Wednesday, August 6, 2014

JMAA board gives itself Iphones and Ipads

The Board of Trustees for the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority voted in April to provide cellphones and Ipads to all board members.  The board voted for the perk even though  JMAA was forced to raise landing fees in March and revenues lag 2% behind budgeted projections.  Previous boards did not provide this benefit to board members. The board passed the resolution at the end of the April meeting:


Upon Motion by Commissioner Hartley, Seconded by Commissioner Reed and adopted on the affirmative vote of a majority of all Commissioners, with Chairman Henley voting “nay”, it is RESOLVED that

WHEREAS, the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority ("Authority") acknowledges that Airport Authority Commissioners will have the need for a cellular telephone or portable communication device (collectively "Portable Communication Device") and internet services for telephone

calls, emails and internet access due to the nature of their responsibilities to the Authority. RESOLVED that the Authority shall I) develop a written policy and guidelines as to Portable Communications Devices and internet services to the Commissioners in such final form as may be then approved and adopted by the Board and ii) procure such devices and internet service as may be identified through the purchasing function of the Authority in consultation with the Commissioners.

Yeas: Hartley, Stallworth, Stewart, Reed
Nays: Henley
JJ obtained the invoices through a public records request. JMAA ordered five Iphones (5S series) and two Ipads (Ipad mini with retina display and 4g coverage) from Verizon.  It paid $199 for the first three Iphones and $99 for the next two Iphones (Total: $495).  Each Ipad mini costs $429 (Total: $858).  The purchase order cost $1,353.


The Ipads were assigned to Chairman James Henley and Vice-Chairman Evenlyn Reed.  Mr. Henley told JJ that the smart phones and Ipads were needed as "board members get phone calls, emails with attachments all the time, minutes to review.  Alot of information is transferred.  I think its a worthwhile expense for the board to communicate with management and review documents in a timely manner." 

The monthly coverage for the board members includes unlimited text messaging, unlimited mobile to mobile minutes, and unlimited data. Four board members traveled to an industry air show in Farnborough, England in July.  The invoices show several board members obtained global coverage for the duration of the trip.   The monthly costs* (actual months are not specified so "#'s" will be used) are:

Reverend Jeffrey Stallworth
Month #1: $50
Month #2: $50
Month #3: $50
Total: $150

Evelyn Reed
Month #1:  $132. (Ipad),  $199 (phone. Includes $124 for roaming charges)
Month #2: $40 (Ipad), $50 (phone)
Total: $421

Lawanda Harris
Month #1: $40
Month #2: $319 (Includes $245 for roaming charges.  Global coverage for July. See pages 78-79 of docs below.).
4G Hotspot coverage: $64
Month #3: $50
Month #4: $50
Total: $523

Vernon Hartley
Month #1: $154 (Includes prepaid global coverage.)
Month #2: $104 (Inculdes $30 in global roaming and $30 in roaming charges)
Month #3: $50
Month #4: $50
Total: $358

James Henley
Month #1: $154 (Ipad & global coverage), $171 (phone, $70 for roaming charges)
Total: $325

Mr. Henley said he only used the services for the Farnborough trip and has not used the phone or coverage since the trip as he didn't have a need for them.

The total cost spent on monthly service since May is $1,777.  


*The invoices will show other purchases for Shawn Hanks.  Mr. Hanks heads the IT department at JMAA and handles the IT purchases for JMAA.

Kingfish note: That was the  news, now for the opinion.  The loss of Southwest hurt JMAA across the board.  Revenues are lagging.  JMAA has been forced to raise landing fees.  Construction has been delayed. There is simply no excuse for board members to splurge with this perk.  Most business professionals have unlimited coverage on their smartphones (except for data).   This is not a county board of supervisors and there is an executive staff in place.  The amount of money spent on this perk might be small but this board approval was still irresponsible. 


21 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is because of raising landing fees is how they now have the money to buy the bling.

Box Lunch Fan said...

I commented two weeks ago on the perks...Flying around the country and sitting at the big table ordering catered lunches. Now Iphones and computers.

Nothing but perks being sucked up by those who feast at the teats of taxpayers. What's next? Let me suggest automobiles with JMAA along the rocker panel in small grey letters. You just never know when they're gonna have to assemble for an emergency meeting and they do need current transportation and they need to be visible to law enforcement so they can negotiate traffic and get through traffic barriers set up at the airport.

Blue Kojak lights to slap on top of the car, while en route, will also be let out for bid with the contract, of course, going to a relative of Stokes. These lights will cost about $49.95 but will each have an annual maintenance contract charge of $499.

Anonymous said...

So, the bills for these phones -- including the call detail records -- would be public records and available to all, right?

Kingfish said...

Should be.

Anonymous said...

The websites visited by the devices should be public record also, right?

So- the question becomes: which one of these board members is surfing the most porn sites OR online ads for prostitutes?

Anonymous said...

No different than the Madison County BOS. They all have county supplied Ipads, Iphones, Chevy Tahoes and Z71 4wd trucks. Small lettering on the rocker panels, used for perosnal use. You have an EMA director that wears a gun and wants to be a deputy sheriff more than he wants to be EMA director. I could go on but whats the use. WOuldnt do any good.

