MORRIS COURT PARK: CITY'S GROSS INCOMPETENCE

INTRODUCTION

This is the fourth article on Mayor Hayward's and Council member Cannada-Wynn efforts to close Morris Court Park, deed it back to the Area Housing Commission, and deprive children of a safe, clean park to play in after-school, on weekends, and during the summer. Their efforts are unconscionable.  The City awarded a contract to a company that was not a certified construction company run by a man who was not a certified contractor.  Second, given the simplicity of the structures built, the City wildly overpaid.

The first three articles can be found here: "UWF's Parks Assessment Study Reconsidered;" "Cannada-Wynn Abandons Children in Morris Court;" and, "Cannada-Wynn Coverup on Morris Court Park?."

The "Assessment" article determined that the Mayor is using the University of West Florida's study to close community parks.  However, not only is the UWF assessment flawed, but it's claims about the unsustainability of the city's parks is unsubstantiated.  The UWF omits any discussion of class and race related to city parks.  And, as will be shown in this article, the City's mayor, and directors of Public Works and Parks & Recreation spend money very unwisely.

The second article observed that Cannada-Wynn had been misleading her constitutents for several months, assuring them she was concerned about the park while she worked with the mayor's office and the Area Housing Commission (AHC) to close the park and return it to the AHC.

The third article noted that Cannada-Wynn has refused to divulge how many meetings she had with the Area Housing Commission and when those meetings took place. She has not divulged that information in response to a Public Records Request, nor after I told the City Council at a Boyd Forum that her information was not forthcoming, and after a second Public Records Request.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that the mayor's claim, based on the UWF assessment, that the city's park system is "unsustainable" is highly questionable.  In fact, the mayor and the two key directors demonstrate they are grossly incompetent in the execution of the contract to improve Morris Court Park and over-spent taxpayer's money.

NO DUE DILIGENCE WORTHY OF NAME

Had city officials conducted fifteen minutes of due diligence they would not have awarded a contract of $90,510 on March 27, 2013, to a man, James A. Wolfe, and a construction company, Wolfe Construction, that did not have a contractor's license and was not a certified construction company.

In fact, they awarded that contract to improve three city parks to a man who had only filed a fictitious name document with the Secretary of State on February 20, 2013.  Two days later, he filed for a business tax account with Escambia County.  That business tax account was closed on January 9, 2014.

Neither "James A. Wolfe" nor "James Wolfe" nor "Wolfe Construction" at Nine Mile Road were certified contractors, according to records at the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation.

What explains how a man without a contractor's license and without a certified construction company, can get a contract for $90,510 to improve three city parks?  The first thought is rank incompetence by the mayor and his directors of Public Works and Parks & Recreation.  The second thought is that someone in the city government was a witting or unwitting accomplice in this negligent activity.

Not only did the business tax account expire in January 2014, but the Mayor and the Department of Public Works continue, as of 2017, to include Wolfe Construction at Nine Mile Road as a bonafide vendor in contacts worth millions of dollars.  Wolfe Construction is listed in the February 2017 contract for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program Baywoods Gully Phase II, but also the April 2017 contracts for the Bayou Chico Stormwater Treatment Enhancement Project and the Pensacola Airport Fuel Farm Road Reconstruction.

Wolfe Construction has not been in business for over three years.  In fact, the only valid thing about Wolfe Construction is that its fictitious name filing is still valid.  Can the mayor and the director claim they are doing due diligence?    Of course not.  This is rank incompetence.

And, when it comes to university professors opining about what is sustainable and unsustainable, perhaps they should first consider how much the mayor and the Director of Public Works wasted just on the improvements for Morris Court Park.

CITY WILDLY OVER-PAID FOR MODEST IMPROVEMENTS

The invoice for Morris Court Park was for $42,236.  For that price, Wolfe Construction built two dugouts, one shade structure over benches, two picnic structures, and a new sidewalk (5' x 120').  Very simple construction.

Wolfe Construction bought, for all three parks, materials worth $5,533, of which $2,192 was for Morris Court Park.  Wolfe Construction did not pay one penny for those materials.  The costs of those materials were deducted from the final payment of the contract.  Home Depot and American Concrete Supply billed the Department of Public Works directly.  All Wolfe Construction had to do was distribute the costs between the three parks.

How much profit did "James A. Wolfe" and "Wolfe Construction" make on the Morris Court Park improvement?  Probably around $25,000 for that one park.

If you use the standard accounting calculations from the Business Economics website run by a certified public accountant, the Final Net Profit after direct and indirect costs, overhead, and taxes was $3848.

The calculations using the Business Economics model for a residential contractor looks like this: Adjusted Contract Price is $41,640. Cost of Construction is $24,884 (60%), though in this case that is wildly inflated.  Direct Margin of 40% is $16,656.  Indirect Cost, 21% of ACP is $8,744.  Gross Overhead, 7% of ACP is $2,195.  Gross Profit Before Taxes, 12% of ACP is $4,997.  Notice that these three components add up to the Direct Margin of 40%.  Taxes (23%) on Gross Profit is $1,149.  That leaves a Final Net Profit of $3,848.

