Jackson Free Press

A city councilman who used to be a lawyer and lobbyist for David Watkins and some of his firms made a motion Tuesday to allow the mayor to negotiate payments with the Watkins' firm Retro Metro for needed computer cabling in new city offices at Metrocenter Mall. Councilman Quentin Whitwell, Ward 1, says he no longer represents Watkins and denied that he had any conflict of interest in the Metrocenter project.

Whitwell said he has previously disclosed that he had done some work for Watkins and the Farish Street Group, he told the Jackson Free Press. He engaged in that work before he was elected to City Council Feb. 15, 2011, he said. "That relationship, I actually ended. It played itself out," he said, with the end coming last fall, at least six months after he was elected to council. "I got clearance from the city attorney's office."

As far as the Metrocenter specifically, Whitwell said he had no input on the previous selection of the property and would get no personal benefit from the new cabling work. "This infrastructure is stalling the city government," he said. "They need to be able to get on a computer and get work done." He joked that city employees couldn't be over there just flying paper airplanes.

Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. had told the council in January that the computer cabling would require an additional $250,000. Whitwell made an emergency motion at a special meeting Feb. 6 for the city to pay a supplemental lease at the Metrocenter Mall instead of an upfront, lump-sum payment. His motion died, but it was on Tuesday's agenda for a vote.

A debate over who was responsible for providing computer cabling at new city offices in Metrocenter Mall began last summer, Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. told the Jackson City Council Tuesday, Feb. 7. The mayor said the city had put too much fiat and too much faith in developer Retro Metro to make it happen. City Attorney Pieter Teeuwissen told the council both sides assumed the other would take care of technical wiring.

"It was never fully flushed out on either side," Teeuwissen said. He stressed that moving some offices to the mall was a sound business decision that will save the city money. Even if the employees moved to a different site, any building would still need computer cabling. The cabling wasn't in the developer's specifications before now because it involves proprietary technology, Teeuwissen said.

The city will move 300 employees into the old Belk store at Metrocenter by the end of March after developer Retro Metro fits the space with computer cabling. The cost of the cabling, $250,000, will be spread out over time. The city will make an initial payment of $50,000 or less, then make monthly payments on the remaining amount over five years. The city had already approved spending $2.5 million on the Metrocenter space.

While the negotiated and amended motion to pay for the cabling passed the council, two voted against it: Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba and Ward 5 Councilman Charles Tillman. When the city hires a developer to create offices in an existing building, Tillman said, that building should be ready to meet the city's needs. Tillman also mentioned that he had heard of problems with the cabling during the summer.

Before the vote, Ward 6 Councilman Tony Yarber spoke. "There was poor planning on both sides of the street. Both parties have paid," he said. "Tell people the truth. Where were the IT folk who know this?" No one provided a direct response during the meeting.

The city will audit Retro Metro's expenses within 30 days of the city moving in, the mayor said. This is a normal procedure.

A reader of the Jackson Free Press questioned in an email Councilman Quentin Whitwell's connection to Retro Metro and its parent firm, Watkins Partners.

"Anyone who is going to try a gotcha game with me is barking up the wrong tree," Whitwell said. "I take very seriously the issue of conflicts of interest and ethics. I had a thriving business prior to being elected to this part-time role."

Whitwell is a founding member of The Talon Group. That web page is down today. The Mississippi Secretary of State shows that his past clients have included Advantage Capital Management Corp., Connections Academy, Mississippi Mortgage Bankers Association, Treasure Bay Casino and Wigley and Culp Inc.