr. and Charles Rizzo Jr., alleging she .


How Rizzo Services built a garbage empire in metro Detroit
Tresa Baldas,Christina Hall,Jim Schaefer and Gina Damron, Detroit Free Press Published 11:26 p.m. ET Oct. 15, 2016 | Updated 12:11 a.m. ET Oct. 16, 2016
Trash hauler Rizzo Environmental Services now is at the center of a major federal corruption probe in Macomb County, sources say
.


Rizzo employee ‘I feared for my well-being’

A 2008 lawsuit in U.S. District Court paints a harrowing picture of one employee’s experience while working for Rizzo Environmental Services for more than six years.

Migena Gjonaj, a former Rizzo billing department manager, sued the company as well as Charles Rizzo Sr. and Charles Rizzo Jr., alleging she was discriminated against, harassed and eventually fired in 2007 after she reported what she believed were illegal activities to the Sterling Heights police.

In the lawsuit, which was settled before it reached trial, Gjonaj claimed that she frequently was asked to create fraudulent bills for work never performed. In addition, she claimed, some employees boasted of illegal campaign contributions to local politicians.

According to the woman’s lawsuit, Rizzo Environmental Services was investigated long before the current revelations. The Detroit Gaming Commission interviewed her about billings from Rizzo to Detroit’s Motor City Casino for work that wasn’t done, the suit stated. Federal agents also questioned her on several occasions about the company’s activities, she alleged.

In a deposition taken as part of her lawsuit, Gjonaj under oath told an attorney for the company that she once asked company officials how to handle a business customer that was complaining of a $15,000 overcharge. She said a Rizzo official told her to “fake bill this customer” and called it a “Christmas bonus” for Rizzo Environmental Services.

Also in that April 2008 deposition, Gjonaj was asked for names of people who received illegal campaign contributions from company employees.

“Mayor Kwame,” she answered, referring to former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was still in office in 2008 but is now serving prison time for corruption.

Gjonaj said an intermediary told her a company executive wanted to pay her $50,000 to not go to the police about what she saw at the company.

She went to the Sterling Heights police in October 2007 anyway and was fired days later. The lawsuit does not indicate what, if anything, came of her informing the police — except for a mention that Sterling Heights police in turn informed the FBI.

“I feared for my well-being,” she said in her deposition. “I did not want to be persecuted. I did not want no investigation done on me since I was the manager of the billing department. I had seen fraud. I had seen illegal activities … committed there and I didn’t want to be a part of it. I wanted to report it. … I did not want to go down for these people.”

She also accused Rizzo Environmental Services of doing nothing to stop employees who heckled her over her Albanian heritage, referred to her with slurs and called her names and posted notes around the office banning “Albanians” from the office coffee pot and the kitchen.

Messages and e-mails left for the company’s attorneys were not returned to the Free Press.

In court documents, lawyers for the company argued that Gjonaj’s suit was “frivolous and without merit” and was intended to harass the defendants and extort money from them.

The suit was settled in 2009.

Gjonaj’s lawyer, Robert Fetter, said Friday that he couldn’t comment on the terms of the settlement because of a nondisclosure agreement, but he said his client stood by her allegations.

“She believed them to be true,” Fetter said. “We wouldn’t have put them in the complaint unless we did.”
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

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Is Rick Snyder Trying to Hide Pay-to-Play in Flint? - YouTube
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Post Sat Nov 25, 2017 10:41 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Crooked Chiefs - American Bridge PAC
https://americanbridgepac.org/splash/crooked-chiefs/
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's NERD Fund received secret corporate ..... Scott is the son-in-law of Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita. ... Brownback Defended The Contract Bids For KanCare. ..... Detroit Gave Orr's Old Law Firm Jones Day A $3.3 Million Contract And They Could Be Paid Up To $18 Million.




