The madison County Economic Development Authority (MCEDA) is in the middle of investigating a conflict of interest arising from an airport study commissioned in 2013.
MCEDA hired Arthur ‘Skipper’ Jernigan as special counsel to investigate whether a MCEDA board member, who was also an employee of the firm conducting the study, presented a conflict.
Former county engineer Rudy Warnock completed the $1.2 million study, named Project Phoenix, in 2013 for MCEDA.
However, at the time, Calvin Harris was on the MCEDA board, and also worked for Warnock and Associates. Recently, Harris was reappointed to the MCEDA board. He has been on the board for at least 10 years in total.
Now, the Madison County Board of Supervisors has officially asked MCEDA to investigate the 2013 study and Harris’ reappointment.
“There was a man that was reappointed to the MCEDA board, Calvin Harris,” District 2 Supervisor Trey Baxter said in an August Sun article. “After the meeting, I received phone calls that there was a MCEDA airport study that was done, and Mr. Calvin Harris was on the MCEDA board. It’s alleged that his employer was employed to do the airport study.”
MCEDA legislation defines that as an illegal conflict of interest.
“Mr. Harris did vote ‘yes’ for the airport study, and then the minutes were altered legally, to show that he either recused himself or voted ‘no,’ ” Baxter said. “But the legislation is pretty clear regardless: If you’re on the board, regardless of whether you vote or not, that’s something that’s not allowed by the 1998 legislation that established MCEDA.”
Section 17 of House Bill 1874, passed in 1998, states MCEDA “shall not contract with any person who is related to a member of the authority within the third degree or who is the spouse of a member of the Authority nor shall the Authority contract with a business entity of which a member of the Authority is an officer, director, owner, partner or employee, or is a holder of more than six percent of the fair market value, or from which a member of the Authority or his relative within the third degree derives annual income, or over which a member of the Authority or his relative within the third degree exercises control.”
So far, Jernigan has sent letters to District Attorney Michael Guest, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, State Auditor Stacey Pickering and the Ethics Commission to ask for a full investigation.
Jernigan said he’s also notified attorney Andy Clark’s professional liability carrier and Warnock of the current proceedings.
“Clark was the board attorney at the time that (Calvin Harris)… was also an employee of Rudy Warnock,” Joey Deason, MCEDA executive director, said.
“Everybody has been notified… that the contract that Warnock Engineering had with MCEDA for Project Phoenix… is a prohibited transaction and is void, and that we have to attempt to recover the public funds that were spent on an illegal and void contract,” Jernigan said.
So far, Jernigan’s office has not received any response from Warnock.
“We’ve had discussions with Mr. Clark’s law firm, and this matter has been turned over to them. The only person we haven’t had any response from is Warnock Engineering.”
Jernigan’s firm has also held conversations about the issue with the ethics commission, attorney general, district attorney and state auditor.
“It’s a pretty clear-cut situation under Mississippi law,” he said. “The contract was a prohibited transaction using public money, and the moneys have got to be recovered. We’re going to take whatever steps necessary to do that and explore every avenue.”
All parties responsible for the contract may have to financially contribute to the recovery of the $1.2 million, according to Jernigan.
“But that’s something we’ll sort out down the road,” he said. “In a perfect world, I’d like to avoid litigation, but I’m not confident that’s going to be able to be done.”
Although Warnock has not responded to Jernigan’s three letters, there is no set deadline as to when a response is required.
Jernigan said the investigation is going to be discussed during the December 14 MCEDA board meeting, with or without a response from Warnock.
“There’s no (response) deadline that’s been set. We have another board meeting on December 14, and it’s on the agenda to be reviewed at that time. We hope for some response before the 14th of December.”
The public didn’t learn of the study until 2014, when it was reported on by local media. Some of the county supervisors didn’t know of the study until later in 2013, months after it had been awarded.
Former MCEDA Executive Director Tim Coursey explained why the contract had been awarded in executive session, and why MCEDA decided to give it to Warnock.
“We felt like… we really needed a county engineer who will have more ownership in the study and in seeing that the project is advanced through the other phases of development. In the past (studies), when we just hired the lowest bidder, they came in and did the contract, got the money (and said), ‘We’ll see you later.’ And it didn’t work.”
Prior studies were conducted in 1983 and 2002, but those did not result in the construction of a new airport. Coursey called the study conducted by Warnock “extremely detailed.”
“The last thing we wanted to happen was the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) to go, ‘You looked at three or four sites, and we don’t like any of them. Go find more sites.’ ”
Warnock evaluated nine sites and named the top three that should be considered for the future site of the airport.
The number one site, based on the report, was located northeast of the intersection of Yandell Road and Highway 43, north of the Natchez Trace Parkway.
The next best were sites near Livingston Vernon Road northeast of Flora, and between Way Road and Highway 51 north of Canton, according to the study.
Coursey told the Sun that the county needed another airport to attract more industrial development. The city of Madison has a small airport, Bruce Campbell Field, along Old Canton Road.
“(Companies) ask us, ‘Do you have an airport with a 6,000-foot runaway or a 7,000-foot runway?’ and we have to say, ‘We do not, but there’s one in (Jackson) that does,’ ” he said previously.
Bruce Campbell’s runway is 4,444 feet long, according to madisonaircenter.com. Hawkins Field in Hinds County has two runways, one that is 3,000 feet long, and another that is 5,385 feet long.
