Today the Macon Telegraph published an article called Report: Bibb school technology contracting suggests collusion. This was a very good report I just wish these types of articles were more timely and more frequent. It has been largely left up to bloggers to move the ball on this story and ask the tough questions. With the abundant corruption in Macon, the Telegraph needs to have these investigative reports far more often. The Cotton Avenue mafia who assisted Dallemand are all still in town and in power and they continue to feed freely from the taxpayer cookie jar.
In an article on March 23, 2014 Former Macon Telegraph columnist David Oedel wrote the following. (It only took the Telegraph another eight months to follow up. 😳 ) Not long after that column was published Charles Richardson had Oedel fired because he would not back down on calls for an investigation.
With a wall of silence quickly descending, it’s time for U.S. Attorney Michael Moore to start issuing subpoenas. He should include Dallemand, Promise lease mastermind Cliffard Whitby and critically positioned former school system officials like Tom Tourand, who supervised the tech purchases. Also on the list should be the principals from all firms identified in the Mauldin & Jenkins audit that did irregular no-bid and/or unauthorized tech deals with Dallemand’s administration, including Progressive Consulting Technologies, Pinnacle, United Data Technologies, ADCAP Network Systems, Comp-tech Computer Technologies, Layer 3 Communications and Diversified Computer Solutions.
When you have around $52 million that has essentially vaporized with nothing to show for it, you can be damn sure there are a lot of people that had their hand out for their cut. Many I suspect are part of the so-called Cotton Avenue mafia which is a cabal that may include elected officials, companies who seem to exist solely off of government largesse, charities, and well-connected individuals appointed to various boards.
In this article I want to supplement the Macon Telegraph article with some additional details that include links and hopefully paint a clearer picture of the people and companies mentioned.
Note: This article is a work in progress and will likely be updated numerous times to add more information as it becomes available. You can also help by adding information and details to this continuing story. Use our contact page or leave comments below the article below if you have something to add.
Table of Contents
A few key Highlights from the article:
- They allege collusion among technology vendors
- the school system paid millions of dollars for technology products the district has never used
- Progressive Consulting Technologies of Macon, “systematically and blatantly violated the terms of their agreement with the district and all without district approval
- another vendor was a “straw corporation” and its equipment purchase was a “sham.”
- From July to December 2012, Dallemand ordered more than $26 million in technology equipment and services without the required, prior approval of the school board, the audit said.
- School employees said an atmosphere of fear and intimidation had pervaded his administration, especially during his last six months on the job that included threats, investigations, and other intimidation tactics.
- CompTech was a straw corporation for Progressive and CompTech’s alleged purchase of the devices was a ‘sham.’
- Progressive was acting as both a project manager and a vendor and using CompTech as a pass through entity.
Darren Latch, a local Education activist also said under the Telegraph article in the comments “Now…. can those on the Board of Education (BOE5) who facilitated Dallemand (and others) also be investigated? Tommy Barnes III was very much entangled and provided ‘cover’ for Dallemand while the PSC sought to investigate the allegations and formal complaints.The BOE5 (Tommy Barnes III, Tom Hudson, Susan Middleton, Ella Carter and Wanda West) should all be included in the FBI / State investigation – while they claimed (after the fact) that they knew nothing of what was going on, they all, beyond any doubt, had information provided to them – in detail – of what was happening….. we provided that information to them. Which is now also a matter of irrefutable PUBLIC RECORD…. They were / ARE complicit in every law which Dallemand broke!”
Where does Tom Hudson Fit in?
Getting back to Hudson I also believe there was some controversy over the involvement of his Middle Georgia Council on Drugs as a conflict of interest since he sits on the BOE. I am not sure if his group received funds or attempted to procure contracts from the BOE budget or not, but there was some scuttlebutt over this issue some time ago. “I don’t understand how he can complain about overspending about ($21,000) and sit there while my predecessor abused board policy nine times without (Hudson) questioning it,” Smith said after the committee meetings. “I was creating fairness and equity in the school system so that everybody was treated fairly.”
