Ken Jakes has contacted the TVA board to inform them of the wrongful actions of NES and the misuse of Public Funds. Below is his communication to the Board. I have removed Ken's phone numbers from this communication in order to protect him from harassing phone calls. If you want to talk to Ken about this issue, email him. I am sure he would welcome hearing from you. I have highlighted and underlined portions of the below communications to call attention to particular wrongful action of NES contained in the press release from Justin Wilson, State Comptroller. Rod
From: "Ken Jakes"
To: Board@TVA.gov
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 3:58:16 PM
Subject: Fwd: Comptroller Review Finds Improper Purchasing Practices, Credit Card Use and Other Questionable Activities at Nashville Electric Service
To: Board@TVA.gov
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 3:58:16 PM
Subject: Fwd: Comptroller Review Finds Improper Purchasing Practices, Credit Card Use and Other Questionable Activities at Nashville Electric Service
Hello, my name is Ken Jakes and I live in Joelton Tn. The Comptroller's Report I am forwarding below originated from wrongful actions that I discovered while researching thru Hundreds of thousands of public record. I want to report for the misuse of public funds. I want to get with our State and Federal Senators and Congress, however I want to report to TVA as well. Please contact me.
Office 615-xxx-xxxx
Cell 615-xxx-xxxx
Home 615-xxx-xxx
Fax 615-227-1863
Email Ken.Jakes@comcast.net
Thank you,
Ken Jakes
From: "Kevin Wisniewski" <kwisniewski@newschannel5.com>
To: "Ken Jakes (ken.jakes@comcast.net)"
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2012 9:32:15 AM
Subject: FW: Comptroller Review Finds Improper Purchasing Practices, Credit Card Use and Other Questionable Activities at Nashville Electric Service
To: "Ken Jakes (ken.jakes@comcast.net)"
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2012 9:32:15 AM
Subject: FW: Comptroller Review Finds Improper Purchasing Practices, Credit Card Use and Other Questionable Activities at Nashville Electric Service
From: Blake Fontenay [mailto:Blake.Fontenay@tn.gov]
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2012 9:02 AM
To: Blake Fontenay
Subject: Comptroller Review Finds Improper Purchasing Practices, Credit Card Use and Other Questionable Activities at Nashville Electric Service
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2012 9:02 AM
To: Blake Fontenay
Subject: Comptroller Review Finds Improper Purchasing Practices, Credit Card Use and Other Questionable Activities at Nashville Electric Service
State of Tennessee
Justin P. Wilson, State Comptroller
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For Immediate Release: Dec. 13, 2012
Comptroller
Review Finds Improper Purchasing Practices, Credit Card Use and Other
Questionable Activities at Nashville Electric Service
Nashville
Electric Service (NES) has paid one manufacturer and its distributor
more than $17 million over the last eight years for electric power cable
that was not properly bid, a review by the Comptroller’s Division of
Local Government Audit has found.
NES,
a governmental utility company that supplies electricity for Nashville
and surrounding communities, has paid Kerite Company more than $13
million and its distributor, Utilicor, more than $4 million since 2005
for electric power cable.
The
review found that NES has had an exclusive arrangement with Kerite and
Utilicor since 1998, although NES could only provide records for cable
purchases beginning in the 2005 fiscal year.
During
interviews with representatives from NES and Kerite, Comptroller staff
members learned that the utility company’s specifications for electric
power cable were tailored to match the type of cable provided by Kerite.
A field superintendent for NES, now retired, also promoted Kerite’s
products while performing consulting work outside of NES, at seminars
and in conversations with officials from other utility districts. These
activities were not disclosed on the employee’s NES conflict of
interest disclosure statement.
The
Comptroller’s review uncovered other serious issues, including improper
use of an NES credit card by the utility company’s vice president/chief
information officer. Reviewers found the vice president commingled
personal and business accounts when making purchases on eBay and Amazon.
Many of these accounts were established in the name of NES. The vice
president also established a PayPal Extras MasterCard in his name using
an NES procurement card as collateral. The same vice president admitted to selling surplus NES items on eBay without authorization or knowledge of his supervisor.
The
vice president also admitted to interviewers that he had given an
information systems contractor an NES credit card and allowed that
individual to make purchases on behalf of the utility company for 12
years. And the vice president used an NES credit card to purchase items
such as printer ink and computer supplies that were readily available in
the utility’s storeroom.
Other issues identified in the review include:
· A
contractual arrangement with Gaylord Entertainment which allowed senior
personnel and other employees from NES to attend events and play golf
at Gaylord-owned properties free of charge in exchange for the lease of
NES transformers. These ‘hospitality packages,’ which appeared to have
no benefit to NES ratepayers, were valued at more than $70,000 over the
last six years.
· NES employees made personal purchases on NES credit cards.
· A half dozen NES employees received reimbursement for education or training programs based on altered documents.
“The
issues uncovered during our review are very serious and I applaud NES
officials for the corrective measures they have adopted in response to
our findings,” said Comptroller Justin P. Wilson. “As our report
indicates, there are still additional steps that we believe could be
taken to reduce the chances that similar problems will crop up in the
future. I want to commend not only my staff in the Division of Local
Government Audit, but also representatives from the Tennessee Bureau of
Investigation who assisted us in our work.”
The findings of the review have been shared with the local district attorney’s office.
To view the report online, go to: http://www.comptroller.tn.gov/repository/CA/2011/NESReport.pdf
My comment: While it is nice that NES has made corrective action, why is no one being charged with a criminal offense? This amounts to theft. If someone had stolen some NES copper wire and sold it for scrape they would be prosecuted. Some top level people at NES should go to prison and a lot of people ought to be fired!
On January the 24th at 10:30 am Ken Jakes will be making a presentation before the NES board. I will be attending to show my support. Anyone wishing to attend will need to check in at the front desk of NES
on Church Street by about 10:00 am. You will need to show photo ID and
be escorted to the board room. Any and all that can attend, please do
so. The NES board needs to know that the rate payers are outraged with the illegal
and wrongful actions of NES.
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