Wow - I go out for a movie with my mom and my daughter and come back to an email box full of notices by alert bloggers citing the latest news on the pilfering of the school system by our highest level administrators. Check out the article in tomorrow's AJC.
A high-level DeKalb County school official at the center of a criminal investigation bought a county car for her personal use at a bargain-basement price last year before state and county officials learned of the transaction and reversed it.
Patricia “Pat” Pope, whose involvement in multimillion-dollar school construction projects is under investigation by county authorities, purchased a black 2005 Ford Explorer from the school district for $5,442 — about one-third the car’s market value at the time, according to county documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Pope also asked the county’s maintenance department to overhaul the car with new tires and a paint job before she bought it, according to a state agency that investigated the purchase. The department did about $2,500 worth of work on the car.
The arrangement appears similar to a 2007 car purchase by DeKalb schools Superintendent Crawford Lewis. Pope also played a major role in that transaction, documents show.
My, oh, my. The school system coffers are just here for the personal benefit of our current administration. These people are so sad - and a complete embarrassment - yet our school board still doesn't seem to have the moxie to take action and clean house. The campaign to replace several of them this November begins today!
DCSS can't afford to fix leaking roofs, provide adequate transportation, provide enough text books, desks or classroom space for students BUT it CAN dole out cars to Crawford Lewis, Pat Pope and all the rest of the central office administrators who make over $100,000.00 a year?!?!? The ENTIRE School Board should RESIGN in SHAME! Right after they FIRE Crawford Lewis. Enough already.
ReplyDeleteMore pertinent info from the article:
ReplyDeleteLewis’ purchase made news in August 2008, about a year after he bought the 2006 Ford Five Hundred sedan. Pope, who was in charge of fleet services at the time, had arranged it after Lewis inquired about buying the car. In an e-mail explaining her role in the sale, Pope told former school board Chairwoman Lynn Cherry Grant, “We did not have a need for his car, nor did I believe it would be prudent to assign it to another employee.” She said she set the price using state procedures.
That sale was discovered by state auditors during a routine review. Lewis was allowed to keep the vehicle after paying $10,000 to make up the difference between the sale price and its fair market value.
Pope’s purchase didn’t become public until the AJC asked about it.
...DeKalb school district spokesman Dale Davis refused to discuss the car purchases or policies guiding such transactions.
...Pope purchased the Explorer on April 3, 2008, sending a check for $5,442 to David Guillory, executive director of the Transportation Department, documents show. At the time, the car’s Kelley Blue Book value was $15,550.
The selling price was based on a state formula of 35 percent of the cars’ Kelley Blue Book fair market value.
That formula, however, is meant to apply to the sale of property between state departments and not for sales to an individual for personal use, Riden said.
The common denominator of the Crawford Lewis and Pat Pope shady vehicle purchases: David Guillory, executive director of the Transportation Department.
ReplyDelete-Makes well over $100,000 per year, despite having no prior experience in school system transportation.
-Just happens that his mother-in-law is former Board of Education member Frances Edwards, who openly got him his job, as she did for her daughter, Philandra Guillory, who had no previous school system management experience, but now makes well over $100,000 per year.
Wonder if Frances steered any DCSS contracts to friends and friends of friends, because she sure liked getting jobs for her family members, and that includes more than just David and Philandra.
IT IS TIME for a complete overhal of the incestuous DCSS upper level administration. Even head of Finance Marcus Turk, who is in charge of spending close to a billion dollars of year of our tax money, had no previous school system finance experience. But he has relatives in high places in DCSS.
It is time to clean it all out. And that's you Crawford, Turk, Moseley, Talley, the Guillory's, and the most self-serving offender of them all, Ron Ramsey. We won't be seeing much of our DCSS Director of Do Nothing, er, Internal Affairs, as he'll be down at the Gold Dome for the next three months. Still waiting to hear if he takes a leave of absence while the State Senate is in session, because there is no way he accrues enough vacation and comp time to spend three months as a state senator in session.
