Tag Archives: investigation

Corruption in DeKalb meets consequences

Bid rigging and kickbacks?
I’m sure that’s only in Atlanta….
Anyway, it turns out it’s not so much

DeKalb County that’s a slum
as the county government.

Somebody at AJC wrote yesterday,

DeKalb to review government restructuring,



A day after a yearlong investigation into DeKalb contracting was
made public — a report that detailed a culture of corruption
that permeates county government — DeKalb commissioners say
they will review how the county is governed and seek changes.

A special purpose grand jury investigating contracting in DeKalb’s
water department recommended the county get rid of its CEO form of
government. DeKalb is almost singular in the authority it gives its
CEO, a countywide elected official who runs the day-to-day
operations of Georgia’s third-largest county.

That authority, according to the report, was used to steer tens of
millions of dollars in contracts to favored vendors. Suspended
DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis has been charged with extortion for
allegedly strongarming vendors into donating to his campaign.

Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May said the county will review its governing
structure over the next 30 days and propose some recommendations on
how to improve operations, especially contracting.

WSBTV reported Wednesday,

DeKalb special grand jury recommends 12 for criminal investigation:
Key county officials include former CEO and public safety director.



CBS Atlanta wrote 17 July 2013,

Governor Deal Suspends Dekalb County CEO Burrell Ellis, Continue reading →

VDT should dig deeper into county trash



The VDT should dig deeper into the finances of Lowndes County trash collection.
Nobody has ever seen an accounting of where where the money went for
the county’s former waste collection sites, so nobody knows whether
the county was really losing money or how much, and the county’s
version of how those sites had to be paid for doesn’t match state law..
Sure, Bill Slaughter defending a decision made when Ashley Paulk was chair
is amusing, but instead of transcribing what county officials tell it,
the VDT could find lots more under the county’s garbage with a little digging.

Jason Schaefer write for the VDT Thursday,

Concerns continue over garbage agreement:
Business owner argues case against County



The County is not required under Georgia law to issue RFPs to any
company for waste disposal services, according to Slaughter. That
decision was made in a good-faith effort to find the lowest possible
rate for garbage service for the citizens of Lowndes County, he said
Tuesday.

Is that the point of county government, to act like Wal-Mart?
Is money the only value the county government can name?


Everyone I talked to about the trash issue in 2012 who already
had a waste collection card said they’d be willing to pay more
to keep the sites open.
Maybe if the county had held public hearings they would have learned that.

And does anyone believe ADS’s rates are going to stay that low?
Look at

Wakulla, Florida, where it’s $196/year.
But the bigger question is why did the county privatize trash collection
anyway?

Continue reading →

More injured and euthanized animals

Why does this sound familiar?

After a 2 1/2-hour closed-door board meeting Wednesday, SPCA of Niagara


board president Bruno Scrufari III announced the request for the
probe, in the wake of charges by board member Kathy Paradowski, former
veterinary technician Kari E. McAlee-Miller and others that animals were
unnecessarily euthanized and that injured animals brought to the shelter
were left untreated.

There are a few differences from the local situation here.

Thomas J. Prohaska wrote yesterday for BuffaloNews.com,

SPCA in Erie County to probe charges against Faso:
Niagara board president announces request for investigation of claims,

Barbara Carr, executive director of the SPCA Serving Erie County,
said her board of directors, which meets today, would have to
approve the investigation, but she doesn’t expect any difficulty in
winning approval.

There will be at least one key condition: “I wouldn’t do an
investigation unless the document we produced was made public,” Carr
said.

The relevant local authorities welcome an investigation and
insist on making the results public.
Imagine that!

And, according to
Dave McKinley yesterday at wgrz.com,

Niagara Co. SPCA Approves Outside Investigation Of Its Animal Shelter

Continue reading →

There are problems at the animal shelter. They have not been resolved.

I think it’s time to ask: what did they know, and when did they know it?

