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Topic: New lawsuit about Weaver's ethics and staff-
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

2016 0711 Council 2

subject: Council
From: jstaples@att.net
date: 7-11-2016 6:33 p,
To: Sylvester Jones
Steve Branch
"Gil" Gilcreast <gilgilcreast@gmail
cc: Woodrow Stanley <wordswithwoods@aol.com
Joe munem-Al Jordon-Chuck Rizzo- kristen Moore

All: I hope your days are going well.
FYI: I spoke with gil early this morning and he informed me the administration was not intending to bring the garbage resolution tonight and that he was shooting for a special meeting Wednesday or Frida of the week as a result we are not up there.
Within the last couple of hours we received word that council may be trying to add it themselves, (which Wood and others believe is procedurally impossible.). In any event with the administration firm, city statutes being what the are with respect to low bid language and the RTAB fully prepared to to back the administration, I'm hoping you guys don't have endure yet another buffoonery filled night.

Tomorrow, I will forward to Kristen and copy each of you the advance material we discussed Friday so an orderly transition to better move cost effective service can continue. When the special meeting is scheduled please let me know so I may inform the team
Thanks to all,
jim
sent via blackberry from T Mobile
Post Thu Jun 08, 2017 4:48 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

This e-mail has been posted as one of the many e-mails sent between the city and representatives of Rizzo environmental


Weaver says she 'didn't know' ex-Flint mayor part of trash talks despite emails


Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com By Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com
on November 02, 2016 at 3:18 PM, updated November 02, 2016 at 6:09 PM
FLINT, MI -- Mayor Karen Weaver said she didn't know former Mayor Woodrow Stanley was working as a consultant for Rizzo Environmental Services before she recommended the city council vote to give the company a multi-million-dollar garbage contract here.

But documents obtained by MLive-The Flint Journal through the Freedom of Information Act show her top aides received at least two emails from Stanley on the subject of garbage before the council's vote and show the ex-mayor and state legislator was invited to conference calls and strategy meetings with city and Rizzo officials in the following weeks.

Rizzo is the company at the center of a corruption and bribery investigation by the FBI, accused of having paid cash bribes to at least two Macomb County officials in exchange for help in gaining waste-hauling contracts there.


Flint City Council voted down a recommendation to hire Rizzo Environmental Services to haul the city's trash.

Weaver has said she was not offered bribes from the company. She withdrew her strong support for a five-year, $17.5-million contract for Rizzo after the FBI probe became public.

Flint's Receivership Transition Advisory Board on Oct. 26 approved a one-year contract with Republic Services to haul Flint's trash, but before that deal was struck, emails show Stanley's involvement in discussions promoting Rizzo inside city hall.



A months-long dispute over the contract began after the council voted 5-3 on June 27 against Weaver's recommendation for Rizzo.

However, city records show Stanley forwarded information by email to Steve Branch, Weaver's chief of staff, regarding the garbage contract days before the city council rejected the proposal.


Flint Mayor Karen Weaver says she was not offered any bribes from the company hoping to nab a multi-million-dollar contract to haul Flint's trash.

The June 22 email makes reference to a letter written by another Rizzo consultant "in case it is necessary" and appears to have been sent to top officials at Rizzo as well as Stanley. However, the attached letter was apparently not forwarded to Branch.

Kristin Moore, Weaver's director of communications, told The Journal on June 29, two days after the council's vote, that the mayor was "not aware of any consulting agreement between Mr. Stanley and Rizzo Services" after questions about his involvement were raised by city council members.

Rizzo officials confirmed the same day that the ex-mayor was working for the company as a consultant.

Moore said Tuesday, Nov. 1, that Weaver has restated she was not aware of any arrangement between Stanley and Rizzo.


The state-appointed board overseeing the city's finances has taken the final step to end an ongoing trash dispute in Flint.

Stanley said in an email to The Journal, "My interest all along was to assist in making sure the residents of Flint received the best value with trash collection. Rizzo offered a significant savings ($2 million). That's the bottom line."

However, Stanley did not comment on a garbage-related email sent the day after the council's vote to officials at Rizzo and Weaver's top advisors -- City Administrator Sylvester Jones, Branch, volunteer Aonie Gilcreast and Moore.

The email was from James Stapleton, the president and founder of B&R Consulting of Ann Arbor, and included "talking points" in an attachment marked "Woodrow outline" and details arguments to move ahead with a contract with Rizzo.

Joe Munem, a spokesman for GFL Environmental USA Inc., confirmed Stapleton was a Rizzo consultant and that the company had an ongoing relationship with him.

Stapleton, a trustee at Eastern Michigan University and former Detroit Tigers executive, would not comment on his role in pushing to secure a waste contract in Flint for Rizzo, but emails show he was active in discussions with representatives of both the company and the city.

Records released to MLive-The Flint Journal also showed the city administrator received an email from Stanley on March 31 -- nearly three months before the council's vote -- titled "proposed scoring system for Flint bid."


City council members expressed a number of concerns after Flint Mayor Karen Weaver's office recommended awarding a $17-milliion contract to Rizzo Environmental Services to collect the city's trash including if the company is affiliated with former Flint Mayor and State Rep. Woodrow Stanley.