As head of Internal Affairs, it is none other than Ron Ramsey who should be investigating these blatantly unethical vehicle purchases. But Ron would never lead any investigation that would upset the apple cart. Heck, he won't even investigate student residency, which even Fulton is strict on these days.
Lord bless the Museum School of Avondale and any other charters that want to start in DeKalb. Lord bless Dunwoody as one day they will take their schools and become a charter system. I don't blame any of them, as our Board of Education has looked the other way for far too long. We have some fine teachers and staff in DCSS, but we have a horrible upper management, and a weak, petty, feckless Board of Education.
Sales like this have been going on for years. It is real easy to look at the current administration and point fingers and of course this should be done. However, school supers in the past have done the same thing and got away with it.
ReplyDeleteSo many of the things that the school board wanted you to believe that the major trouble maker on the school board on the last school board was saying was incorrect is now coming to light.
They actually were so upset with her that they tried to connect her with her ex-husband's company and distroy her reputation on the school board. However she remained. She was very angry as to how they had treated her. She saw all the corruptions and she tried to expose it. In reality, if you remember, our friend Ms. Woods saw much of the corruption also and she was upset and spoke out.
However, now the current school board tries to keep it contained and out of the public eyes if they can keep Ms. Woods in check. I do think Ms. Woods is one who will speak out against things that are wrong. Interesting enough, the new school board tries to keep her in check.
Regarding former supers buying cars -- according to the article -
ReplyDeleteRiden said Pope is correct that at least one former superintendent bought his county vehicle, but that arrangement had been written into his contract with the school district.
Pope’s and Lewis’ were not, Riden said.
Crawford Lewis and Pat Pope are clearly highly intelligent professionals, the top managers of a billion dollar plus entity.
ReplyDeleteThey have received much criticism on this blog, some fair, some not so fair (Even though in my opinion, there hasn't been enough public outrage about the condition of older schools such as Cross Keys and Sequoyah).
But again, they are considered intelligent and competent enough for our elected Board of Education members to entrust them with running our school system and its facilities and construction, again a billion dollar enterprise.
And no where in America, whether public or private sector, is a two year old vehicle with 22,000 miles considered a "surplus" vehicle. Lewis knows this. Pope know this. Marcus Turk and David Guillory know this. And every member of the Board of Education knows this.
It was wrong for the sale of a vehicle to Crawford Lewis, and it was wrong for the sale to Pat Pope. And for us to now find out that Pat Pope had school system employees perform $2,500 of upgrades to her SUV right before she purchased it is incredibly unethical, and hopefully something that can be proved to be illegal, and she will face consequences for it.
I'm familiar with fleet operations for the private sector and governments. Surplus vehicles are usually seven to ten years old (even though some governments will go as low as five or six), and most with many more miles than just 22,000. Most governments today will use an online auction to sell surplus vehicles, and it is standard practice and frowned upon to allow a staff member to purchase a surplus vehicle.
Our Board of Education failed us by green lighting these purchases. Even though at this same time, they saw the public outrage over then DeKalb County Police Chief Terrell Bolton's use of public vehicles for private use. In these tough economic times, the public has little tolerance for sweetheart deals.
Our Board of Education has a vast number of responsibilities, and one of the chief ones is looking out for how taxpayer dollars are spent.
It is time for our Board of Education to publicly list every DCSS vehicle, its purpose, its year, mileage, make and model, and who drives it and why. The majority of DCSS vehicles will be for Sam Moss usage, but the public needs to see who gets a take home vehicle. Do administrators like Marcus Turk, Ron Ramsey, David Guillory, Gloria Talley, etc. get take home vehicles? If so, tell us why. And make sure if they do have take hme vehicles, they are using them for eight to ten years and keeping them well maintained.
The article on this scandal is on the front page of the AJC, bringing more bad press and shame to a system that has had a large number of controversies over the past two years.