But, Wolfe Construction does not appear to be a normal construction company with investments in equipment and trucks.  Wolfe Construction appears to have been a one-man operation run out of an office on Nine Mile Road.  At worst, Wolfe had to cover office rent, telephone, and maybe a receptionist for a few months.  Wolfe Construction could have subcontracted the concrete work (four bases and sidewalk) and the five wooden structures.  There were no materials costs.

For all three parks, using the Business Economics calculations, the Final Net Profit would have been $8,363.  But, the other two parks added just four shade structures and two more sidewalks.  So, out of $90,510, Wolfe Construction could be looking at a total profit of $54,000 for all three parks.

Now, given how little due diligence the City of Pensacola did in awarding a contract to Wolfe Construction and given how little work was actually probably done by Wolfe Construction, a profit of $54,000 appears excessive.

So, before City officials and university professors start talking about what is "sustainable," the City Council ought to investigate how much the departments of Public Works and Parks & Recreation wasted giving a contract to an unqualified company that may or may not have had a witting or unwitting partner in city government.

And, two further points.

One, the building of the two dugouts was a complete waste of money on two grounds.  For one thing, baseball has not been played at Morris Court Park for at least a decade, according to informed sources.  And, for another thing, dugouts are intended to protect players from batted and thrown balls.  These two dugouts do neither.  The players are completely unprotected.

The two dugouts:

DUGOUT: FIRST BASE SIDE

DUGOUT: THIRD BASE SIDE

Second, no one in Parks & Recreation bothered to ask the residents and the children who use the park what they wanted in terms of a facility upgrade.  We know that the City did not spend money on equipment, as the City Council specified.  Pictures of the basketball court and the playground equipment show wear and tear.  In the case of the playground equipment, it should have been replaced.  In the case of the basketball courts, they should have been repaired.

And, here are pictures of the two other picnic/shade structures with concrete bases and the shade structure over benches that need to be repaired or replaced so that children and adults do not rip their clothes while sitting on them.

White Privilege and Racial Microaggressions

On May 18, 2017, Dr. Julie Patton of the University of West Florida's Department of Social Work's Race & Reconciliation project hosted a talk on "White Privilege" by Dr. Chris Cotten.  The talk attracted a capacity crowd at the J. Earle Bowden Building.

Below is the presentation as it happened.

Dr. Julie PATTON and Community Announcements

Introduction of Dr. Chris COTTEN

Dr. Cotten, Part 1

Dr. Cotten, Part 2

Dr. Cotten, Part 3

YouTube Video on Microaggressions

Dr. Cotten, Part 4

Dr. Cotten, Part 5

Dr. Cotten, Part 6

Questions and Answers, Part 1

Questions and Answers, Part 2

Questions and Answers, Part 3

Civil Citations in Florida Circuit 1

On May 13, 2017, the Pensacola chapter of the League of Women Voters held a business meeting at the Pensacola Yacht Club.  The group's Education Committee, headed by Dr. Paula MONTGOMERY, featured Mr. Paul WALLIS, Chief Probation Officer of the 1st Judicial Circuit as guest speaker.  This speech is part of the League of Women Voters pipeline-to-prison project of its Education Committee.

Mr. Wallis has at least 30 years of experience in the criminal justice system, including the last 10 years as Chief Probation Officer for Florida's Judicial Circuit 1.  This circuit includes Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton counties.  Mr. Wallis has served with the Manatee County Sheriff's Office (9 years), the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office (3 years), the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (18 years), as the Assistant Superintendent of Okaloosa Regional Detention Center (3 years), the Superintendent of Escambia Regional Detention Center (4 years), and the Regional Director South Region of Detention Services (10).

The following videos cover the event as it happened.

Introduction: Dr. Paula Montgomery

Mr. Paul Wallis, Chief Probation Officer, Circuit 1

Q&A: Distribution of Citations

Q&A: Status of Students

Q&A: Incentives of Officers

Q&A: Citations in Other States

Q&A: Community Service

Q&A: Fees and Penalties

Q&A: Citations and School Records

Andy Marlette Gift to Speaker

CANNADA-WYNN COVERUP ON MORRIS COURT PARK?

INTRODUCTION

There can be no doubt in the public mind that City of Pensacola Council member Jewel CANNADA-WYNN is covering up her involvement in the proposed transfer of Morris Court Park from the ownership by the City to the Area Housing Commission.  She has apparently refused to disclose the date of her meeting or meetings with the Area Housing Commission.  This refusal of a simple public records request for the date of her known meeting with the head of the Area Housing Commission suggests she will also hide her previous conversations, emails, and meetings with the Mayor's Office regarding the closure and transfer of the beloved park.