What Sage Local Leaders We Have in Bibb County 🙄
“I ask the community to stand with Dr. Dallemand and the Board of Education throughout its implementation,” said Hart. “By doing so, I believe we can move towards being an innovative and successful community. We must do better, and the Macon Miracle Plan is a start in the right direction.”
It is important to realize that Bill Knowles and many others had already raised the alarm bells far and wide when this statement was issued by Reichert and the other “sage local leaders”. 
Here is a video of Reichert going on record making his now epically wrong suggestion urging macon and the school board to get on board the Dallemand choo choo express train. Reichert has been silent in regards to Dallemnd since that time.
Cliffard Whitby (pictured above with his hand on his chin with the furtive look) said Bibb County needs to “upgrade its workforce to attract better-quality employers”. I certainly agree. He sure managed to do well for himself with only a high school degree however. Perhaps he needs to teach a course on how to become rich off of securing government contracts or to get appointed to so many boards without the relevant degrees or expertise.
Key Players:
Since it appears the Macon Telegraph is allergic to using hyperlinks in their article I decided to provide those below where appropriate.
Progressive Consulting Technologies of Macon
They have a logo of the Software Engineering Institute of Carnagie-Mellon so I did some digging. Progressive claims to be “The ONLY Capabilities Maturity Model Integrated Certified in Macon, GA”
So I decided to verify if they are a certified partner. I was suspicious since the logo lacked a link. I did NOT see Progressive Consulting listed as a certified partner. Take a look here where partners are listed alphabetically. It is illegal to advertise your business with an industry certification that you do not have.
I have already contacted this certification agency for verification.
Isaac J. Culver III, the president and CEO of Progressive Consulting Technologies (100 Black Men of Macon Cliffard Whitby connection?)
Allen Stephen, the president of CompTech Computer Technologies Inc., based in Dayton, Ohio.
CompTech Computer Technologies Inc., based in Dayton, Ohio.
A few interesting notes about Comptech. This appears to be a very small company that has a single suite in an office building. Their full address is 10 West Second Street, Suite 1111 Dayton, OH 45402. On a Supplier profile page it says “CompTech has satellite locations in Warner Robins, Georgia” but I cannot find any proof that any such entity in Warner Robins exists.
Elert & Associates This is a Minnesota based company. Unlike Progressive and Comptech this company has a website you would expect to see without broken links and specific information on the company and services they provide along with projects they have worked on. But once I dug deeper it appears this is also a small company with only 45 employees with revenue of only $5 million.
Pinnacle CSG I am not quite sure what to make of this company. The website seems to offer a lot of flash but is short on details and substance. Their Manta business report says they were founded in 2004 and has revenue between $10 to $20 million and from 20-49 employees which is rather small for a project like Bibb county.
Diversified Computer Solutions, ADCAP Network Systems, and Layer 3 Communications though not listed in the Telegraph article seem to have also been part of this feast or famine $52 million spending bonanza and deserve scrutiny along with Progressive for the role they played.
What did Bibb get for that missing $52 million?
Not a whole hell of a lot it seems. As a computer geek myself I immediately knew these Ncomputing L300 devices were complete garbage.I also realize the IT infrastructure and hardware of Bibb county schools desperately needs upgrading. But why not use trusted companies like Apple and the ConnectED grant to modernize the hardware and bring broadband to our county? Instead they are choosing all of these small companies from all parts of the country and the students, teachers, and schools still have practically nothing to show for those tens of millions of wasted dollars. Every student in the Apple ConnectED schools will receive an iPad, allowing students to connect with topics and express themselves like never before. Every teacher and administrator will receive an iPad and a Mac to help support and inspire their students. And every ConnectED classroom will have an Apple TV to help students immerse themselves in the educational content. There is a very good reason why Apple has dominated the education market for decades and the highest performing schools go with Apple as opposed to some garbage like Ncomputing dumb terminals which lack the ecosystem that include iTunes University with free course content and support that Apple provides.
