MCDP President Jerry Frazier

By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher

Marion County Attorney Joe Shepard has responded to a public records request that was seeking the salary amount for the head of a local taxpayer-funded economic development organization.

The Marion County Informer filed the records request last week seeking the salary for Jerry Frazier, who is the executive director of the Marion County Economic Development District and the president of the Marion County Development Partnership.

In his response to the records request, Shepard stated, “Mr. Frazier provides three distinct professional management services as follows: Manager of the Marion County Economic Development District (MCEDD), which owns industrial parks and buildings; manager of the Marion County Development Partnership (MCDP), which is the economic development and chamber of commerce organization of this community; and also, Mr. Frazier provides oversight of the Marion County Subdivision Regulations. These professional services are provided by Mr. Frazier for an annual fee of $85,000.”

Shepard also stated in his response to the records request, “Mr. Frazier is not a salaried employee of Marion County Mississippi, the city of Columbia, Mississippi, or any governmental entities of Marion County, as well as the Marion County Development Partnership. Nor does Mr. Frazier receive any employment benefits normally associated with salaried employees, such as retirement, insurance, FICA, taxes etc., from any governmental agency or the Marion County Development Partnership.”

MCDP Office

According to the 2009-2010 MCEDD budget, the county contributed $100,000 to the MCDP for “operating expense” and $96,000 to the MCEDD for “operating expense.” The city of Columbia also gives the MCDP $40,000 annually, said City Clerk Donna McKenzie. Other than funding from the city and county, the only other money the MCDP receives is from its 250-260 members, which include local businesses, Frazier has said.

According to the MCDP Web site, there are two other MCDP employees: Vice President- Chamber of Commerce Division Carolyn Burton and Administrative Assistant Angela Harper.

The Marion County Informer filed a separate records request with Frazier last week asking that he provide a detailed line-item breakdown of how the taxpayer money is used in the MCDP and MCEDD, but county officials refused to provide the information. Andrew Foxworth, counsel for the MCDP, responded via certified letter today to that records request, saying the MCDP is not subject to the Mississippi Public Records Act because it is not a public body.

Foxworth responded to the request stating, “The MCDP is not a division or entity of the state, the city or any subdivision thereof. The MCDP was not created by the Constitution or by any law, executive order, ordinance or resolution. The MCDP is a private non-profit entity. Therefore, the MCDP does not appear to fall within the definition of a ‘public body’ as set out by the Act. As a result, the MCDP would not be subject to the terms of the Act.”

The 2010-2011 proposed MCEDD budget also asks that the county contribute $96,000 to the MCEDD for “operating expense” and $100,000 to the MCDP for “operating expense.” It is unclear if the Marion County Board of Supervisors will provide that funding for the MCDP and MCEDD in the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

Marion County Attorney Joe Shepard

By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher

Marion County officials have refused to explain how taxpayer money is specifically used at a local economic development district.

County Attorney Joe Shepard responded via certified letter today to a records request filed by the Marion County Informer last week. The records request asked that Marion County Economic Development District Executive Director Jerry Frazier reveal in detail what the $96,000 in county taxpayer money pays for at the MCEDD.

The 2009-2010 MCEDD budget states that the county gave the MCEDD $96,000 for “Operating expense for MCEDD (management, professional services, etc.)” The Informer’s records request asked that Frazier provide a detailed breakdown of line items that the $96,000 pays for.

In response to the records request, Shepard, counsel for the MCEDD, stated, “The Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983 does not require, nor does it in any way imply that a public body or employee is under any obligation to spend time and resources explaining to you a document that you already have in your possession.”

The Informer’s records request also asked for a detailed breakdown of how $100,000 in county taxpayer money was used at the private non-profit Marion County Development Partnership. Columbia City Clerk Donna McKenzie said the city also gives the MCDP $40,000 annually. Shepard stated in his response that he was only responding to the portion of the records request dealing with the MCEDD.