Michigan: Rick Snyder
Snyder’s NERD Fund Was Backed By Secret Corporate Donors; Paid Living Costs For Manager In Charge Of No-Bid Contracts
Snyder Picked Kevyn Orr As Emergency Manager For The City Of Detroit

Snyder Chose Kevyn Orr As Emergency Manager For Detroit. According to the New York Times, “Michigan officials on Thursday appointed the lawyer, Kevyn Orr, a partner in the Jones Day law firm, as an emergency manager to oversee operations in Detroit, one of the largest cities to ever receive such intervention. ‘This is the Olympics of restructuring,’ Mr. Orr said during a news conference in Detroit as he stood near Gov. Rick Snyder, who chose him, and Mayor Dave Bing, who, like all city officials in such situations, will be forced to cede significant powers to Mr. Orr under the state’s plan to save the city.” [New York Times, 3/15/13]

Snyder’s NERD Fund Paid For Administrator Living And Commuting Expenses

Expenses Included A $4,200-A-Month Condo And Flights Between Maryland And Michigan

Snyder’s NERD Fund Paid Rent For Kevyn Orr’s Two-Room Condominium At The Westin Book Cadillac. According to the Detroit Free Press, “Gov. Rick Snyder’s secretive nonprofit foundation is paying for Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr’s condominium and other expenses in a previously undisclosed financial arrangement. Snyder’s NERD Fund, which stands for New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify Fund, is footing the rental bill for Orr’s two-room condo at the Westin Book Cadillac in downtown Detroit, Orr spokesman Bill Nowling confirmed.” [Detroit Free Press, 9/23/13]

NERD Fund Paid $4,200 A Month For Orr’s Condo And Commuting Expenses For Flights To Maryland. According to the Detroit Free Press, “Sara Wurfel, a spokeswoman for Snyder, confirmed Monday the NERD Fund has paid $4,200 a month for Orr’s condo since April. She said the fund will also cover Orr’s commuting expenses to visit his family in Maryland and return to work in Detroit.” [Detroit Free Press, 9/23/13]
Snyder’s NERD Fund Paid For The Salary Of His Adviser Richard Baird, Who Recruited Orr And Received A $100,000 Salary

Snyder’s NERD Fund Funded The Salary Of Snyder Adviser Rich Baird, Who Helped Recruit Orr To Serve As Emergency Manager. According to Detroit Free Press, “The NERD Fund, which raises money from private donors who are not legally required to disclose their identities, has come under scrutiny because of its role in funding the governor’s operations. For example, the organization is funding the salary of Snyder adviser Rich Baird, who helped recruit Orr to serve as emergency manager.” [Detroit Free Press, 9/23/13]

Baird Received A $100,000-A-Year Salary. According to the Detroit Free Press, “Baird has been in the news this year because of his involvement with the recruitment of Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr, a disputed education program and because his $100,000-a-year salary was originally paid out of Snyder’s controversial nonprofit NERD Fund, whose donors were never disclosed. Baird was recently placed on the state payroll as transformation manager.” [Detroit Free Press, 11/24/13]
CVS Donated $1,000 To The NERD Fund

CVS Donated To Snyder’s New Energy To Reinvent And Diversity Fund. According to the Center For Public Integrity: “But the Center for Public Integrity has identified at least one corporate powerhouse that has lent financial support to the group: retail pharmaceutical giant CVS Caremark Corp. In March 2012, CVS donated $1,000 to Snyder’s New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify Fund, a company document shows. The voluntary disclosure offers a rare, if small, glimpse into the flow of corporate money into politically active nonprofit organizations.” [Center For Public Integrity, 8/10/13]

Orr Awarded CVS Caremark A $60 Million No-Bid Contract, Despite Receiving A Better Offer

Orr Unilaterally Awarded A $60 Million No-Bid Contract To Caremark To Be Please delete me! Benefit Manager. According to the Michigan Chronicle, “Kevyn Orr unilaterally awarded a $60 million no-bid contract to Caremark that seemingly mocks the contract-bidding process. There are serious questions about whether or not the city and its workers got the best deal that saves money while still providing better benefits. As part of cost savings in Detroit’s bankruptcy proceedings, the companies Jones Day, Ernst and Young, and Milliman designed a new health care benefit for city employees. That plan was approved by Orr and lists Caremark as the Please delete me! benefit manager. Caremark has Jones Day as its outside council, Ernst and Young as its outside audit firm, and Caremark is a business partner with a Milliman product called Intelliscript.” [Michigan Chronicle, 10/30/13]

ScriptGuide Proposed An Alternative Proposal For A Please delete me! Benefit Manager That Generated Greater Savings. According to the Michigan Chronicle, “An alternative proposal for a Please delete me! benefit manager was submitted to the emergency manager by ScriptGuide that generated a greater savings, and a better benefit for city workers than the Caremark proposal. ScriptGuide is also owned by a Detroit resident.” [Michigan Chronicle, 10/30/13]