It simply has to stop. It's time for a leadership change. If the Board of Education is unwilling to change, then it is time for new members of the Board of Education.
How nice to be able to put your eye on a beautiful car and then declare it "surplus" so that you can purchase it at a fraction of its value --
ReplyDeletePope told Lynn Cherry Grant --
“We did not have a need for his car, nor did I believe it would be prudent to assign it to another employee.”
Even worse, Queen Pope took this taxpayer-owned car, and charged taxpayers a bundle to prep it for her personal use!
ReplyDeletePope also asked the county’s maintenance department to overhaul the car with new tires and a paint job before she bought it, according to a state agency that investigated the purchase. The department did about $2,500 worth of work on the car.
Sorry Anon, I guess you already covered the $2500 improvements issue - we must have crossed paths.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your call to publish a list of system-owned vehicles -- great idea! Except -- they can't even publish a list of system-owned buildings - so I'm guessing we'll never know what we've paid for as taxpayers. You don't suppose they are selling each other surplus buildings do you???
In the grand scheme of things, the amount of money for these two vehicles is nominal. But the lack of judgement and the lack of any professional ethicsa dn morals is extremely torubling. The gall shown by Lewis and Pope to expect they get these vehicles for one third of their value is more than troubling. Equally as troubling is the Board of Education turning a blind eye to it.
ReplyDeleteNo one is watching the hen house.
Son of awcomeonow wishing everyone happy new year belatedly.
ReplyDeleteI came across some articles that might be an interesting template to use, should we ever be able to get anyone in Georgia to adress the DCSS corruption.
Google: "Corruption in Luzerne County, PA". There's been 23 county, judicial, and school board officials charged with federal crimes there over the last year.
It's an interesting read: kick backs, unlawful juvenile incarcerations ( for kickbacks), and a local school system that expects teachers to pay the right persons roughly five thousand dollars before they're considered for a job.
Maybe someonoe will notice some similarities that have occurred. If so, be sure to write about them here.
Oh lord, son of - how bad can things get? I caught an investigative news report (20/20 or something) about these kids being "sentenced" to these "behavior modification" schools - revealing the fact that the judges and administrators who sent the kids got a "commission". UGH.
ReplyDeleteGood people everywhere need to stand up, unite and speak up. We need to demand open records - accounting books online - information available online. It's OUR taxpayer money - we are entitled to know exactly how it's being spent.
Whenever you have millions (billions) of dollars at stake - it will bring out the most corrupt individuals - like a magnet.
The really incredible thing about all this is that both Lewis and Pope are still employed. Just a few months after Lewis got busted trying to buy a car on the cheap, Pope does the same thing with his blessing. How can either say they didn't know it was wrong?! Blaming it on interpretation of the law is nonsense -- that was already clarified the first time around. One has to wonder how much other taxpayer funded gratuities they've helped themselves to that they haven't been caught with... yet. Come on school board, grow a spine and give them both the boot!
ReplyDeleteInteresting points Anon 10:06am. They bring up another one: While school bus purchases make the board agendas, I have never seen ANY DCSS vehicle come before the board for approval. Maybe I've missed the meetings where they were approved. Have any of you seen these items on the board agendas? Who bought all those Sam Moss trucks and equipment? How about the personal use vehicles? What was paid? Were they bid? Where were they bought (another "insider" favorite vendor??)? Who approved the expenses -- in aggregate they must have met the financial threshold to need board approval.
ReplyDeleteBoard Purchasing Policy descriptor code DJE is up for public review now. https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/index.aspx?S=4054
ReplyDeletePlease let your board members know they need to amend it to make sure big (>$50K) purchases, in aggregate (not currently proposed to be defined as policy), can't be made by leasing instead of buying -- for example a $200K dump truck, tractor, or cherry picker may be leased for a monthly payment much less than the $50K limit (annual? -- this too not defined in policy) but should require board approval nonetheless.
