Jackson’s former mayor neglected to inform city council members about an agreement to reimburse the Jackson Baseball Club a substantial amount of money for services at the stadium where the Jackson Generals play baseball.
This, according to Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower.
Mumpower’s investigative report, which he released Thursday, said the former mayor made this agreement nearly 10 years ago, in June 2011.
Staff for current Jackson Mayor Scott Conger told The Tennessee Star Thursday that Mumpower’s report refers to former mayor Jerry Gist. Gist held office in 2011. Telephone information for Gist was unavailable, but The Star tried to reach out to him through his Facebook page. Gist did not return our request for comment before Thursday’s stated deadline.
Mumpower, in a press release, said Jackson City Council members approved the amended lease agreement with the Jackson Baseball Club that year without discussing “a significant change in the lease.”
“This change obliged the city, at the club’s request, to reimburse the club for stadium services expenses including field preparation, field maintenance, and pre-stadium event preparation. Neither the former mayor, former city recorder, nor city attorney informed the city council of this materially significant change in the lease agreement at the time of the council’s approval,” Mumpower said.
“The day after the amended lease agreement was approved, the former mayor signed a letter on the city’s behalf assuming $500,000 annually to pay the stadium services expenses. The former mayor did not present the letter to the city council for its review and approval. Although the city council approved the annual budget and corresponding payments to the club through the city’s budgetary process, some of the payments to the club were misclassified to accounts other than the ‘Jackson Ballpark’ specific account.”
Council members, according to Mumpower’s press release, said they were unaware of the “true financial picture” the city provided to the club over the years due to these techniques.
“Additionally, the former city recorder approved questionable payments of at least $526,642.59 for goods and services that the club received from venders through trade (bartered type) transactions. Essentially, the club was paid twice: 1) once when the club received a good or service from a vendor during a trade deal; and 2) when the club presented an invoice to the city and received a reimbursement payment,” according to Mumpower’s press release.
“Beginning with the amended lease approval in June 2011, the city’s payments to the baseball club grew substantially. For example, in FY 2010 the City provided $352,215 in payments to the club. In FY 2019, the City provided $1,105,168 in payments to the club. There was a general lack of transparency during this period.”
Members of The Jackson Generals did not return requests for comment Thursday.
City of Jackson spokesman Alex Reed said in a press release that Conger requested the investigation in August 2019.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Jackson Generals” by Jackson Generals.