Detroit Awarded Orr’s Old Law Firm A Multi-Million Dollar Contract

Detroit Gave Orr’s Old Law Firm Jones Day A $3.3 Million Contract And They Could Be Paid Up To $18 Million. According to the Detroit Free Press, “Two firms — restructuring consultant Conway MacKenzie of Birmingham and Jones Day, the Washington, D.C., law firm from which Orr resigned when he was appointed emergency manager in March — were given contract extensions as Detroit moved from a position of trying to avoid bankruptcy to capitulating and filing a Chapter 9 petition in July. Conway MacKenzie’s contract grew to $19.3 million from an initial $4.2 million. Jones Day, originally contracted for $3.3 million, now may be paid up to $18 million, according to previously undisclosed documents obtained by the Free Press.” [Detroit Free Press, 9/29/13]

Detroit Procurement Officer Resigned Due To Transparency Issues
Detroit Chief Procurement Officer Andre DuPerry Resigned Because Of Concerns Over The Way Lucrative Consulting Contracts Were Awarded Under Kevyn Orr. According to the Detroit Free Press, “A former top official in Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s administration said he could no longer work for the city because of concerns over the way lucrative consulting contracts were awarded under emergency manager Kevyn Orr, according to his resignation letter obtained by the Free Press. The resignation of Detroit chief procurement officer Andre DuPerry, whose last day on the job was Oct. 11, surprised many in city hall. He’d been recruited by Bing in 2009 to work as part of a crisis turnaround team to restore Detroit’s finances.” [Detroit Free Press, 10/25/13]

DuPerry: “The Actions Of The Emergency Manager (EM), His Staff And Consultants Have Made It Impossible For Me To Feel Confident That There Is Currently Transparency, Fairness And Good Judgment Being Exercised In The Best Interests Of The People.” According to the Detroit Free Press, “‘The actions of the emergency manager (EM), his staff and consultants have made it impossible for me to feel confident that there is currently transparency, fairness and good judgment being exercised in the best interests of the people I serve,’ DuPerry’s letter says. ‘The emergency manager’s inconsistency and lack of compliance with the competitive bid and contract approval processes is extremely concerning to me. … I have on numerous occasions raised my concerns both verbally and in writing regarding the lack of contract management with regards to the consultants involved in restructuring. While there is no question that Detroit’s city government requires significant change,’ the letter says, ‘what I have observed is an abuse of authority leading to waste of taxpayer dollars.’” [Detroit Free Press, 10/25/13]
NERD Fund Shut Down Without Disclosing Its Donors
NERD Fund Was Shut Down Without Disclosing Its Donors. According to WXYZ, “Governor Rick Snyder’s controversial NERD Fund will be dissolved, according to the fund’s president. ‘We’re shutting her down,’ said Charlie Secchia, who heads up the non-profit. The non-profit’s final meeting will be this week. He said a formal announcement is planned for tomorrow or Wednesday. […]Secchia did not indicate that the fund would be disclosing its past donors, who gave nearly $1.7 million in 2010 and 2011.” [WXYZ, 10/21/13]

Detroit Free Press Editorial Said “Voters Have Every Reason To Question” Where Snyder’s Allegiance Lies

Detroit Free Press Editorial: “As Long As Snyder Refuses To Say Who Picked Up The Tab For The NERD Fund, Or Why, The State’s Voters Have Every Reason To Question Where Their Governor’s Primary Allegiance Lies.” According to a Detroit Free Press editorial, “It was always a bad idea to run any government operation off the books; the public’s business is simply the public’s business. We are encouraged that Snyder appears to have accepted this principle, however grudgingly. But whatever pledges of anonymity he made to secure private financing for the NERD Fund, it is trumped by his obligations to Michigan voters. As long as Snyder refuses to say who picked up the tab for the NERD Fund, or why, the state’s voters have every reason to question where their governor’s primary allegiance lies.” [Editorial – Detroit Free Press, 10/23/13]

Nepotism
Rick Snyder’s Cousin George Contacted Snyder’s Adviser Regarding A Senate Bill With Furniture Language He Opposed

George Snyder Owned DBI Business Interiors, Which Installed New Furniture For Haworth Inc.