Son of back. Curious that school bus purchases are mentioned.
ReplyDeleteWhen Pope's predecessor Stan Pritchett was still employed at DCSS he wore many hats.
He was over the construction projects, and was the driving force behind what sites were picked for the construction. He was ALSO over transportation.
In 1997, the deseg suit was ended. With the end of M-to-M , the need for extra buses to be purchased presumably was drying up.
This "problem" ( at least if you were one of the companies in the bus purchase contract) was prevented by how many new schools were located, ie out of their attendance areas, or far physically removed from housing.
Moving Stone Mountain Middle school away from the village of Stone Mountain to an industrial park required the purchase of roughly 16 additional buses. Similar circumstances probably occurred with Avondale Middle School, Heritage Middle School, Columbia Middle School, and to a lesser degree Bethune Middle and
MLK high School.
By placement of schools in INSANE locations, the need for bus contracts was created. Wonder if anything was expected in return.
POPE OR lEWIS didn't need new cars. The cars were only three years old. The cars should only be used for sites and schools. Both cars were fully loaded, why would they need top of the line cars. Last time I check they are not the president. The last car she got was from a board member's brother (cunningham) should that happen?
ReplyDeleteQueen Pope park her car and they had to gas it for her. she had the security person go and pick up her food, she would have Ms. Tiffany go shopping for her in the car. She would only drink crystal spring water that a vender paid for, and if someone parked in her parking space it was hell to pay.
She treated the employees like she was pharaoh and the employees were her hebrew slaves.
By the way someone should check her (p-card) they might find that all her charges are not school related.
This is so sad when we have this kind of waste and our schools need so much. What happen to the needs of the students.
I think her punishment should be banishment to an office in the back building at Cross Keys.
ReplyDeleteCheck out the photos on our article showing what those 900+ kids and their teachers tolerate -
Why is Cross Keys Still in Limbo?
I will now quote from an email I have from Board rep Paul Womack in response to the above question.
Have cleaned up the back side of Cross Keys and they are now moving to start the building program,in fact it is all read under way. We are spending $20,000,000.00 to up grade Cross Keys.
I think we have put our money where it is supposed to be and where we promised.
By the way if you need more information, please contact Don McChesney, this is his school and he has been really working hard to make things happen there.
Now - guess the DATE of that email --
June 16, 2009! Well over 6 months ago! Hmmm - how does Cross Keys look today? I think I'll go take some more pictures and update the blog...
I want to make sure that EVERYONE is aware -- we have about $100 MILLION of SPLOST tax dollars SITTING IN THE BANK! Get some projects moving please -- there are PLENTY of construction companies who would really appreciate the work! The banks currently are making enough money.
Oh - I forgot - you can't - cause you're a pothole and can get anything done cause you're being investigated for tripping up a car.
It ticks me off to hear Womack say "contact Don McChesney, this is his school". I live in the Cross Keys district and Womack is my elected representative to the DeKalb School board.
ReplyDeleteJust curious - has Don been working hard to make things happen at Cross Keys like Paul says? I'd like to know what he's been doing - and if he's following up on the construction progress. He's not my board rep - would someone in his district please follow up with him and report back? Maybe he's doing things behind the scenes that I'm just not seeing...
ReplyDeletethanks.
Now all bets are off on construction stuff. With Pope out and a new person(team?) in, they will need to slow things down to review contracts, scopes of projects (this is the most important one to me), etc.
ReplyDeleteThe consultants will be accountable, so you better believe that they are looking at everything.
Scope of project is very important, folks. For whatever reason, most schools that were receiving repair/renovation work have not gotten everything they believe they were promised, even though the projects are coming in under budget.
As as been written here before, there seem to be so much effort put into saving $$$. A project that was budgeted for XXX might only cost YY, and that sounds great. But go look at both the quality of the work and the quality of materials and then come back and tell us if this is a good thing.
