Detroit Sludge Hauling Deal Up to Snuff?

[Russix]

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news...-20110831-wpms

By CHARLIE LEDUFF
WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com
myFOXdetroit.com - Sludge. Human waste. Who gets to handle it is the million dollar question.

Remember Synagro, the company that greased more fingers in Detroit than a short order cook? It's the scandal that rocked Detroit city hall, sent Monica Conyers to federal prison and threatens to send disgraced former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his daddy Bernard to lengthy prison stays themselves.

Synagro is gone. But you would think the city would be extremely careful and cautious when it came to the picking the next sludge hauler. All the T's crossed? All the I’s dotted? Right?

Wrong.

Watch my video report above. Edited and shot by Matt Phillips>>

Unbelievable. Both the mayor’s office and the city council – bent over backwards to give Bankston Construction the $47 million contract – despite state law, city law and custom.

Despite tax liens, law suits, lack of insurance and bonds and a credit score of 2 out of 100, Bankston got the deal. And remember, the president of the company Vince Bankston, is a three time drunk driver and is not even licensed to haul himself.

How can this be with the feds crawling all over the Water and Sewerage Department ? How can this be when a federal judge has been overseeing the Water and Sewer Department since 1979?

What’s more, I found out that Bankston also has a deal worth up $2.2 million to rent the Water Department a front end loader machine for four years.

So I made a call to John Deere. Turns out a brand-new-top-of-the-line front end loader costs just $200,000. With the rest of the money we could purchase new police cruisers, hire new cops and put a lid on the bloody East Side.

But Mayor Bing is not listening. He would not comment for my story. Nor would anybody from city council. Nor any suburban chieftain, even though the suburbs get their water from the city and our water rates just got jacked-up a dime.

Instead, I was given his Chief Procurement Officer Andre DuPerry [[a 31-year veteran of General Motors). As you saw in the piece, DuPerry refused to speak on camera. What you didn’t see was DuPerry looking at me down his nose.

“I wouldn’t expect a media personality to understand all this,” he said, his voice with scorn.

I understand all right. The nightmare of Kilpatrick passed into dawn. Bing was standing there promising a new day. But all this occurred under Bing’s watch, with Bing’s people running the show.

Where’s the dawn? When does the light shine through city government. Because we’re dying out here

I came across this as I was doing some research on the PLD as the last remaining streetlight has started flickering and exhibiting abnormal behavior.

One question: Has anyone else besides Mr. LeDuff investigated this?

[Gannon]

Great catch.

This should be trumpeted from the rooftops...Mayor Bong is slowly becoming Bung to me with this issue revealing the lack of leadership. How long will this idiocy be tolerated?!


2.2 million to rent a front-loader...the kickbacks from that deal alone would seal enough lips to keep corruption secure in the water and sewer department for some time.


No Cheers on this one...

[lukabottle]

Appalling! Thanks for sharing. Hopefully there is more follow up on this story.

On a side note, the presentation of the story is obnoxious. Is this what news is like in Metro Detroit? I have been in Montreal pursuing a Master Degree and haven't owned a television in years, even when I lived in Detroit. No wonder my relatives hate on Detroit so much. They watch the news every evening.