George Snyder’s DBI Business Interiors Installed New Furniture For Holland-Based Haworth Inc. As A Subcontractor. According to Detroit News, “The records, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, show the Republican governor’s cousin, George Snyder, sought Baird’s advice on how to get the Legislature to keep in place a contract for new furniture that benefited his company. George Snyder’s DBI Business Interiors installs new furniture for Holland-based Haworth Inc. as a subcontractor.” [Detroit News, 3/26/14]

George Snyder Contacted Snyder’s Adviser Regarding Furniture Language In A Senate Bill

George Snyder Contacted Snyder’s Adviser Richard Baird Saying That He Was “Very Upset And Nervous About The Language In The Senate Budget Bill On Furniture.” According to Politico, “In an April 2011 email, documents show, George Snyder contacted Richard Baird, a top Snyder adviser, saying that he was ‘very upset and nervous about the language in the Senate budget bill on furniture.’” [Politico, 3/25/14]

Baird Forwarded The Email To John Nixon, Then Michigan’s State Budget Director, Who Responded, “We Are On It.” According to Politico, “Baird forwarded the email to John Nixon, then Michigan’s state budget director, who responded, ‘we are on it.’” [Politico, 3/25/14]
Proposed State Senate Bill Prohibited State Agencies From Hiring DBI

Proposed Language Capped New Furniture Expenses At $1 Million And Prohibited State Agencies From Hiring DBI Because Of Its Partnership With Haworth Inc. Installing New Office Desks And Cubicles. According to Detroit News, “In the spring of 2011, Kentwood Office Furniture’s lobbyist got senators to add language to a budget bill that capped new furniture expenses at $1 million and prohibited state agencies from hiring DBI because of its partnership with Haworth Inc. installing new office desks and cubicles, Nixon said.” [Detroit News, 3/26/14]

Democrats Said Proposed Cuts Were Part Of Republican Bill In Response To Budget Crisis. According to a press release from the Michigan Democratic Party obtained via Targeted News Service, “Snyder administration officials and the controversial NERD Fund intervened in the midst of the state’s 2011 budget crisis to protect the Governor’s cousin and a major financial contributor from what could have been an $18-million loss. Snyder officials were acting to protect a lucrative state contract that was threatened by Senate Republicans who had put a $1 million cap on the purchase of state office furniture.” [Michigan Democratic Party, 5/25/14]

Snyder’s Adviser Identified George Snyder As The Governor’s Cousin

In A Subsequent Email Baird Identified That George Snyder Was The Republican Governor’s Cousin, Forwarding Along A Second Request For Information About The State’s “Furniture Process.” According to Politico, “In a subsequent email between Baird and Nixon, Baird identifies that George Snyder is the Republican governor’s cousin, forwarding along a second request for information about the state’s ‘furniture process.’” [Politico, 3/25/14]

George Snyder’s Family And Employees Were Donors To Rick Snyder’s Campaign

George Snyder, His Wife, And DBI Employees Contributes More Than $15,350 To Rick Snyder’s Campaign Fund Since 2009. According to Detroit News, “Since 2009, George Snyder, his wife and DBI employees have contributed more than $15,350 to Rick Snyder’s campaign fund.” [Detroit News, 3/26/14]

Haworth Company Officials Contributed A Combined $34,200 To Snyder’s Re-Election Campaign, While The Company Donated $25,000 To Snyder’s Governor’s Club. According to Detroit News, “Haworth company officials have contributed a combined $34,200 to Snyder’s re-election campaign, while the company donated $25,000 to Snyder’s Governor’s Club, another federal nonprofit controlled by Snyder, according to records.” [Detroit News, 3/26/14]

Rick Snyder Increased The Amount Of Furniture That Was Purchased By 76%

After The Republican-Run House Removed The $1 Million Spending Cap For New Furniture, The State Bought $6.6 Million In New Furniture From Haworth Inc. In The 2013 Fiscal Year, A 76 Percent Increase From The Year Before. According to Detroit News, “In May 2011, the Republican-run House removed the $1 million spending cap for new furniture. The state bought $6.6 million in new furniture from Haworth Inc. in the 2013 fiscal year, a 76 percent increase from the year before. DTMB [Department of Technology, Management, and Budget, which handles procurement and contracts] spokesman Kurt Weiss said the state is spending more on new furniture because it is filling in vacant space in state-owned office buildings, while it cancels leases to save money on rented office space.” [Detroit News, 3/26/14]

During Snyder’s Three Years In Office, DBI Did $873,267 In Refurbishing Work. According to Detroit News, “DBI’s furniture spending is up under Gov. Snyder. The firm’s refurbishing work during the last three fiscal years of Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s administration totaled $601,843. During Snyder’s three years in office, DBI has done $873,267 in refurbishing work, DTMB records show.” [Detroit News, 3/26/14]