There's a much broader problem with "contact Don McChesney, this is his school."
ReplyDeleteI realize that board members are elected by district, but as long as any individual board member does not see every school as his/her school we're going to continue to have a board more inclined to fight for spoils than for children.
--Al
The consultants better be accountable. Remember there are a handful of them, and they are making about $1000 per day. Yes, per day!
ReplyDeleteRegarding the consultants - this is from the minutes of the Dec board meeting - regarding Barbara Colman's presentation -
ReplyDeleteSUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
Capital Improvements Program (CIP) Status Report
Ms. Barbara Colman, Interim CIP Operations Officer, presented a status report on the Capital Improvements Plan. Ms. Colman noted that there has been a seamless transition within the Program, and that the Team is comprised of experienced professional veterans of K-12 construction with national reputations, and is a blend of DeKalb County School System staff, Parsons and Jacobs, along with Gude Management Group. Currently, $351,101,509 in projects are being managed by the Capital Improvements Team. She provided construction and renovation details related to current projects at Redan High School, Cross Keys High School, Tucker High School, Stone Mountain High School and the Mountain Industrial Center Complex. Ms. Colman stated that currently, there are ninety-six (96) Capital Improvements Program renovation\addition projects in progress with a price tag of $319,320.079. Additionally, there are a total of sixteen (16) Capital Improvements Project roof replacement projects at a cost of $11,718,170; fifty-nine (59) Local School Priority Request Projects at a cost of $14,662,464; and fifty-one (51) ADA projects totaling $5,400,796. Ms. Colman announced that the Capital Improvements Program is robust and healthy, and projects are being completed on scheduled. She stated that the plan going forward is organized, cost-effective and cost efficient to fulfill the requirements of the SPLOST III referendum.
Dr. Walker thanked Ms. Colman for the report and asked if there was anyway that the District would track the fiscal impact to the local economy as a result of current construction and renovation projects. He also asked about the status of the renovation project at Cross Keys High School. Ms. Colman responded that the estimated date of completion is December 2010. Dr. Walker noted that the total budget for the Cross Keys High School renovation project is $20million.
Mr. Cunningham inquired about the type of equipment that will be provided in the newly renovated weight room at Cross Keys High School.
Ms. Roberts asked about carpet replacement in the Media Center at Redan High School. She noted that the carpet was fairly new and was damaged recently by a water leak. Ms. Roberts also inquired about the old shelving and asked about the possibility of having it replaced with new shelves. She strongly expressed that new shelving be acquired.
Ms. Copelin-Wood asked that the total dollar amount for projects be provided, to include FF&E, design & construction, etc. for each. Ms. Copelin-Wood also talked about the current needs at Avondale High School, specifically, weight room equipment, and asked that she be provided with information that will be distributed to parents prior to the meeting.
Thank you Crawford Lewis, David Guillory, Pat Pope and the enabling Board of Ed members for embarassing DeKalb again. Hey you idiots: When prospective teachers in colleges across the state see the front page of the AJC, whether for this, or the Jaheem suicide, or the Sembler mess, or Cross keys High school falling down, or the Gene Walker bribes, er campaign donations, do you think they best future teachers are going to want to teach for DCSS? Nope, Gwinnett, Fulton, Henry and Cobb teachng jobs look better. We're getting to the point where we're equal with Clayton when it comes to scandals.
ReplyDeleteI truly believe in the smell test. Maybe it was legal for Lewis and Pope to purchase their vehicles at one-third the book value. But if you have a smidgen of personal ethics and morals, it doesn't come close to passing the smell test. Thanks for embarassing us.
Justice is still here! Never fear.......
ReplyDeleteKnow this - I dance to my own tune and I beat my own drum. The information that I have shared so far is so so so miniscule that it is almost laughable. Give me a little more credit than that. (And yet the emails that I continue to receive for pre-orders of my book, for additional information, for interviews, for investigative help, etc. is AMAZING!). This is not a job for the average, the weak or the meek at heart....