The Informer filed a separate records request last week asking that Jerry Frazier, who is the president of the MCDP and the executive director of the MCEDD, reveal his salary since both organizations he is over receive taxpayer funds. The Informer has yet to receive a response from the request asking for Frazier’s salary.

The proposed 2010-2011 MCEDD budget once again asks that the county give the MCEDD $96,000 for “operating expense” and the MCDP $100,000 for “operating expense.”

Marion County Supervisor Raymon Rowell

By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher

“My salary is a public record, and the rest of the county workers’ salaries are public record.”

That’s how County Supervisor Raymon Rowell responded this afternoon when the Informer asked him if he thinks Marion County Development Partnership President Jerry Frazier’s salary should be released to the public.

“Anybody who wants to know my salary is free to know that,” said Rowell. “That’s basically the way I see it.”

Rowell would not respond with a direct yes or no answer on whether he thinks Frazier’s salary should be released to the public. Rowell said he does not know Frazier’s salary.

Rowell also would not comment when the Informer asked him if he thinks the county should once again fund the MCDP with $100,000 in fiscal year 2010-2011, which begins Oct. 1.

Board of Supervisors President Calvin Newsom could not be reached for comment to ask whether he thinks Frazier’s salary should be made public. Supervisors Randy Dyess and Lloyd Fortenberry also could not be reached for comment.

The Marion County Informer filed a formal public records request this morning asking that Frazier’s salary be disclosed since the MCDP has received taxpayer funding. Frazier said the MCDP received $100,000 in county funds last year. In addition, the city of Columbia gives the MCDP $40,000 annually, said City Clerk Donna McKenzie.

Other than funding from the city and county, the only other money the MCDP receives is from its 250-260 members, said Frazier. The MCDP is a private non-profit economic development organization that works to attract jobs and industry to Marion County, Frazier has said.

Frazier has said that the county actually funds the Marion County Economic Development District, which then passes the $100,000 through to the MCDP. Frazier is the executive director of the MCEDD.

The Informer has published two other articles on this matter that can be read by clicking these links: http://bit.ly/cUX97v       http://bit.ly/bpZBBr

MCDP President Jerry Frazier

By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher

The president of the Marion County Development Partnership has been asked to divulge his salary amount to the public.

MCDP President Jerry Frazier was presented today with a formal public records request from the Marion County Informer asking that he release his salary.

Frazier refused to speak with the Marion County Informer this morning.

The records request asks Frazier to release any earnings he receives from the MCDP and the Marion County Economic Development District, which he is the executive director of.

Frazier told the Informer on Monday that the MCDP received $100,000 in county funding last year. The city of Columbia also provides the MCDP with $40,000 a year, said City Clerk Donna McKenzie. The only other funding the MCDP receives is from its 250-260 members, which include local businesses, Frazier said.

According to the MCEDD preliminary budget for the upcoming 2010-2011 fiscal year, the county is being asked again to commit $100,000 for MCDP “operating expense” and $96,000 for MCEDD “operating expense.”

According to Frazier, the county actually funds the MCEDD, which then passes the $100,000 through to the MCDP. The MCEDD contracts with the MCDP for economic development services, Frazier said.

Frazier has said that the MCDP is a private non-profit organization that works to attract jobs and industry to Marion County. Since the MCDP and MCEDD both receive taxpayer funds, the Marion County Informer believes that Frazier’s salary amount should be released to the public.

Tim Magee, who serves on the MCDP and MCEDD Board of Directors, said he does not think it would be “fair” to release Frazier’s salary. Magee added that it is up to Frazier if he wants to release his salary.

MCDP board member Rene Dungan declined comment, and member Donald Hales referred the Informer to Board Attorney Andrew Foxworth, who could not be reached for comment.

Other MCDP Board members, Jonathan Jones, Jay Carney, Todd Pittman, Robin Sanderson and J. Todd Watts, were not immediately available for comment.