George Snyder Thanked Rick Snyder’s Adviser For Helping His Accountant’s Daughter Get A State Job

Snyder Thanked Baird For Helping His Accountant’s Daughter Get A Job With The Michigan Department Of Human Services. According to Detroit Free Press, “Messages left with George Snyder were not returned. In one of the July e-mails to Baird, Snyder also thanked Baird for helping his accountant’s daughter get a job with the Michigan Department of Human Services.” [Detroit Free Press, 3/26/14]

Salaries
Snyder Granted Enormous Pay Raises To Treasury Department Employees…

Jon Braeutigam Received A 90% Pay Raise From $175,000 Per Year To $330,000 Per Year. According to the Detroit Free Press, “The state of Michigan quietly increased the salaries of its top investment officials in the Treasury Department by more than 80% this year, saying it was too difficult to attract and keep qualified people under the former pay rates. Jon Braeutigam, the state’s chief investment officer, got a 90% pay raise to $333,000 a year from $175,000, department spokesman Terry Stanton confirmed Friday.” [Detroit Free Press, 11/24/13]

Robert Brackenbury And Greg Parker Received 82% Pay Raises From $128,000 Per Year To $233,000 Per Year. According to the Detroit Free Press, “Treasury’s two senior directors of investment – Robert Brackenbury and Greg Parker – received 82% pay increases, boosting them from $128,000 to $233,000 a year.” [Detroit Free Press, 11/24/13]

…And Allowed The Former Treasurer To Retain His Full Salary Even After Resigning

Former State Treasurer Andy Dillon Collected His Full Salary Of $175,000 Even After Resigning. According to the Detroit Free Press, “More than two months after he stepped down as state treasurer in a move intended to quiet ongoing controversies in his personal and political life, Andy Dillon sparked a new uproar Wednesday after officials revealed he is still collecting his full salary of nearly $175,000. Dillon started Nov. 1 — the day his resignation as treasurer became effective — as a senior adviser to his successor, Kevin Clinton, Treasury Department spokesman Terry Stanton said.” [Detroit Free Press, 1/8/14]

Snyder Made No Mention Of Dillon Retaining A Full-Time Salary When Announcing Dillon’s Resignation. According to the Detroit Free Press, “Snyder, in announcing Dillon’s resignation Oct. 11, said Dillon would assist the incoming treasurer with transition issues. But he made no mention of Dillon retaining a full-time salary or staying on for several months.” [Detroit Free Press, 1/8/14]
Snyder Spokeswoman Said Retaining Dillon Was “Instrumental And Appropriate.” According to the Detroit Free Press, “Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said retaining Dillon was ‘instrumental and appropriate’ because of the ‘complexity and urgency of local government fiscal health issues under way in Detroit and other parts of the state.’” [Detroit Free Press, 1/8/14]
Post Sat Nov 25, 2017 10:57 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Detroit Procurement Officer Resigned Due To Transparency Issues
Detroit Chief Procurement Officer Andre DuPerry Resigned Because Of Concerns Over The Way Lucrative Consulting Contracts Were Awarded Under Kevyn Orr. According to the Detroit Free Press, “A former top official in Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s administration said he could no longer work for the city because of concerns over the way lucrative consulting contracts were awarded under emergency manager Kevyn Orr, according to his resignation letter obtained by the Free Press. The resignation of Detroit chief procurement officer Andre DuPerry, whose last day on the job was Oct. 11, surprised many in city hall. He’d been recruited by Bing in 2009 to work as part of a crisis turnaround team to restore Detroit’s finances.” [Detroit Free Press, 10/25/13]

DuPerry: “The Actions Of The Emergency Manager (EM), His Staff And Consultants Have Made It Impossible For Me To Feel Confident That There Is Currently Transparency, Fairness And Good Judgment Being Exercised In The Best Interests Of The People.” According to the Detroit Free Press, “‘The actions of the emergency manager (EM), his staff and consultants have made it impossible for me to feel confident that there is currently transparency, fairness and good judgment being exercised in the best interests of the people I serve,’ DuPerry’s letter says. ‘The emergency manager’s inconsistency and lack of compliance with the competitive bid and contract approval processes is extremely concerning to me. … I have on numerous occasions raised my concerns both verbally and in writing regarding the lack of contract management with regards to the consultants involved in restructuring. While there is no question that Detroit’s city government requires significant change,’ the letter says, ‘what I have observed is an abuse of authority leading to waste of taxpayer dollars.’” [Detroit Free Press, 10/25/13]
Post Sat Nov 25, 2017 11:02 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Richard L. Baird
Senior Advisor and Transformation Manager
Office of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder

Richard L. Baird was appointed Senior Advisor and Transformation Leader to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder in October of 2013. Prior to that, he was the CEO of MI Partners, LLC, a Michigan-based consulting company contracted by the Snyder administration since January, 2011.