Anonymous said...

EVERYONE already has a cell phone, so this is BS. I would like someone to check to see if they cancelled their personal cell phones, and are they using the new "business" phones for personal business.

I call BS.

Anonymous said...

Who do we put pressure on, to replace this group, with PROFESSIONALS who are EXPERIENCED and RELEVANT to the Board they are sitting on? Don't really care what the color of their skin is (although it does appear someone does if you canvass the current board appointees), what is important is that we have people who have experience, relevance and are professional.

This is kind of like SBA ---- it's staffed with people who have no experience running businesses (in this case airports).

Bottom line --- where can the pressure be applied? Thanks KF for shining a light on this........

Kingfish said...

I don't have a problem with the Supervisors having phones supplied by the county. They have more authority than an alderman or councilman. I've seen them take quite a few calls from constituents.

The vehicles? No reason for them to have them. There are some tasks that require them to travel their district and inspect the roads and bridges. However, they should be able to just check out a car and turn it back in for that task.

EOC Directors are usually certified law enforcement personnel and authorized to carry firearms. Both Ricky Moore and Joey Perkins of Hinds County are certified as was Larry Fisher.

Anonymous said...

@ 7:07am
You are correct. Google or search the Mississippi SOR
Sex Offender Registry- Stallworth, Jeffery A
He's a convicted sex offender.

Anonymous said...

So a supervisor who needs to use a car - but say lives in Ridgeland - should drive all the way to Canton, check out a car, drive back to Ridgeland and do whatever is needed in his district, then drive back to Canton and back home...just to use a county car?? That seems like an extreme misuse of time.

I'm not saying they need vehicles at their disposal all day every day either but perhaps a car allowance or reimbursed expenses would be a better option?

Keepin' An Eye Out said...

Hmmm. 7:07 is right? But, 7:07 didn't mention any of what you just posted. It's always good to be reminded of Stallworth's daliances. He was convicted, as I recall, of forcible rape or at least sexual assault on a woman whose trust he gained. She allowed him to, ah, sleep-over and he overstayed his welcome. And he took certain liberties with his temporary land-lordress. Maybe he learned that from Thad.

Richard Benton said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

These so-called board members should be investigated and interviewed as to their intent. Them looking for scape goats and trying to run the day to day operations of the airport (hiring, firing, etc)Telling administration who they want in key positions, etc. Didn't they fire the 30 year board attorneys, property/casualty company that had done business for over 20 years, CPA company and went to all African American companies with absolutely no knowledge of airport business? If you want to know why the airport is going down hill rapidly, look at the board who is flying it into the ground. pardon the pun!

Anonymous said...

Kingfish please look into the senior management salaries(CEO,COO ,CFO and the retired CAO) all of the chiefs.... It's going to blow your mind....Then you will see why the airport is what it is

Kingfish said...

10:02: You make some good points.

Anonymous said...

Since they are pissed at Southwest for pulling out of Jackson, they kicked all Southwest employees which are locals trying to make a living and circulate money here, out of the parking lot, while letting all other airlines stay,.AKA, ATLAS, the Guard unit, Meridian Naval unit, Fed Ex..many more.....wait, they gave us a "package" now we can park a mile away and pay $1800 dollars, Wow, their monthly cost for their phone is paid for. Jackson will suffer like the Southwest employees, the board cares about the board, WE JACKSON RESIDENTS will suffer due to the board doing what benefits them and not WE JACKSON people and residents, no airline will come to this market.. We will all pay, I promise. We SWA employees told them we would pay double to stay..... The said no. Sound like a sound business decision to you? Now we will park off the airport property! They'll get nothing? Hummmmm smart right

Anonymous said...

I believe it was the Honorable Harvey Johnson who put Stalworth on this board, but it coulda been Melton. No matter. He was a convict when he was appointed.

Convict or not, preacher or not, new church or old church....he's still not qualified. But, it's the same old same old. "We in charge and we gonna have all the jobs, all the honorary positions, all the skreet names, all the chairs, all the ceremonial gowns, all the front parkin' spots and all the chicken wings.

Anonymous said...

Maybe everyone from board members, executives, and all employees need to go. It appears the employees are running to board members to get there way and board listening to them and not managing what they should. Any competent board stays out of employee matters and don't go behind peoples back to try to stir stuff up and dictate to executives how to run the day to day. They need to focus on airline service and affordable rates. Right now I'm flying out of New Orleans just because of what appears to be an all black board trying to run what use to be a very well run airport!

Kingfish said...

I don't consider Mr. Stallworth to be a felon as the crime in Maryland was a misdemeanor.

Stands Corrected said...

OK, so he's a misdemeanor convict, not a felon convict. He's still a convict and, worse, has to register as a sex offender. Maybe Kingfisher's point is that he is not quite as unqualified for the board since his crime was not quite as 'bad'.

On another note, as has been said a thousand times on the blog, THIS is impossible to accomplish on this board, "Comment deleted. This comment has been removed by the author.
August 6, 2014 at 12:09 PM"



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