According to the MCEDD letterhead, the MCEDD also has a Board of Directors that consists of William Pittman, Jay Carney, Donald Hales, Tim Magee, and Todd Watts.

The Mississippi Public Records Act requires that a response to the Informer’s records requests be issued within seven days.

On Tuesday, the Informer reported a story about how the MCDP receives taxpayer money. To read that article click here: http://bit.ly/bpZBBr

To see a copy of the records request for Frazier’s salary click here: Public Records Request

Marion County Development Partnership Office

By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher

The private non-profit Marion County Development Partnership received $100,000 in county funding last year, according to the organization’s president.

In addition to the county funds, the MCDP also receives $40,000 a year from the city of Columbia, said City Clerk Donna McKenzie.

The MCDP is the local economic development organization that works to attract industry and jobs to Marion County, said the organization’s president, Jerry Frazier. Other than the funding from the city and the county, the only other money the MCDP receives is from its 250-260 members, said Frazier. The MCDP “consists of members of the private and business sector of our community,” Frazier wrote in a letter to the Marion County Informer this month.

The county actually funds the Marion County Economic Development District, which then passes the $100,000 through to the MCDP, Frazier said. The MCEDD contracts with MCDP for economic development services, Frazier said. Frazier is also the executive director of the MCEDD.

Frazier said the $100,000 that the county provides to the MCDP is for operating expenses. It is unclear what the money provided by the city and county specifically pays for at the MCDP. The Marion County Informer has filed a public records request with Frazier to find out what the taxpayer money pays for at the non-profit MCDP.

MCDP President Jerry Frazier

The Marion County Informer about two weeks ago requested a copy of the MCEDD’s fiscal year 2010-2011 preliminary budget that was recently submitted to the Board of Supervisors. Board of Supervisors President Calvin Newsom refused to release the budget, saying it was just preliminary.

The preliminary budget was turned over by the county last week after the Marion County Informer filed a public records request for the document. Even though it is just a preliminary budget, the Informer still believed it was a public record because the MCEDD is funded with taxpayer money.

According to County Comptroller Mary McKenzie, the county funded MCEDD with $359,000 for fiscal year 2009-2010, which ends Sept. 30.

The preliminary budget for 2010-2011 proposes that the county fund MCEDD with $314,000 or $504,898. The proposed budget states that the county will need to fund the MCEDD with the $504,898 if payment on bonds for the former Wellstone Apparel building is passed through the MCEDD. If those bond payments are not passed through MCEDD, the budget request is only $314,000.

In previous years, MCEDD received money from rent payments on the former Wellstone building, but that revenue stream has been lost since facility was vacated last year. Frazier said the MCDP is working diligently to market the Wellstone building to find another tenant, and efforts include advertising in national magazines. The MCEDD owns the former Wellstone building.

It is unclear how much revenue the MCEDD was receiving from rent on the building, but a 2009 budget document states, “In the past the MCEDD has bundled the $314,000 from Marion County and the $176,400 received from rent to pay: MCEDD operating expenses; the $192,000 annual debt service on the building; and other designated debt services.”

Now that the MCEDD is no longer receiving rent payments, the county apparently has to make up for that lost revenue. The proposed 2010-2011 budget states that a bond payment of $190,498 will be owed on the former Wellstone building in 2011. According to a payment schedule on the building, a principal balance of $1.76 million is owed on the facility.

The 2011 MCEDD proposed budget also includes $29,580 for MCDP office building annual debt; $49,914 for CAP loan on building leased to Wellstone Apparel, LLC; $96,000 operating expenses for MCEDD (management, professional services, etc.); and $13,500 for utilities to secure Wellstone building.

It is unclear what the $96,000 that the county provides for operating expenses at the MCEDD specifically pays for. The Marion County Informer has filed a records request with Frazier to determine what the money goes toward.