Baird works with the Governor and his leadership team to reinvent and transform Michigan. Baird has played key roles to address financial solvency, organizational redesign and performance, talent assessment, financially distressed city turnaround strategies, public safety and infrastructure, economic/workforce development and education reform.

Baird served as co-leader (with U.S. District Court Judge Sean Cox) of the mediation team which led to the creation of the Great Lakes Water Authority and also assisted Judge Gerald Rosen in the successful resolution of creditor disputes under the Detroit bankruptcy. He created the Office of Good Government for the State of Michigan, designed the Governor’s Council on Law Enforcement and Reinvention (CLEAR), and has been actively involved in pension redesign, enhancing opportunities for the disabled, ex-offender rehabilitation, and tax payer reform.

More recently (since January, 2016), Baird has served as the Team Leader for “Mission Flint” which coordinates the State’s partnership with the City of Flint and the related nearly $300 million appropriation to address problems arising from the water crisis and assist with economic/workforce development, medical and education initiatives.

In 2010, Baird retired from PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP as global and U.S. leader of people and change management. From 2003–2008, he was global managing partner – people, responsible for human resources and learning & education for PwC’s 150,000 partners and staff in 150 countries, while serving on the 14-partner global leadership team. From 19997 to 2000, Baird was President of Compass.com, a couple sold to TMP Worldwide (Monster.com) in 2000.

Baird has been referenced in various professional publications for his work in talent management, including The Wall Street Journal, Global HR News, Newsweek, Economist, and Chicago Tribune.

Baird serves as Treasurer of the Michigan Education Excellence Foundation, and is a member of the board for the Grow Michigan Investment Fund. He joined the board for the American Center for Mobility in May, 2017. He is a life member of the board of trustees for United Methodist Homes and Services and a past member of the AIESEC U.S. board of directors and global advisory steering committee. An avid conservationist, he also served on the board of the Great Lakes Protection Fund.

Baird received his bachelor’s degree from Albion College and was a trustee for 12 years, including five as chair. He received an honorary Ph.D. from Albion College and from Eastern Michigan University.

Posted in Meet the Speakers
Post Sat Nov 25, 2017 6:46 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Baird served as co-leader (with U.S. District Court Judge Sean Cox) of the mediation team which led to the creation of the Great Lakes Water Authority and also assisted Judge Gerald Rosen in the successful resolution of creditor disputes under the Detroit bankruptcy.



Does this have anything to do with the push for Flint to go with GLWA?
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Home»Local News»Trash dispute, trailer parks demolition, Pierce Park prospects featured at CCNA
Posted on Sep 30, 2016
By Kayla Chappell
The September meeting of the College Cultural Neighborhood Association (CCNA) primarily focused on city issues, presented by Monica Galloway, Seventh Ward City Council member, and Kate Fields, Fourth Ward City Council member.
Other topics raised at the meeting, attended by about 55 residents, included Legionnaires’ disease and the future of Pierce Park.
Waste contract dispute discussed
Galloway thanked residents for contacting her with concerns about the waste collection contract negotiations, with the city council arguing to keep Republic Services and the Mayor arguing for Rizzo Environmental Services, which she states would save the city $2 million.
Galloway described a meeting Sept. 13 including members of the Mayor’s team along with Councilman Scott Kincaid and Council President Kerry Nelson. Also present at that meeting, she said, was Joyce Parker, an emergency financial manager for the City of Ecorse, who was assigned to mediate between the city council and the mayor’s administration.
“The process hasn’t been as easy and as cooperative as it could be,” Galloway stated, “but on Tuesday what they did realize… is when David Sabuda [the city’s chief financial officer] did the calculations it came up that Republic [Services] is actually the lowest bidder.”
[In a September 26 Town Hall hosted by Mayor Weaver, however, Sabuda presented a different set of calculations that showed Rizzo holding the cost advantage. All parties involved were in a Circuit Court-ordered mediation process behind closed doors as of this writing. At the town hall meeting, Weaver stated as she has from the beginning that it is her duty by law to go with the “lowest responsible bid” and that she strongly believes the numbers show that Rizzo met that criterion over Republic.]
Galloway was then asked about the mayor’s administration and why, according to the questioner, they seem to be so “wedded” to insure the contract goes to Rizzo Environmental Services that the mayor may enact the emergency ordinance of the charter to initiate service with Rizzo.
img_6823
Seventh Ward Councilwoman Monica Galloway at a recent Mayor’s Town Hall
[Since the CCNA meeting, the mayor terminated Republic’s services as of Sept. 23, but Circuit Court Judge Joseph Farah intervened following a request for an injunction from the City Council and put the switch on hold as the two sides were ordered to meet. On Sept. 29 an appeals court overturned Farah again and it now seems the Mayor’s side has won and Rizzo will be the city’s new trash contractor, at least temporarily, though Republic issued a statement stating they believe they are still in contention – Ed.]
Councilwoman Galloway responded, “I would hope that your integrity before the people that you represent would be enough for you to say, you know what, based on the ordinance and the fact that I told this community that I would do what was right… I just hope that Mayor Weaver is surrounded by people that are giving her wise counsel and that she listens to Mr. Sabuda and that she goes along with the ordinance and that hopefully there will be no legal proceedings from here.”
Post Tue Dec 05, 2017 6:57 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

