Monday, July 19, 2010

Madison County Board of Supervisors sues MDOT. MDOT to Supes: Try again.

The Madison County Board of Supervisors sued MDOT, MDOT Executive Director Larry Brown, and MDOT Commissioner Dick Hall for $20 million in damages on June 4, 2010.  Madison County accuses the defendants of breaching a Memorandum of Understanding that bound MDOT to provide $6 million to Madison County for the construction of the Reunion Parkway interchange with I-55.  Madison County alleged MDOT issued a different set of conditions in January for receipt of the funds. The complaint states the purpose of the new guidelines was to provide "MDOT with more control of the project." The lawsuit was filed by County Attorney Eric Hamer.

The defendants filed the typical answer: deny, deny, deny, admit, admit, deny most defendants file in such cases. MDOT filed a Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim on July 2, 2010. MDOT claims according to state law, only MDOT can be served with a lawsuit and if served, such process must be served upon the Secretary. Madison County served Attorney General Jim Hood with the complaint. None of the defendants were served through MDOT (page 2 of the attached file). MDOT also asked for the Court to make Madison County pay court costs and attorney's fees for defending against this complaint.

If Hamer screwed up serving the lawsuit, it would be interesting to see how much of his bill is paid by the County. Copy of complaint and motion to dismiss.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting how Madison County wants to enforce a Memorandum of Understanding against MDOT on Reunion Parkway interchange, yet they won't agree to comply with the Memorandum of Understanding they had with Parkway East Public Improvement District. Eric Hamer himself recommended to the Board of Supervisors not to comply with the Memorandum of Understanding, and innocent tax payers were left holding the bag.

Anonymous said...

Awfully funny we have never heard anything about the audit. Those good ole boys run deep, but let's just see when it all unravels or will it? Notice they thought they had Butch Brown in their back pocket but wonder if it has hit them yet Butch is literally who they sued and this could be the straw that broke the camel's back!

John said...

Hamer didn't file the lawsuit. Doug Minor at Bradley Arant did. Hamer's listed as of counsel, but Minor signed it All the motion says is that MTC is the proper party. The 120 days for service of process hasn't run. MTC can still be served. It was named as a party. No big deal. No attorney's fees will be awarded.

Kingfish said...

I know that. I was being a smartass.

Anonymous said...

Madison County is soooooooo dirty! Ask them how much they chipped in on the pretty bricked exit ramp. They said they were gonna pick up the tab..................and then they got the tab!! Dirty, dirty, dirty, the poor tax payers for the whole state bought us the pretty(EXPENSIVE) bricks. It get's brought up every year the legislature meets.....................

Madison County has a STORM headed its way right now!!! I hope they all go to JAIL. Dirty cops, DIRTY DIRTY Mayor........Chief..........etc!

Anonymous said...

@11:07, While I agree that there is definitely something rotten in Denmark at the County level, namely with the BOS, Engineer and Attorney. I have not seen anything that screams corruption to me in Madison and Ridgeland governments. Yes, the bricks were a lot, but in all fairness, the city did use the money from the landscape portion of the project to pay for the bricks. While there are many things that I do not agree with that the two cities do, I do not believe that we have out and out corruption at that level. Time will tell, and if there is, they need to be removed from office, prosecuted to the fullest, and sent to jail for a long time. NOW, the Board of Supervisors, HOLY CRAP, is this bunch dirty! Tim (Elvis) Johnson, Karl Banks, Rudy Warnock, Eric Hamer. These dipshits have gone and sued MDOT, now I hope and pray that Dick Hall will hand their ass to them when in the discover phase they will have to prove what their actual damages were and they start delving into Rudy's contracts, and the subs and what they were paid versus what he billed the county! Then 'we the people' need to file a class action law suit against the BOS for Breach of Fiduciary Duty to the tax payers of Madison County! Wouldn't that be nice to see these dumbasses picking up paper with a convict work crew along the side of one the roads that they engineered and built!

Anonymous said...

There has also long been " something rotten in Denmark" at MDOT.

We need either one elected highway commissioner or make this part of the executive branch.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I agree totally about MDOT! That is a great point and I wasn't trying to leave them out! I think if you simply looked at Butch Brown's son, who sells bonds for a living and look at the deals that he has been involved in and what percentage of those deals revolved around MDOT projects OR county projects in counties where daddy is tight with the BOS members, someone might just have some problems with it all! I believe that Butch's son was involved with the East Parkway in Madison County. I just really wish that someone would look into it ALL!

Anonymous said...

MDOT Executive Director, Butch Brown, arrested this morning for Public Drunkenness and Disorderly Conduct... see articles and mug shot picture at Mississippi Business Journal....

http://msbusiness.com/

and...
Today Mississippi Business Journal reporter Clay Chandler broke the news that the executive director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation was arrested at the Beau Rivage casino in Biloxi for public drunkenness.

Larry L. “Butch” Brown Sr. didn’t just publicly embarrass himself and disgrace the state of Mississippi. He followed his misdemeanor with lying to an MBJ reporter, denying that the incident occurred.

Brown should resign. Our public officials should be held to a high standard of conduct.

Brown was appointed to his MDOT position by the three Mississippi Transportation Commissioners. He was confirmed by the state Senate in 2009. He has three years left before his term expires. Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall opposed Brown’s appointment.

The three Commissioners can vote to terminate Brown at any time with a majority vote. It’s time they do that.

Anonymous said...

I do hope something happens to the closed society in Madison and the corruption is exposed. I have attorneys on speed dial in my case. It would be a fine day for the clubhouse to be disassembled.

Anonymous said...

Dick Hall could care less about this project. His interest is Glugdstat Rd. Although anything to oppose Butch Brown, is a very good motivator for Hall to step in.

I would like to see a post of the original MOU and the new MOU MDOT proposed. The Feds have investigated projects nationwide which are run by local public agencies and found that there are serious risks involved because the local agencies don't know what they are doing in complying with Federal laws. Thus, leading to waste, fraud and abuse of the taxpayers funds.

So I would like to know what the legal issues are of updating the MOU. Why was Madison County so opposed to it? Was it because the MDOT required more scrutiny over the project to adhere to Federal and State requirements? Was Madison Co intending to pad all of their friends' pockets with the award of the contract?



Recent Comments

Search Jackson Jambalaya

Subscribe to JJ's Youtube channel

Archives

Trollfest '09

Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.


Note: Security provided by INS.

Trollfest '07

Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

Note: Security provided by INS
.