For me, this DeKalb situation is most fascinating...kinda reminds me of a Rubik’s Cube. A Puzzle. And I am proud to say that I have broken the code. Solved the puzzle. Got the answers. Know the connections and all of the diabolical intricacies involved. Now, let me say...I am blown away by the Brilliance of such a scheme. Truly. So much so that I wrote a book about it BLACKBOARD CORRUPT! And am now working on my second book JUSTICE IN DEKALB - The Aftermath!
As for the "Anon" who continues to cast aspersions my way ....... Whatever. So unworthy of a response from me.......
In retrospect, I imagine that I could have connected the dots a bit more for my fellow Bloggers; however, this is a situation in which...either you get it or you don’t. The Broward address in Florida with the Popes and Cooper Co. seems to have been received with mix reviews, which I find interesting because for me, the very foundation of this diabolical scheme rests on the ability to see what others can not see ...connect what others have In order to de-construct this master plan...you must acknowledge the motivator (MONEY FOR CONSTRUCTION FRAUD!!!!!) and understand the relationships of the parties involved. Next, look for the common links...but always always remember that nothing is as it seems!
As for the Heery/Mitchell lawsuit...the research that I did at the courthouse was 2 incredible days....the info gather simply confirmed some of my previous findings but by no means ...and I mean by no means is this what I have used to make my case. As a matter of a fact, I would caution anyone out there to be weary of true "justice" coming out of that case. Too political. Too much money....too many bodies burried! Do your research, people! But, again, do not take that piece of the puzzle in isolation....do not so easily disregard that important piece of the puzzle so quickly. In order to de-construct this master plan...you must acknowledge the motivator (money from construction fraud) and understand the relationships of the parties involved. Next, look for the common links...but always always remember that nothing is as it seems!
Confession time...it took me approx 3 to 5 months to uncover this constrution corruption and about 2 years to thoroughly research. Not conjecture but solid proof. I am simply discriminate with who I share my documents and information with. Please feel free to email me at justiceindekalb@mpta.us
If anyone is interested....a group of "concerned" citizens are planning a meeting for next week....in person to discuss some of these very issues to see what can be done to "FIX" the Dekalb County "corruption" problem. In my opinion blogging is a "great" tool....it allow us to gather information, share, vent, and attempt to solve the problems, however, in my opinion...WE HAVE TO DO MORE THAN BLOG...and I also know that many of you already have....which is why a "group" us us will be meeting next week to discuss, the next step.... What is the next step you may ask: A Recall of all school board members who continue to allow our students, teachers, taxpayers, citizens to fall by the waistside of bullying, money laundering, mail fraud, construction fraud, racketeering, lets see....who can add more to the list???? Listen folks....THIS MADNESS HAS TO STOP, and our group is willing to go to the Obama administration if we have to..... but we can't do it alone....we need all of you ever-so-savvy bloggers to help us out. We need anyone with information on Dekalb County Corruption (this includes you Justice) to be in attendance at this meeting, but what we also need are viable "SOLUTIONS"!!! Be it a recall, lobbying of the General Assembly, the FBI, or the Obama Administration....we KNOW the corruption exists....we know our teachers and MOST importantly our children are suffering......the question once again is are you going to TALK ABOUT IT....OR BE ABOUT IT???? more information about an upcoming meeting will be given once I confirm with my team an exact date.....if anyone is interested they can email Corruptionindekalb@yahoo.com
ReplyDeletePlease leave a phone number/contact information.
Where can we buy a copy of the book BlackBoard Corrupt?
ReplyDeleteCorruption, I love your fire but you are exremely naive to think the Obama administration or the FBI will spend one second looking at DCSS.