Let’s construct a timeline:

  • 2011-05-20 euthanasia violation
  • 2011-05-20 statement from Heather Terry
  • 2011-05-23 County Manager Joe Pritchard

    tells the Commission and the public    :



    “We were not able to substantiate … accusations other than that … castration of pig.”

    That was even though

    WCTV already reported there had been several
    euthanasia violations last year.

    Pritchard also said they (the county in its previous investigation,
    presumably the one of 2010    )
    examined the character of those testifying for
    the complaints and he said they found biases.

  • 2011-05-24 County Commission Chairman Ashley Paulk

    tells the Commission and the public:



    “Whatever problems there are, they’re going to be resolved.”

  • 2011-05-24 The VDT quotes County Manager Joe Pritchard

    as saying    :



    “It’s no longer a case of an individual making a claim, as it will be evident by the physical evidence provided by the security cameras.”

    and:

    “You take that policy, coupled with the updated standard operating
    procedures, added to the technical verification and I think that
    addresses the issues. My purpose is to eliminate any problem or potential
    problem.”

  • 2011-05-31 statement by Director Linda Patelski saying two people fired for euthanasia violation of 20 May 2011

Continue reading →

Somebody has gotten fired at the animal shelter

Improper use of drugs for euthanizing animals is apparently
enough to get someone fired from the animal shelter,
at least if there is a parade of witnesses and paperwork,
but only after someone files a complaint with GA Dept. of Ag.

On 16 June 2011 Susan Leavens got
a letter from Shirley King, with attached

PDF, containing:

  • complaint from Susan Leavens (unknown date):

    “Employee working with Lowndes County Animal Services euthanizing animals wihtout certification.”

  • 2011-06-03 PDF notice of violation from Ga. Dept. Ag. to Lowndes Co. Animal Services
  • a long handwritten statement by Pat Smith, also annotated:

    “Copy of report received by [signed] Joe Pritchard 6-3-11”

Continue reading →

Why are these reports not on the desk of the sheriff? —Jane Osborn



This comment from Jane Osborn came in last night on

County Animal Shelter Issues. A good place to ask such questions of
public officials might be at

this evening’s County Commission meeting,
5:30 PM, 327 N. Ashley Street.

Sheriff Chris Prine is often in attendance.
-jsq

Abuse of an animal is a criminal offense. The GA Dept. of Agriculture


is a regulatory agency able only to issue fines, not pursue criminal
investigations. Why are these reports not on the desk of the sheriff of
Lowndes County for criminal investigation? Dismissing the allegations
because the people whose testimony was taken might be biased does no
service to the current or future animals that will pass through the
shelter.

FBI investigating CCA “Gladiator School”

Rebecca Boone wrote for AP, 30 November 2010 that

Video release prompts FBI prison investigation:
Critics claim the privately run Idaho Correctional Center uses inmate-on-inmate violence



Jessie L. Bonner / AP file

Former inmate Hanni Elabed is shown during a July 26 interview in Boise, Idaho. Elabed suffered brain damage and persistent short-term memory loss after he was beaten by another inmate while multiple guards watched at the Idaho prison operated by Corrections Corporation of America.

The surveillance video from the overhead cameras shows Hanni Elabed
being beaten by a fellow inmate in an Idaho prison, managing to bang
on a prison guard station window, pleading for help. Behind the glass,
correctional officers look on, but no one intervenes when Elabed is
knocked unconscious.

No one steps into the cellblock when the attacker sits down to rest,
and no one stops him when he resumes the beating.

Videos of the attack obtained by The Associated Press show officers
watching the beating for several minutes. The footage is a key piece
of evidence for critics who claim the privately run Idaho Correctional
Center uses inmate-on-inmate violence to force prisoners to snitch on
their cellmates or risk being moved to extremely violent units.

On Tuesday, hours after the AP published the video, the top federal
prosecutor in Idaho told the AP that the FBI has been investigating
whether guards violated the civil rights of inmates at the prison,
which is run by the Corrections Corporation of America.

What is the inmates’ nickname for this CCA-run prison?
Gladiator school.

There is a lot more in

the article.

-jsq