BREAKING: Approaching Storm in Demolitions Filings?
by Adam Lynch and Brian Johnson
March 27, 2007
City Council President Ben Allen dropped a bombshell during a contentious discussion of the city's claims and payroll dockets during Monday's work session.
"Will there be any demolition in (the claims docket) this week that could affect (Community Development Block Grant) funding or (Department of Environmental Quality)?" Allen asked City Attorney Sarah O'Reilly-Evans. "If I were to tell you that I received a phone call from someone involved in DEQ, and that there were some concerns that perhaps some of the houses that were burned down were actually not burned down, or they were burned down and the paperwork was faulty, what would be your response to that?"
Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon joined Allen in expressing concern. "Some of these same concerns have been raised for me. There were some questions about whether or not the demolition folks we paid to do the work had actually done the work," Barrett-Simon said.
"To your knowledge, every home that we voted on to be demolished, that actual home was demolished by that person designated in the claims docket, right?" Allen asked O'Reilly-Evans.
O'Reilly-Evans responded that she "wouldn't have personal knowledge of that."
O'Reilly-Evans said earlier that she had signed both the claims and payroll dockets per Allen's request last week. Her disavowal drew incredulity from Ward 6 Councilman Marshand Crisler. "Wouldn't you have some kind of process to know that if you had signed off on it? It kind of defeats the purpose of signing off on it, if you don't know what's going on," Crisler remarked.
Allen would not comment further on the matter after the meeting but vowed that council would discuss it further in the days ahead.
Allen's comments came after more complaints from council members about how the Melton administration handles the claims and payroll dockets, which have been a source of controversy for months, mostly due to concerns over temporary workers
Both Crisler and Barrett-Simon complained that they did not have the dockets in their packets at the start of the work session, though they usually have the dockets by Friday afternoon.
"On claims, I know you mentioned that the claims docket was ready on Friday, but the stamped date from the clerk's office shows (March) 26. That's today. This is a lot of information (to go through)," Crisler said.
Chief Administration Officer Robert Walker explained that city legal is now going over the list in detail before sending the docket to the clerk's office, which slowed the process.
Barrett-Simon requested that Walker send her a memo describing reasons for the delay.
© Jackson Free Press, Inc.