The message in the email makes reference to a "sanitation bid scoring chart," which was included as an attached document. The document showed how many points could be awarded to bidders based on the price of their proposal, qualifications, past involvement with similar projects and the age of the company's fleet.

Moore said in an email to The Journal the city has no record that Jones ever responded to the email.

The city's spokeswoman added that being sent a communication doesn't equate to acceptance of the content.

"Again, just because someone sent me something doesn't mean anything ... As members of city staff we get all types of emails from all types of people. We cannot control who emails us and what those emails may contain. Information that seems relevant is passed on, information that does not is disregarded," Moore said.

Flint Councilman Scott Kincaid said Stanley's work for Rizzo was no secret inside city hall.

Stanley met with him in the first quarter of 2016 about the city's garbage contract and whether he would support putting the job back out for bid because a previous deal with Republic allowed for it, Kincaid said.

The councilman said he and other council members continued to hear from Stanley as he advocated for a new deal on trash pickup and doesn't understand how Weaver could not have been aware of Stanley's connection to Rizzo.

"Too many people knew" for Weaver not to know, he said. "They all knew."
Post Thu Jun 08, 2017 5:02 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Attorney says Flint councilwoman wrongly leaked vetting info on mayor's advisor


Print Email Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com By Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com
on June 12, 2017 at 2:32 PM, updated June 12, 2017 at 2:33 PM
Stay connected to MLive.com ×
FLINT, MI -- The interim city attorney says a councilwoman acted unethically when she leaked a confidential legal opinion, but the City Council might hire its own attorney because of how the leak was discovered.

Interim City Attorney Angela Wheeler has asked members of the council to consider censuring their colleague -- 4th Ward Councilwoman Kate Fields -- for violating the city's computer use policy by sharing the legal opinion marked "confidential" with more than 100 other email addresses.

Fields said it's the actions of the city's Department of Law that needs review after Wheeler also disclosed in a June 5 letter to the council that she used the Information Systems Department inside City Hall to find out which council member shared the legal opinion.



"I don't believe that material is confidential," Fields said of her decision to share the document. "I believe the public has a right to know."


Mayor Karen Weaver says she asked a top aide to Gov. Rick Snyder for the money to put her volunteer chief advisor and former campaign manager on the city's payroll.

Fields last week discussed the potential for the council to hire an outside attorney to investigate the propriety of Wheeler's investigation of council members' email accounts.

The city attorney declined to comment to MLive-The Flint Journal through city spokeswoman Kristin Moore, but in her letter to council, she called Fields' actions "a serious breach of attorney-client confidentiality" that led her to request an investigation into where the leak originated.

"I am asking that Ms. Fields immediately cease and desist from the publication or distribution of any and all confidential and attorney-client privileged information without permission of the Law Department, and that the City Council respectfully consider that Councilperson Fields be censured," Wheeler's letter says.

MLive-The Flint Journal could not reach Council President Kerry Nelson for comment on the situation.

The opinion Fields distributed concerned the vetting process for Aoine Gilcreast, who became mayor Karen Weaver's unpaid volunteer chief advisor after her election in November 2015.


Gov. Rick Snyder's spokeswoman Anna Heaton confirmed the state got word Weaver wants to put Aonie Gilcreast on the city's payroll.

Gilcreast has been described by Weaver as her "chief advisor" and former campaign manager but he wasn't required to undergo a background check.

Second Ward Councilwoman Jackie Poplar requested the legal opinion on the process used for vetting Gilcreast, who routinely appears at city meetings and appearances with Weaver and who has participated in job interviews with prospective city employees.

Wheeler's opinion on Gilcreast's vetting says "there is no uniform vetting process for volunteers that has been adopted by the Human Resources Department.

"Traditionally, department heads have been allowed to evaluate and assign interns and volunteers to their departments without any specific approvals or pre-screening by the city's Human Resources personnel," the letter says.

Wheeler concluded that Weaver herself completed an examination of Gilcreast's background, "not unlike what any department head may also do with a potential volunteer or intern ..."

The opinion says Gilcreast completed a confidentiality agreement "to protect against the divulgence of any confidential information and to limit the city's liability when it utilizes volunteers."

Fields is among those who have questioned Gilcreast's involvement in City Hall in the past.

In July 2016, council members asked Weaver for a description of his involvement in her administration but the mayor declined to answer questions about his role with the city at the time.

Weaver said in a February deposition that she asked a top aide to Gov. Rick Snyder for the money to put Gilcreast on the city's payroll but Gilcreast told The Journal last month that the proposal to pay him never moved forward because of resistance from the City Council.

Weaver gave the deposition in connection with a civil lawsuit filed against the city by former administrator Natasha Henderson.
Post Mon Jun 12, 2017 2:25 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Let me get this straight. Interim City Attorney Wheeler wanted to know who disseminated a confidential attorney memo on Gilcreast's vetting procedure so she has the IT department violate the confidential e-mail addresses for all of council, without any court order or legal opinion?

Not a big deal as so many people already know about Gilcreast's leadership in a number running enterprise and other ventures. The City sued him in the past because he failed to comply with a contract he had for serving beverages on the golf course. He had the auto towing contract at one time for the city. He had business contracts with the city and was furious when he did not get the contract to remodel the city pool on Wood Street.
Post Mon Jun 12, 2017 2:34 pm 
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