|
| Author
|
Post |
 
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Here is another reason why Flint Council needs an enforceable ethics policy.
Section 1-602 of the Flint City Charter requires (1) the disclosure of financial interests and sources of income by all candidates for elective office, and (2) for the annual disclosure by elective officers of financial interestsm sources of income and gifts.
And yet Ed (Monty) Taylor was a Vice-President of AA Capital Partners while he was a Second Ward Councilperson and a Trustee in the Flint Pension Board.He never disclosed this position with AA Capital Partners, althoughhe talked about having clients during council meetings.
He lost his council seat in 2005 but remained with AA Capital until 2006 when the Securities and Exchange Commission shut them down because AA Capital Partners principal, John Orecchio, misspent over $10.7 million, which came from Detroit area pension funds. The September 8, 2006 SEC complait alleged $5.7 millionwent to a Michigan horse farm and a company owned by Orecchio and a company that managed the Crazy Horse, a Detroit strip club.
During a Flint Pension Board meeting, Taylor disclosed his position with AA Capital and requested the board allow company representatives make a presentation on potential investment with the company. Then Pension Board President and Hurley Trustee, Dan Hall, and others declined this offer. This information was given to the Flint FBI.
In today's Detroit News the headline story, 'Man says $10K won Kilpatrick's help', details how Orecchio used payoffs to gain access to power and influence in Detroit politics. Orecchhios FBI reports from 2005 also reveal his dealings with two union officials; Ralph Mabry, the former head of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters, and John Hamilton, a former top executive with the Operating Engineers Local 324. Orecchio mispent money from both unions as well as four others.
Last year Detroit Federal officials filed evidence of a kickback scheme that involved using Michigan pension funds to finance the Hard rock Hotel and Casino in Mississippi.
AA Capital Partners invested in other casino projects. And who can forget those tv spots of Taylor and Eric Mays trying to bring a casino to Flint.
Also, Taylor received a gift of property, namely a house on E Carpenter from Kumar Vemulappalli. Taylor wrote affidavits in support of Kumar in Kumar's lawsuit aginst the city over Genesee Towers. |
|
|
Sun Oct 25, 2009 9:42 pm |
|
|
back again
F L I N T O I D
|
my my such palace intrigue!  |
_________________
even a small act of goodness may be a tiny raft of salvation across the treacherous gulf of sin, but one who drinks the wine of selfishness, and dances on the little boat of meaness, sinks in the ocean of ignorance.
P.Y. |
|
|
Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:40 pm |
|
|
Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
|
Strengthen the Standards Of Conduct Board, which deals with elected and appointed officials, and make their decisions binding unless overturned by the City Council. Even the Ombudsman can only give an opinion. They have no authority to enforce it.
You can have all the ethics ordinances that you want. But who is going to enforce them? As evidenced by the example that you gave. |
|
|
|
Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:36 am |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Josh- Excellent point except that the Standards of Conduct Board normally acts in secret. Their decisions are couched to hide the identity of the individual involved.
This is great if a person is requesting an opinion of a potential conflict. But a blatant misuse of position requires coming out in the open. Also the ordinances need teeth, a penalty phase.
Without a defined ethics policy, there is little for the Standards of Conduct Board to work with. |
|
|
|
Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:08 am |
|
|
Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
|
| The ordinances are there.... from conflict of interest to nepotism. There is no 'body' that has the teeth or the will to enforce them..... There is a Forfeiture Provision in the Charter that allows ordinances that are in the public interest to be made punishable by forfeiture. No one does anything about it though. As for the Standards of Conduct Board... I think the last time they met was about Trachelle Young hiring her sister to run the Victims Advocacy..... It's a public body... and the decisions should be public. |
|
|
|
Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:55 am |
|
|
Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
|
| Will the council elected next week have the guts to do something about this? |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
|
|
Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:24 pm |
|
|
Elias12
F L I N T O I D
|
| Untanglingwebs , looks as though you keep track of all the crap that the officals have gotten away with. Damn impressive post here! Impressive in it's detail, disgusting overall Not for you Untanglingwebs, I mean for the the officals engaging in all these shennaigans. I think you have been a very good source of information for people Untanglingwebs( we have to think of a shorter nick name for you though) , very balanced and damn through. All this reminds me of why I disengaged in dealing with local politics years ago. Wish I could jump ahead 20 years to see if anything changes. On second thought, maybe that wouldn't be a good idea. |
_________________
You fool all the people all the time,if you control the press. By pass the "offical channels" and see what is really going. |
|
|
Tue Oct 27, 2009 12:33 am |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Josh- Dave is right. The council lacks the backbone to police themselves.
