Conservative Fusion is a book club that reads important books of interest to conservatives and libertarians. For this meeting however, there is no book to read; instead, there will be a debate on whether or not it is time to abolish the electoral college and have direct popular election of the president.
Meeting: Wednesday, December 19, 2012
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
To RSVP and get location, follow this link. Conservative Fusion Meetup.
Citizen-activist Ken Jakes has filed a written complaint against Decosta Jenkens for unethical and criminal behavior. Below is a copy of his email to the Mayor and members of the Council asking that the Mayor ask the NES Board, which is appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council, to terminate Mr. Jenkins contract. Below is the email letter. I have edited the email by removing Mr. Jakes phone numbers.
From: "Ken Jakes"
To: "Metro clerk", mayor@nashville.gov
Cc: Councilmembers@nashville.gov
Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2012 11:00:09 AM
Subject: Ethical Complaint to file against Decosta Jenkins
To mayor Dean, our Metro Council, and Metro Clerk,I am forming in a written complaint for the unethical behavior against Decosta Jenkins as the leadership of NES. Decosta Jenkins himself signed the contract between Opryland and NES where it benefited only he and other employees of NES. It had no benefit to the rate payers of Nashville and Davidson County and the area that NES provides. All that was gained from this action was a loss of revenue for the rate payers which we have to replace within our electric rate charges. All the free perks on the back of the rate payers were taxable income which NES has provided to me that they did not keep records. This in itself is a violation of law and it is my opinion that a violation of law is a criminal offense.The Metro Government has to have in place policy against this type of actions. How does Decosta Jenkins say we will address this issue when in my opinion he is as guilty as the wrong doing of the employees. I ask that you Mayor Dean, address this and ask the NES Board who you appointed to terminate Decosta Jenkins. I ask the Metro Council to address in what ever way it can proceed. I ask the Metro Clerk if this is not the proper procedure to file an ethical complaint against Decosta Jenkins, then to contact me so I may take each step necessary to file this complaint. I will place my contact information below so should any of you wish to contact me please do so,The people you represent do not want this swept under the table,Ken Jakesoffice 615-xxx-xxxxCell 615-xxx-xxxHome 615-xxx-xxxx
I am requesting that you as Legal Council for NES follow through with my request to make sure it is filed the proper way to be address and placed on the Agenda for the next meeting of the Board to be addressed. The 17 million dollar contract that Decosta Jenkins stated on Channel 5 , was an error on his part, was public revenue. Part of that revenue came from me through my electric rates. In my opinion it is nothing short of Bid Rigging.
We do not need Decosta Jenkins in leadrership of NES WITH THESE TYPES OF ACTIONS. Tory Johnson may say he will not make criminal prosecutions but all know it was wrong. I can assure all if Decosta is not terminated it is not over yet. I will just proceed to Federal Investigations of Fraud and misuse of Public Funds. Who knows, maybe they will with hold Federal Grants and Funding until they can get to the bottom of the situation. I am on a crusade for the rate payers of NES that have been abused. I would hope that you would feel as I. Laura, my battle is not with you, however handle this for what it is, Public Corruption. Do not let Decosta Jenkins harm your Legal Profession in my opinion defending his actions. Just something to think about.In a separate email to the Metropolitan Clerk, Ken includes appendix three of the Metro Charter. Below is a relevant portion of that Charter provision concerning NES.
The officers, agents and employees of the board are prohibited from appropriating or using any of the moneys, revenues, assets or property of the board, or of the metropolitan government, or its credit either directly or indirectly by way of donations for festivities, exhibits, shows, lectures, pageants, excursions, decorations or parades, and shall not give or grant to any person or persons any reduction or other benefit of any kind in rates or service by the board, nor shall they make or allow any discrimination in favor of any purchaser of power, light, current or other service not enjoyed by others of the same class and taking power under like conditions; provided, nothing in this article shall prevent participation in normal electric promotion activities.The public need to rally around this issue and not let the people at NES get off with a simple promise to do better in the future. Corruption like this should not be accepted as business as usual. Tory Johnson needs to pursue criminal indictments, the mayor needs to pressure the NES board to fire Jenkins and the Council needs to hold hearing on the matter and apply pressure. Also, since NES is chartered by the State and subject to state authority our State senators and representatives need to demand changes at NES.
by Gail Kerr, The Tennessean, Dec 16, 2012- A scathing audit of Nashville Electric Service shows that $104.50 from your light bill payment went to buy a baby gift for an NES board member.My Comment: I am hot under the collar. This is an outrage! It is theft. Crimes have been committed. Some people ought to go to jail and a lot of people ought to lose their jobs!
