When Alex Reynolds was the chairman of the board of the Muskogee War Memorial Trust Authority, the trust sent out a Request for Proposal to fix a sinkhole endangering the USS Batfish. About eight companies submitted proposals all of them regional or national companies with decades of experience. A small company out of Tulsa, Bison Civil also submitted a response, and the owner just happened to be the half-brother of Alex Reynolds. Unlike state ethics rules, federal ethics rules are much more strict and won't even allow an APPEARANCE of an ethical conflict. Reynolds should have completely withdrawn from the entire RFP process as soon as he found out his brother's company was involved.
I submitted an Open Records Act request asking for all the responses to the RFP. The Trust couldn't find Bison Civil's RFP response (how convenient), but found all the others, although FEMA rules require that such paperwork be maintained. In fact, Reynolds/the board couldn't/wouldn't provide me any information in my Open Records Act request until the city attorney got involved and provided what little they could find. Apparently, the trust doesn't believe in filing cabinets.
Reynolds was on the subcommittee that selected the contractor to fix the sinkhole, along with two of his best friends from the board and another member of the board. Somehow they thought Bison was the most qualified and got the contract along with several other "extensions" to that contract.
No matter how many times I went before the board of trustees pointing out this conflict and what the federal ethics guidelines required, they took no action. This is public proof that the majority of the board of the war memorial trustees had no backbone and couldn't think for themselves or else were afraid too. And if you think Reynolds' example of putting his family's finances ahead of taxpayer's money is just an anomaly in Muskogee, you are sadly mistaken.
I have just emailed the city attorney asking for a copy of FEMA's letter and will post it as soon as it's received.
Special Call War Memorial Trust Authority
Information
AGENDA ITEM TITLE: Discuss and take action to authorize the immediate termination of all contracts, agreements, and amendments with Bison Civil, LLC.
BACKGROUND: FEMA has noted a perceived conflict of interest related to Bison Civil, LLC, and the awarding of contracts and amendments thereto based on a previous board member being related to a member of Bison Civil, LLC. This contract may prevent the War Memorial Trust Authority from receiving funds to aid in moving and restoring the U.S.S. Batfish.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve the immediate termination of all contracts, agreements, and amendments with Bison Civil, LLC, and authorize the Chair to execute all termination documents.