Look at Jackie Poplar who sprayed David Davenport with Raid right next to Scott Kincaid. And then she sprayed him a second time. Look at her attempt to extort money for liquor licenses.
The Liquor Control board came in because the council automatically supports another councilperson's request and legitimate requests were being denied. Johnnie Coleman fought Hinky Dinky and was punishing them for some reason. And yet a dance place with violations got no opposition for renewal.
Thank God Sims is gone. Her argumentive disposition and possible bias against Arab Americans made council impossible to watch.
Yes Elias- I study this stuff. But Flint is not the only crazy place. |
|
|
|
Tue Oct 27, 2009 7:47 am |
|
|
Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
|
You heard no argument from me that the Council has lacked the will to police themselves. But until folks elect people that are willing to do what is right and show in their actions that they are there for the right reasons... we'll continue to go down this same tired road. We've got a lot of lip service but very little action over the last number of years. And that's exactly why we are where we are.
But that does not negate the fact that the ordinances are in place to deal with the issues that are being discussed.
It all goes back to the folks that we elect. Bottom line. |
|
|
|
Tue Oct 27, 2009 1:58 pm |
|
|
00SL2
F L I N T O I D
|
| When qualified candidates don't run, you can't elect them. |
|
|
|
Tue Oct 27, 2009 6:53 pm |
|
|
back again
F L I N T O I D
|
| well, most of this stuff regarding council shenanigans, i'm hearing for the first time. surely someone on the inside knew what was going on. who is the
watchdog of city elections?
if the county is the watchdog, who is that person?
this all boils down to some person, for whatever reason not doing their job. |
_________________
even a small act of goodness may be a tiny raft of salvation across the treacherous gulf of sin, but one who drinks the wine of selfishness, and dances on the little boat of meaness, sinks in the ocean of ignorance.
P.Y. |
|
|
Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:27 pm |
|
|
Elias12
F L I N T O I D
|
| 00SL2, who in their right mind would want to run for any office in this city ( no offense to Lynn , she seems to have her heart in the right place) ? A city with a diminishing tax base, a city with more problems than anyone would care to list, a city with a national reputation (thanks especially to a certain filmaker) of being a city in it's death throes? Profiteers and shucksters always circle people in desperate states. We , the people of Flint , seem to have this tendency as writer Albert Jay Nock once wrote of to " accept the Barabasses over the Christ". Perhaps we are so willing to accept the worst people in office(s) because we really don't feel all that good about ourselves . But the we have to break this cycle , we got to demand more from those we place in positions of authority. We have many things developing in this city which we can harness for our growth. Please don't squander these opprotunities. |
_________________
You fool all the people all the time,if you control the press. By pass the "offical channels" and see what is really going. |
|
|
Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:32 am |
|
|
Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
|
quote:
back again schreef:
well, most of this stuff regarding council shenanigans, i'm hearing for the first time. surely someone on the inside knew what was going on. who is the
watchdog of city elections?
if the county is the watchdog, who is that person?
this all boils down to some person, for whatever reason not doing their job.
City & County clerk's offices. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
|
|
Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:36 am |
|
|
Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
|
quote:
00SL2 schreef:
When qualified candidates don't run, you can't elect them.
Very true. |
|
|
|
Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:24 am |
|
|
Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
|
I really get tired of people calling what Jackie Poplar did Extortion. If it would have been She would have been charged and convicted.
She wasnt asking for money for herself. She was asking for Money for students in her ward.
Had she done what she did the way 99.9 percent of politicitions do it. It would have worked just as it did for ATT.
Adam Ford posted before how much Brenda Clack, Lee Gonzales, Deb Cherry, John Gleason, etc received in order to pass a bill that is dismantling public access and public accountability for video franchising.
But I don't hear anyone out there jumping up and down. The difference here. Jackie asked them to donate to a scholarship fund for graduates. NOT FOR HER CAMPAIGN. Had she asked them for money for her campaign then given them a nod. That would have been perfectly legal. As is done over and over and over again in politics.
How people forget the whole story and only remember what they want to remember. You guys need to spend some time downtown during lunch and watch AND LISTEN to the deals being brokered for support of Candidates and politicians that are going on every day in restaurants downtown.
Now saying this. I'll probably never get to hear anything again. (If they see me in the room.) Those discussions will take place much quieter now.
Anyone up for a charter revision? I’m all for it I’ve got two goals for the new council that I want to push for. Charter revision and removal of Comcast and Charter brought in. |
|
|
|
Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:24 pm |
|
|
|
Forum Rules:
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Political Talk