ReplyDeleteIf you truly have proof of wrong doing, it would be the United States Attorney Office, Northern District of Georgia, http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/, that would be investigate. They normally only investigate city and county elected officials, but if there was provable systemic corruption in DCSS, then they would possibly look into it.
If a perfect world, county DA Gwen Keys and/or Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker would investigate DCSS. However, both Gwen Keyes and Thurbert Baker are Leadership DeKalb buddies of Crawford Lewis.
thanks for the info R&P...that's great info....I see you have done your homework....Yeah you are absolutey correct in regards to our "so called" DA and Attny General...hey I am hopeful....I know it's a longshot...but we gotta start somewhere!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, still no heat at Stone Mountain High School. Whose project was that?
ReplyDeleteo.k. what the heck is going on now....Channel 2 is reporting some more DCSS and D.A. office mess....enough already...let's get this case resolved already...too much dragging of feet and losing touch with reality...I pose that we vent no more unless we see some action..e.a. Vote to recall the BOE for ineffective leadership costing the tax payers millions of dollars and approving illegal activities from the Superintendent to the COO Pope.
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding? They just gave a raise to the guy who has shelled out over $12 million in attorney's fees and $3.5 million in a "study" to fight a half-million dollar construction claim. The trial won't even BEGIN until at least March.
ReplyDeleteUnless we vote the board off the island, it won't get better.
Talk about Greed... Clew has a person from the Service Center come to Building A twice a week to come and get his car, fill it up with gas, detail it and return the car. This happens on Mondays and Fridays and the car is taken to a gas station on LaVista Road to get the work done. (So sorry to report I was not close enough to hear the name of the station).
ReplyDeleteDuring the summer the SRO officers has to work at Building A just protect The Royal Majesty. They are told to escort him from his car to the build and back. In the evening The Royal Majesty will hold his keys out and expect the SRO to unlock and open his door for him.
Will report more later. Just need to keep being a mole right now. Just reporting what I hear and see.
Get this the THE ROYAL MAJESTY has is own slave Dale Davis who attends meetings with him. He open doors, helps him take off his coat and helps him put it back own.
ReplyDeleteI saw this with my own eyes and it made me sick to think a man could think that he owes him all that.
But then every time he is on the news he never makes a complete statement. He is another one of those central office administrators.
Please tell me why do all the central offices have to have flat screen tv's.?
I will be at the meeting monday night and will wear black until lewis and pope are gone or in jail.
I'd like to add a few key points - First, although Pat Pope was officially hired in 2006 (as Pat Reid - even though she was actually married to Vince Pope AND acting CFO of Pope Construction) - she had already been serving as a CONSULTANT on the SPLOST 2 construction projects under Stan Pritchett. CONSULTING on SPLOST projects while serving as CFO to a SPLOST vendor - her husband. Did Lewis know all of this? The board was informed of her marriage just before approving her hiring - (it's cleverly avoided on her application and resume) but as usual, Lewis set that whole action up as yet another "emergency".
ReplyDeleteAlso - allow me to repeat just how much money we're talking here. So far - Lewis has spent over $3.5 million on a "study" conducted by Nielson-Wurster/Marsh to determine how much to countersue Heery/Mitchell for (remember, HM's original claim was for a lousy half million dollars). Then, on top of that, he has spent somewhere between $12-14 million on attorneys so far - and the case isn't scheduled to to to trial until March. (Which will probably have to be delayed now, since suddenly he's not cooperating in his own investigation.)
This is all taxpayer money. Mostly SPLOST money - from a penny sales tax! Think about that the next time you pick up a penny.
"Clew has a person from the Service Center come to Building A twice a week to come and get his car, fill it up with gas, detail it and return the car. This happens on Mondays and Fridays and the car is taken to a gas station on LaVista Road to get the work done."
ReplyDeleteThis is an outrage!!!!!
Please, please e-mail your BOE members and demand that this practice be stopped. Lewis just a $2500 PER MONTH expense account. He can damn sure pay to wash his own DCSS vehicle.