Tunicans for Transparency in Government held our monthly meeting last Saturday. The agenda was really full and we came away with more questions for our county officials.
The first item to be discussed was the Schultz plant. At the Tunica County Board of Supervisors' meeting on 6 Aug 2010, the Board went into Executive Session and apparently treminated our relationship with Graycor Harrel as the General Contrator. During the same Executive Session, the Board hired H&M Company of Memphis to be the General Contractor.
Here are our questions:
1. Why was it necessary for this action to be handled in Executive Session?
2. Is this the way contracts are terminated?
3. Wouldn't the site preparation need to be rebid?
Have you noticed the lack of activity at the plant site? This was our second point of discussion on the Schultz Project. The site preparation company for Phase 1 is L & T Construction. Their bid for Phase 1 was $3,287,274.70. Apparently, there has been a lack of funding for this portion of the project and several items from the planned preparation had to be deleted. A $1M Community Block Grant has been awarded so work should begin again soon.
Next set of questions:
1. Are the deleted items now going to be added back into the project?
2. If not, wouldn't the site preparation need to be rebid?
More later....
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
This might be it...
We've been working through this idea and I think it is going to be "Hire Tunicans 1st". What do you think?
Friday, August 6, 2010
...And he's back
(This post isn't going to make any sense to you unless you read the previous post first.)
This morning I went to pick-up a friend to attend this morning's Board of Supervisors' Meeting. Since we were a bit early, I decided to drive by the Tunica County School District's Administrative Offices.
The Tunica County Government truck that the Superintendent drove north toward TN last night was nowhere to be found. Just as we were about to turn right onto School Street, here he comes; driving the Tunica County Government truck. It's 8:41 a.m.
One of my friends told me "They've been doing it wrong so long, they think it's right." When are the residents of Tunica County, MS going to stand up and put a stop to elected officials who are oh so happy to take our money and go back where they prefer to live?
This morning I went to pick-up a friend to attend this morning's Board of Supervisors' Meeting. Since we were a bit early, I decided to drive by the Tunica County School District's Administrative Offices.
The Tunica County Government truck that the Superintendent drove north toward TN last night was nowhere to be found. Just as we were about to turn right onto School Street, here he comes; driving the Tunica County Government truck. It's 8:41 a.m.
One of my friends told me "They've been doing it wrong so long, they think it's right." When are the residents of Tunica County, MS going to stand up and put a stop to elected officials who are oh so happy to take our money and go back where they prefer to live?
Reading the Fine Print
Well, I’ve made another mistake. I thought the Tunica County School District Public Hearing tonight (5 Aug 2010) was about an increase in ad valorem taxes. So, when I was handed an agenda, I was surprised to see item #4 Public Budget Hearing. Sure enough, contained in the newspaper announcement, right there in the first paragraph were the words "public hearing on its proposed school district budget." This is what the title and first paragraph stated:
“NOTICE OF TAX INCREASE
TUNICA COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT
The Tunica County School District will hold a public hearing on its proposed school district budget for fiscal year 2011 on August 5, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. at Rosa Fort High School – Library/Media Center, 1100 Rosa Fort Drive, Tunica, Mississippi. At this meeting, a proposed ad valorem tax effort increase will be considered.”
The next 4 paragraphs of the announcement spoke about the ad valorem tax. So, it’s true I made a mistake. The title of the announcement and the lack of capitalization about the budget contributed to my error. Shouldn’t the title have included something about the budget and maybe the first paragraph needed to say “on its proposed Tunica County School District Budget”? Maybe in bold type since it wasn’t mentioned in the title?
What I know for sure and for certain is this: The Tunica County School District Budget for fiscal year 2011 was to be finalized and in place by 1 Jul 2010. Today is 5 Aug 2010.
After the meeting, the Superintendent got in his Tunica County Government truck and headed north toward TN. What a perfect evening.
“NOTICE OF TAX INCREASE
TUNICA COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT
The Tunica County School District will hold a public hearing on its proposed school district budget for fiscal year 2011 on August 5, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. at Rosa Fort High School – Library/Media Center, 1100 Rosa Fort Drive, Tunica, Mississippi. At this meeting, a proposed ad valorem tax effort increase will be considered.”
The next 4 paragraphs of the announcement spoke about the ad valorem tax. So, it’s true I made a mistake. The title of the announcement and the lack of capitalization about the budget contributed to my error. Shouldn’t the title have included something about the budget and maybe the first paragraph needed to say “on its proposed Tunica County School District Budget”? Maybe in bold type since it wasn’t mentioned in the title?
What I know for sure and for certain is this: The Tunica County School District Budget for fiscal year 2011 was to be finalized and in place by 1 Jul 2010. Today is 5 Aug 2010.
After the meeting, the Superintendent got in his Tunica County Government truck and headed north toward TN. What a perfect evening.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
A Good Time Was Had By All….
At the first Aug Board of Supervisors’ Meeting, Billy Pegram asked that the claims being paid by the county be read out loud and that not only the amount of the claim be read but the name of the company, agency or person being paid. Thank you, thank you, thank you Billy Pegram.