This blows a hole in Weaver's argument about who was the low bidder. She obviously ignored her interim CFO and his calculations that Republic was lower. When the Emergency Manager first negotiated the Republic contract it was for 3 years and 2 optional 1 year extensions. That is actually a short term contract and many communities allow for contract extensions as long as the service is acceptable. In reality it appeared the residents rallied around Republic and they were afraid to face an unknown. Keeping employees from the community was also a key factor. In many instances, anew company usually retains the younger employees leaving older employees with few options.

Under Governor Snyder some contracts, such as the Flint contract with Republic, had a public-private agreement. In this instance, what the DPW called the "intangibles", Republic promise to pay half the cost of literature explaining recycling and participating in the county paint recycling program. It seems lie a government Lets make a Deal or what will you give me for this contract?

The original Republic deal was made because the Governor's administration was concerned about the low percentage of recycling and the declining number of years in the lifespan of many current trash landfills and concerns over incinerators, such as the one in Detroit. Single stream recycling where the trash company separates the recyclables improves the amount of recycling. Republic introduced this type of recycling in Flint.
Post Tue Dec 05, 2017 7:19 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Flint police still investigating mayoral recall nearly month after vote

Updated 5:06 AM; Posted 5:00 AM

shares
By Oona Goodin-Smith ogoodins@mlive.com
FLINT, MI - Nearly a month after Flint Mayor Karen Weaver swept the competition to keep her job in the Nov. 7 recall election, Flint police are still investigating the practices used to gather signatures to initiate the vote.

On Monday, Dec. 4, the department confirmed that the criminal investigation into whether petitioners tricked some residents into signing a recall petition against Weaver is still ongoing.

Det. Tyrone Booth, Flint police spokesperson, said the department does not "have a time frame on the completion of this investigation."

"(The) Flint Police Department takes whatever time necessary in every case to conduct a complete investigation with regard to all details," Booth said.

Little detail has been released regarding the investigation launched five months ago, other than that the department submitted a request for an arrest warrant to Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton against mayoral recall leader-turned-mayoral candidate Arthur Woodson.

Leyton declined to comment on the matter.


Flint police didn't violate law running check on recall leader, MSP says
The candidate is filing another complaint with state police claiming the Flint Police Department is conducting a fraudulent criminal investigation into him.

The criminal investigation into the recall was initiated in July, about a month after efforts to collect petition signatures to recall Weaver began. The Flint Police Department distributed a press release announcing an investigation into a criminal complaint alleging residents were tricked into signing the petitions. Officers were then spotted knocking on doors in the community to question voters on whether they signed to remove the mayor.

The city has refused to release a copy of the criminal complaint to MLive-The Flint Journal - requested through the Freedom of Information Act - citing the open case's active investigation.


The police department's involvement in the mayoral recall election came into question in August after Weaver took the recall attempts to court, pointing to "grossly illegal behavior by the petition circulators" in attempts to call off the election to oust her.


Claims of police influence, bribery raised in Flint mayor recall hearing
The judge questioned why police were involved in a civil case.

However, the tables were turned when four of the mayor's witnesses testified that they had been summoned to court by police officers through house visits and phone calls, raising concerns from the judge who questioned the department's involvement in a civil lawsuit.