The buyer? NES’ chief financial officer.
Are you hot under the collar yet?
How about this: The public utility wrote specifications to “circumvent” proper bid procedures when buying $17 million of power cable. “Circumvent” is such a polite word. They might as well just call it what it was: bid rigging.
But wait! There’s more! (read more)
The meeting is 1 hour and 47 minutes long.
There is no one addressing the board in the "public participation" portion of the agenda.
The Board begins the discussion of the State Reduction of $3.4 Million in BEP funding and what to do about it (8:26-33:12). The pro's and con's of litigation are discussed and options for dealing with the loss revenue.
Metro was not one of the winners of the Race to the Top grants.
The annual report on technology is presented including a power point presentation and a discussion of the digital divide and the impact of technology on the common core program (38:44-1:31:00).
Nashville school board backs off suing state over lost funds
The Tennessean, Dec 12, 2012 - Despite one board member’s push to dig in and fight, the Metro school board on Tuesday backed off its threat to sue the state for withholding $3.4 million in funds to punish the district for rejecting a charter school application.
Board members expressed hope that the state might willingly restore the funds if the district takes a more cooperative approach instead.
The school board voted 8-1 on Tuesday to defeat a motion from board member Amy Frogge to pursue litigation against the Tennessee Department of Education.....(link)
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| Ken Jakes |
Please follow this link, for the Markin Consulting Group's "Highest and Best Future Use Study." You can read the Agenda of the next meeting of the Fair Board, the five-page memo on the highest and best use study, and view the study power point presentation.
Please be aware that those wanting to sell off the fair grounds are greasing the skids to make that happen. Many people think the public has spoken and the future of the fairgrounds is secure. Not so. All that has changed is that to dispose of the fairgrounds takes a 2/3rds vote of the Council rather than a simple majority. Those wanted to save the fairgrounds need to continue to be informed and vigilant.
The next Fair Board Meeting will be a Special Called Meeting on December 18th at 8:00 a.m. in the Administration Office Board Room. A discussion of Councilman Dominy’s RFI Legislation is on the agenda of that meeting.
It is important that the Fair Board issue a Request for Information. An RFI would simply allow private interest to present their own proposals for enhancing the fairgrounds while preserving current uses. The consultants report is giving the Board a choice between costly preservation or selling off the fairgrounds and redeveloping the site as mixed use. The Fair Board needs to hear other proposals.
Here it is: The December 18th Council Agenda
If you will wait, I will read it, highlight, and explain what is important, but if you are anxious to see it, have at it.
The Tennessean, Dec 12, 2012 - Despite one board member’s push to dig in and fight, the Metro school board on Tuesday backed off its threat to sue the state for withholding $3.4 million in funds to punish the district for rejecting a charter school application.
Board members expressed hope that the state might willingly restore the funds if the district takes a more cooperative approach instead.
The school board voted 8-1 on Tuesday to defeat a motion from board member Amy Frogge to pursue litigation against the Tennessee Department of Education.....(link)
My Comment: Thankfully sanity prevailed.
This is a great opportunity for some conservative college student. I wish I were eligible. Please pass it on.
From American Enterprise Institute
Good morning,
Do you know a college student who would benefit from spending a summer in Washington at the American Enterprise Institute?
This week, AEI begins accepting applications for our 2013 Summer Institute. This year's institute, which runs from June 16 to July 13, is a fully-funded program for current undergraduates and recent college graduates, featuring courses in public policy and lectures from notable policymakers, journalists, and thinkers in Washington.Applications and nominations are both accepted; click here to learn more about the program, or check out this brief video about last year's Summer Institute.
Additionally, we are now accepting applications for the 2013 summer internship program.
If you have any questions about either the summer institute or our internship programs, please let me know.
Best regards,
Dan Rothschild
—
Daniel M. Rothschild
Director of External Affairs
American Enterprise Institute
202.862.7155 (o) 202.558.0248 (m)
daniel.rothschild@aei.org
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