During this process, Ken Murphree’s claim was read for, I guess, May through Jul as none of the end dates cover a date when claims would have been paid. (Claims are paid at the first meeting of the month following the claim.) Murphree’s invoice for May 4 – Jun 13, 2010 was in the amount of $1955 and the Jun 14 – Jul 6, 2010 invoice was for $1997.50. As usual, the invoices indicated only where Murphree had been on certain dates; not what he accomplished.
So, the Beat 1 Supervisor asked that Murphree provide a written report at the first meeting in Sep detailing his activities. Whoa! Then things got hot. The Beat 3 Supervisor and the Beat 4 Supervisor objected to a person Tunicans’ compensated to the tune of $85 per hour having to write a report? Why? This doesn’t make any sense.
At one point the Beat 3 Supervisor left the meeting. On his way out he said: “I’ll be back when you guys quit grandstanding.” I think “grandstanding” is when you create drama when leaving the discussion. This is the definition of “grandstanding”: “to try to gain the applause of an audience by or as by making an unnecessarily showy play.” My apologies to the Beat 3 Supervisor. I didn’t know we were supposed to applaud when you left the room.
During this process, Ken Murphree’s claim was read for, I guess, May through Jul as none of the end dates cover a date when claims would have been paid. (Claims are paid at the first meeting of the month following the claim.) Murphree’s invoice for May 4 – Jun 13, 2010 was in the amount of $1955 and the Jun 14 – Jul 6, 2010 invoice was for $1997.50. As usual, the invoices indicated only where Murphree had been on certain dates; not what he accomplished.
So, the Beat 1 Supervisor asked that Murphree provide a written report at the first meeting in Sep detailing his activities. Whoa! Then things got hot. The Beat 3 Supervisor and the Beat 4 Supervisor objected to a person Tunicans’ compensated to the tune of $85 per hour having to write a report? Why? This doesn’t make any sense.
At one point the Beat 3 Supervisor left the meeting. On his way out he said: “I’ll be back when you guys quit grandstanding.” I think “grandstanding” is when you create drama when leaving the discussion. This is the definition of “grandstanding”: “to try to gain the applause of an audience by or as by making an unnecessarily showy play.” My apologies to the Beat 3 Supervisor. I didn’t know we were supposed to applaud when you left the room.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Employ Tunicans 1st
As we've worked through this idea, have decided the campaign needs to be "Employ Tunicans 1st".
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Tunica County School District
In Aug 2009 the Transparency Committee did a little research in an effort to understand why we were spending so much money in our schools and getting such poor results. Did you know MS ranks 8th nationally in the number of Nationally Board Certified Teachers (NBCT)? As of 2009, MS had accumulated 3,103 Nationally Board Certified Teachers. How many are employed in the Tunica County School District? ZERO!!!!
This is a call-out to all those who are teaching in Tunica County. If you are a Nationally Board Certified Teacher, you need to contact the MS Department of Education and let them know about you. Until then, we will have to take their word for it.
So, on Thu, 5 Aug 2010 at 5 pm, the residents of Tunica County have been invited to join our Board of Education and our Superintendent in the Rosa Fort High School - Library/Media Center so they can hear from us our "tangible evidence" concerning raising our ad valorem tax millage to 32.83 mills.
This school system cannot be fixed by throwing more money at it. According to the MS Department of Education records that were pulled today (3 Aug 2010), our district Accreditation Status is listed as "Probation." Our "Accountability Status" is "at risk of failing." Our graduation rate is 66.5 percent. Out of 152 school districts in MS, where do we rank in bang for the buck?
How is more money going to fix this? Are you going to order better dinners during your meetings? The citizens of Tunica County need to order us up a better School Board in the upcoming election.
WAIT JUST A MINUTE HERE. When was the Public Hearing held to talk about the school budget? I didn't see it advertised in the newspaper. Doesn't the budget meeting have to come before the "we're going to increase your taxes and there isn't anything you can do about it" meeting?
This is a call-out to all those who are teaching in Tunica County. If you are a Nationally Board Certified Teacher, you need to contact the MS Department of Education and let them know about you. Until then, we will have to take their word for it.
So, on Thu, 5 Aug 2010 at 5 pm, the residents of Tunica County have been invited to join our Board of Education and our Superintendent in the Rosa Fort High School - Library/Media Center so they can hear from us our "tangible evidence" concerning raising our ad valorem tax millage to 32.83 mills.
This school system cannot be fixed by throwing more money at it. According to the MS Department of Education records that were pulled today (3 Aug 2010), our district Accreditation Status is listed as "Probation." Our "Accountability Status" is "at risk of failing." Our graduation rate is 66.5 percent. Out of 152 school districts in MS, where do we rank in bang for the buck?
How is more money going to fix this? Are you going to order better dinners during your meetings? The citizens of Tunica County need to order us up a better School Board in the upcoming election.
WAIT JUST A MINUTE HERE. When was the Public Hearing held to talk about the school budget? I didn't see it advertised in the newspaper. Doesn't the budget meeting have to come before the "we're going to increase your taxes and there isn't anything you can do about it" meeting?
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