From what I have been told about Tom Tourand as opposed to being an IT expert he should be described as a luddite. And that has been the problem for a long time in Bibb county. There are a lot of very incompetent IT people who want to keep their job security by choosing obscure junk since the entire district would likely only need around 5 employees in total if they went with Apple. But Dallemand did not choose Tourand for his expertise and in fact his lack of expertise is why he was chosen.
Ncomputing L300 (devices) sold on Amazon for $139.99 Price paid by Dallemand $253 per unit
If Progressive Consulting Technoligies were certified by the CMMI Institute, they’d be listed here: https://sas.cmmiinstitute.com/pars/pars.aspx
They are not. CMMI certification is a very involved process that takes several years.
Exactly. I have a feeling they might try and remove that from their website which is why I took a screenshot. Claiming those sort of certifications is a big no no and is illegal. They will likely be sued by that company now.
Thank you Alan. Great job!
I believe that there are several public officials here in Macon-Bibb, which should be included in the formal FBI & State investigation detailing criminal activity within and outside of the operations of the Bibb County Board of Education. The collusion did not simply stop with the software and hardware purchases, that is only one small portion of a much larger story. The BOE5 (Tommy Barnes III, Tom Hudson, Susan Middleton, Ella Carter and Wanda West) Should also be interrogated by the FBI / State; especially in relation to conspiracy to defraud County, State and Federal funding. I know of numerous occurrences of Title1 was abuse and misspending, as was allocation(s) for the general fund(ing).
Much of the information was presented to the State Capital in February of 2013 and immediately following – to the Macon Telegraph on the same day. That story (with evidence) was buried by the Telegraph and never made the light of day. (according to them, the content was still sitting with their Californian Lawyers (since February 2013) to today ………………..
Several high-level City and County officials placed undue pressure on BOE Administrators to pass issues which should never have even – ever been a consideration.
To this day, I am very much aware of a high level (highest) public official STILL applying pressure on our BOE Administration to provide (Mr) Whitby with a (FREE) premises and MILLIONS of dollars to duplicate the Promise Neighborhood “SCAM” – seems our public leaders do not learn from recent history!
Again Alan – thank you for your continued efforts! We will catch up shortly, once I am back on my feet.
Get well and I would love to work with you to get all that info published. All the ORA documents can be published immediately. If you have other documents procured not from an ORA then I have a few ideas to vet that data and determine how much can be published. The society of professional journalist southern division would be a good ally towards that effort. The contact there is Michael Loretzky. http://blogs.spjnetwork.org/region3/
Frank LoMonte an attorney with http://www.splc.org would also be keen to make sure these documents have a chance to be seen and could say if we are allowed to publish them or not. I know them both from my work on my recent Georgia Board of Regents corruption cases.
I also have a few contacts at the AJC that would look at the info if the Macon Telegraph seems not interested in pursuing it further. Oedel called out these same companies eight months ago so don’t expect the MT to move much faster than a glacier especially while Richardson is still employed there.
Great information…thanks Alan Wood, your doing a marvelous job of exposing these crooks….they have infiltrated the great city of Macon, GA….where I once lived and I don’t have any hesitation in exposing them…….I too am a researcher and writer and enjoy exposing the political corruption that is trying to destroy this country….thanks again!
TheFinder
Alan
Despite Comptech’s indictment they continue to obtain contracts with the Department of Defense and hold a Top Secret Clearance with the Department of Defense.
Alan,
Isn’t there a simple way for companies like Comptech, Progressive, and the rest of these to be prevented from receiving any more taxpayer funds until at least they have been exonerated (which is doubtful) from the criminal actions they colluded into as described in your article and is shown in the artifacts attached?