Moreover, the neglect of the Morris Court Park extends back to Fiscal Year 2013, when Mayor Ashton apparently directed that the Department of Parks and Recreation not spend the $59,907 that the City Council had budget to improve the equipment and fencing.  So, where was the money spent, if not on Morris Court Park?  Months before Cannada-Wynn had a meeting with the Area Housing Commission (AHC) to transfer the park from the City to the AHC, the Mayor directed that the park be closed to the neighborhood's children.

The City Council and the local media need to begin looking into what looks like a bigger problem than just closing a local park.  This gives off the whiff of a political fix.

BACKGROUND

On April 19, 2017, CJ's Street Report submitted a public records request (W001828-041917) to the City of Pensacola's "Sunshine Center" requesting "all correspondence, text messages, emails, phone calls, and records related to meetings between City Council member Jewel CANNADA-WYNN and the Area Housing Commission regarding Morris Court Park."

The Sunshine Center asked for clarification and I responded on April 22nd with the following response:

On 4/22/2017 5:46:21 PM, drscaminaci@hotmail.com wrote:
On September 16, 2016, Dr. Abe SINGH sent a letter to Mr. Keith WILKINS, Deputy City Administrator, noting Singh's prior phone conversation with Wilkins, and a previous undated meeting with CANNADA-WYNN. The subject of the phone calls and meeting(s) was the Morris Court Park located on J Street and Lloyd Street. That is all the public information that has been disclosed. Surely, Cannada-Wynn knows when she met with the Area Housing Commission. Ask her.

Seven business days later, I wrote the following email to the Sunshine Center:

On 5/2/2017 6:38:10 PM, drscaminaci@hotmail.com wrote:
Have you been able to query Council member Jewel Cannada-Wynn as to all her correspondence, meetings, and phone calls with the Area Housing Commission? How difficult is this task? She knows who and when she interacted with.

On May 9, 2017, the Sunshine Center closed public records request W00128-041917 with three documents: an email from Dr. SINGH, head of the Area Housing Commission, to Mr. Keith WILKINS, the Assistant City Administrator, with an attached letter from Singh to Wilkins that had been previously disclosed at a City Council meeting; and, two Verizon phone bills for her City Council phone (850) 490-4247.

The letter from Dr. Singh to Mr. Wilkins clearly states that prior to September 16, 2016, the date of the letter, that Dr. Singh had previously met with Council member Cannada-Wynn to discuss Morris Court Park.   Dr. Singh wrote:

Now, if Dr. Singh can freely disclose "my previous meeting with...Canada-Wynn [sic]" regarding Morris Court Park, why is Cannada-Wynn failing to disclose the date of this meeting and the substance of this meeting?  What were the prior meetings, emails, or phone conversations that led to this meeting?

There are more moving parts to this closing of Morris Court Park and the proposed transfer of the park from the City to the Area Housing Commission.  

First, it is difficult to believe that Cannada-Wynn originated the idea and took the initiative.  Why?  Because, according to a confidential source, the initiative to close Morris Court Park and lock-out the neighborhood's children came several months prior from the Mayor's Office.

Second, closing the park would trigger the conditional clause in the deed that transferred the land for the park from the Area Housing Commission (Grantor) to the City of Pensacola (Grantee).  The City was bound to "keep and use the property as a playground area for children and shall not use the property for any other purpose without the written consent of the Grantor or its successors or assigns."

Third, and finally, it appears that the Mayor has been planning this for some time.  According to the approved Fiscal Year 2017 budget for the City of Pensacola, on page 124 of the budget, under "Park Improvements" in FY2013, there is a budget of $59,907 for such improvements.  On page 133 of the budget, the City Council specified that improvements were to "Improve equipment, fencing..."  The same is true for the FY2013 budget document.

But, neither the Mayor nor the Department of Parks and Recreation spent that FY2013 money on "equipment, fencing."  We know this because Rick's Blog (Inweekly) reported on Monday, November 14, 2016, that on the previous Saturday they observed first-hand: "On Saturday, Inweekly visited Morris Court. The playground had been chained and padlocked.  A ‘Danger’ signs hung on the gates.  The playground equipment was old and needed repair.  Children were playing kickball in the side yard of home one block north of the park and having to dodge traffic when the ball went into the street.  A parent said the playground had been closed for months" [emphasis added].

CONCLUSION

You put all the pieces together--not spending almost $60,000 on park equipment and fencing in 2013; closing the park months before November 2016; Cannada-Wynn having a meeting with the Area Housing Commission at undisclosed date to discuss transferring the closed park to the AHC; and, the head of the AHC talking to the Assistant City Administrator about accepting the closed park--and you have the makings of a political fix engineered by the Mayor.  Cannada-Wynn appears to be a witting or unwitting pawn in the Mayor's wheelings and dealings.  The losers are her constitutents in District 3, in general, and the many children who need and use Morris Court Park, in particular.