Records obtained by MLive-The Flint Journal via Freedom of Information Act request also showed a Flint police officer using a check from Weaver's campaign funds to purchase copies of the recall petitions his department was actively investigating.

Flint cop was on city's dime when he bought recall petitions with mayor's check
Despite a statement through city spokesperson Kristin Moore that Officer Kristopher Jones was "on (his) own time" when he purchased a stack of recall petitions at 1:11 p.m. on Friday, July 7 with the mayor's money, his time card shows otherwise.

In October, Fourth Ward City Councilwoman Kate Fields filed a complaint with the Michigan Bureau of Elections after Flint Police Chief Tim Johnson and off-duty officers were spotted going door-to-door in the city passing out literature supporting Weaver - something Johnson has repeatedly said he and his officers have "every right" to do.

Flint police have 'every right' to deliver mayor's lit door-to-door, chief says

"There's nothing negative [on the literature] about nobody, nobody in this city, and I'm going to be out there some more putting it out."

Later in the month, Michigan State Police questioned Flint police on running a LEIN criminal background check on Woodson. However, MSP later said Flint police's background check was legitimate, as Deputy Chief of Police Devon Bernritter indicated the check was done as part of obtaining an arrest warrant for Woodson in the ongoing recall petition criminal investigation.

In a landslide victory, Weaver beat 17 opponents to keep her job on Nov. 7, pulling nearly 53 percent of the city's vote.


The recall looked to oust Weaver for agreeing to an emergency waste collection contract with Rizzo Environmental Services.
Post Tue Dec 05, 2017 7:32 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Didn't the Kilpatrick Enterprise use the Police Force n a similar manner?
Post Tue Dec 05, 2017 7:34 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

The current FBI investigation of political corruption involving Rizzo Services not only highlights greedy politicians and government employees, but it also demonstrates how often the success of a contractor seeking government contracts relies on their willingness to pay for these contracts.

Allegations of Flint corruption are not new. In 1992 council refused a no-bid contract with City Management to remove a compost heap on Bray Road after residents complained about the offensive odors. Council refused the nearly $1 million dollar deal and after a bid process the job was completed for $34,000.

The most relevant of alleged contract steering occurred in 1997. On October 8, 1997, Journal reporter Linda Angelo wrote a comprehensive and well written story on the pending trash contract entitled Garbage hauling terms changed, memo charges- Sanitation officials object to altered criteria in bid."

Flint Sanitation supervisor Edison K. Henry sent a memo to DPW Director J. Bennett J stating he was withdrawing from the committee negotiating a multi-million contract after he was asked several times by City Administrator, David Ready to change the criteria for the evaluation of the vendor proposals. Henry said his primary objection was based on the distance and the transportation time to travel to the landfill.
Post Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:15 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Ready insisted there was no change in criteria,only a correction as the original assumptions were incorrect as to the amount of overtime needed to transport trash to the different landfills. Ready continued to insist there was no "contract steering."

Citizens Disposal had held the landfill contract and had been the lowest bidder. After the "corrections" City Management was the new low bidder. During the dispute, Citizens was given two 60 day extensions.

Angelo wrote that while council privately indicated their belief the contract demonstrated "political favoritism", they declined to go public. The City Management person was former Flint mayor James Sharp, a top City Management executive and said to be a longtime ally of mayor Woodrow Stanley.

Henry also wrote that he was uncomfortable after unidentified vendor complained about the evaluation process and they attended a meeting in which they had full knowledge of the exact criteria to be evaluated, including the hourly rates for cityemployees.


Last edited by untanglingwebs on Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:55 pm; edited 1 time in total
Post Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:35 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Flint attorney Jerome O'Rourke, who represented Citizens Disposal, complained his client was unable to obtain the same information even after filing two Freedom-of-Information requests.

Angelo compared the campaign donations from both vendors during the 1995 Mayoral election. While both vendors had contributed, she found that the City Management Employee PAC, Sharp and Soave were significantly higher" than Citizens.

Henry wrote a second memo that detailed his serious concerns" over factors not considered i the process. His primary concern was over the distance to transport and the transport time. Citizens Disposal in Grand Blanc was 17 miles away with an estimated time to transport of 30 minutes while City Management's Pollard landfill in Montrose was 42 miles away with an estimated transport time of 60 minutes.


Last edited by untanglingwebs on Mon Dec 11, 2017 6:15 pm; edited 1 time in total
Post Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:52 pm 
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