A sign advertising the former Wellstone Apparel building is displayed at the facility’s entrance.

By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher

Local economic development officials are marketing a vacant factory building on U.S. Highway 98 in Columbia in hopes of bringing a new industry here.

This morning at the county Board of Supervisors meeting, Marion County Development Partnership Executive Director Jerry Frazier presented a plan to market the former Wellstone Apparel building.

Wellstone, which manufactured uniforms for the military and Postal Service, vacated the building about a year ago. Frazier said the 146,000-square-foot facility can be modified for many different uses including distribution and assembly.

MCDP Executive Director Jerry Frazier

Frazier is utilizing several different strategies to market the building including sending information about the facility to approximately 250 site consultants across the United States. Site consultants locate facilities for companies, Frazier noted.

In addition, economic development departments within Mississippi Power and the state Electric Power Association will also inform potential business prospects about the facility, Frazier said. The Mississippi Development Authority, which recruits businesses to Mississippi, is helping market the building as well.

A challenge is that there are many similar building across the United States, said Frazier. However, there are many advantages to the building, which is owned by the Marion County Development Authority and was built in the mid 1990s.

The former Wellstone Apparel building is 146,000 square feet.

Location is one of the bigger things working in the building’s favor with it being on a four-lane highway and near major interstates. The building’s high ceilings can accommodate many kinds of businesses, Frazier noted.

The mailer sent to the site consultants states many of the building’s advantages including: Strategically located to serve the Gulf Coast region; access to 55 percent of the U.S  population in one day’s truck drive; access to five seaports in a two-hour drive; 40-minute drive to colleges and universities; 30 minutes from booming economic and commercial activity.

Other advantages listed on the mailer are: Existing overhead electrical rail supply and overhead air supply easily adaptable for various operations; tax exemptions for being county owned; local and state agencies willing to customize the building for specific criteria; low-cost operating area; sprinkled; air conditioned; labor draw from six counties; 6,000 square feet of office space wired for network.

Business owners visit after the monthly Catchy Friday meeting. (photo by Angela Harper)

Marion County Development Partnership Chairman Rene Dungan said the business owners are “what Columbia is all about.”

Pine Belt Mental Healthcare Resources Administrator Amy Cotton spoke on behalf of Community Cares, a new local social program that offers drug and alcohol rehab as well as psychological counseling for children between the ages of 10-18.

Community Cares is funded by a federal grant and accepts Medicaid. Those without Medicaid can have their services paid for with a grant Community Cares received.

Ann Sanders of Ann’s Embroidery was next to speak and she said that her business offers more than just embroidering. Her business can personalize many different items including coffee cups, key chains and book marks.

“We take your ideas and make them a reality,” said Sanders. “You never know what you’ll find until you walk through the door and ask.”

Chiropractor Holly Fink spoke next and said she has been practicing in Columbia for 22 years. She noted that she is a specialist in the spine and that the business itself will have been in Columbia for 50 years in May.

John Hales, Head Start/Early Head Start director for Pearl River Valley Opportunity, spoke and said in June the PRVO will be 45 years old and now has a “footprint across 18 counties.”

PRVO has a 24-member board with representation for the public, private sector and poor, said Hales. Hales noted that expansions to Head Start are coming in 2010.

Steve Mercier, operations manager for WCJU and WJDR, said his stations carry local sports as well as Saints and Hornets games. Paula Matthews, owner of Designing Gallery LLC, said she expects her store to be fully opened by the first of the year. Custom made orders for one-of-a-kind T-shirt quilts, quilting classes and quilt patterns will be available at Designing Gallery. Prints of her husband’s paintings will also be available at the store, she added.

D.L Wesley, owner of Wesley’s Hobby Honey, said the state beekeepers convention was in Columbia in November and a huge success with 157 people registered from 10 states as far away as North Dakota.

The next Catchy Friday meeting is the last Friday in January at 7:45 a.m.