Tuesday, September 08, 2009

MSF/MAS Debacle: Week 2 Salient Points

So I know this has been less than exciting...picking through these contracts, RFP's and contractor/subcontractor relationships. But I think we have to do this because if we don't nobody else will. So here goes:

Also, word has gotten out that they held the City hostage and turned the editor off. However, that didn't seem to stop them from doing it. If you have a 2mil plus operation then what do they care about other clients.

Here's a better question. Ultimately VisionIT is responsible for this contract. They made the decision to sub MAS. Why aren't we holding them responsible for this? They need to make this right if we are still paying them under contract as prime vendor. This whole thing works both ways. If VisionIT succumbed to pressure put on them by Meffert/Domke and sub'd MAS...and now MAS is holding the city hostage ( if they are)...maybe its time to squeeze VisionIT by the balls and hold them in breach of contract. Or would that be too much to ask of our city attorneys?

Russell A. Aredeneaux,

EM-BEE-EH!

"Russell serves as MIS enterprise director for the Office of Information Technology. In his role, he is responsible for CONTRACTOR RELATIONS and the Project Management Office, managing
projects for NOPD, GIS,EOC, and telecommunications.

Prior to his current role, he served as data analytics manager for the State of Louisiana Road Home program, where his team was responsible for data analytics, reporting and data base management.
Previously, he worked for MidSouth Utilities, NOW ENTERGY for 30 years.

I just got word that Russell Ardeneaux used to work for MAS. Are you fuckin' kidding me? MAS is every fuckin' where?


More about Aredeneaux....please share.

My understanding is that CBD Technology ran the Technology PMO under the contract with VisionIT until the Dell/Crime Camera lawsuit hit the fan. If that is true, then the article in the TP this morning that points out how a HANO contractor was basically monitoring his own contract and stole $900K from HANO brings up some grave concerns.

So was CBD Technology in fact a Dell Shell set up in order to sell cameras under their state contract (they weren't authorized to sell cameras under that contract)?


As for the mysteriously worded NOPD project, I've been told it is actually a real-time tracking system for squad cars which utilizes each unit's intranet. Apparently MAS actually started this project, now it will switch hands to MSF (if this goes as smoothly as the portal transition...Legba help us). This explains the "geo-spatial" semantics in the contract. I've been told this is actually a great idea because it will allow the police brass to track each vehicle and make sure they're not hanging out at the Krispy Kreme in Metairie, brah.

Also, as far as the contract being open ended, one astute reader pointed out that this type of contract is exactly how MAS was able to venture into the 311 system (the forgotten scandal...which I'm pretty sure makes the crime cameras look pale in comparison) and also get into providing Kiosk software...which brings me to...

Kiosks.

Apparently the city (possibly Meffert decsion) purchased a bunch of these things from a company called 5point. The question is how much did we pay for them. There is speculation that each kiosk cost about 5k but we ended up paying 4 to 5 times that amount per kiosk...and I have no idea how many of them we bought or if there was a possible intermediary company in between that purchase with 5point. Aside from the glaring question, "why did we need them?", it appears that Intelliport/MAS provided the software for these things and that service was added into their original contract.

Where are these kiosks? You guessed it....we apparently didn't need them and we ended up with a bunch of them sitting around collecting dust. Its kind of like the vanished 1 million dollars in antennas which were donated by Tropos.

To his credit, Harrison Boyd decided to put them to good use since we already payed for the damn things and we can't convert them into vending machines, Ms. Pac Man, Donkey Kong or something useful. So he struck a deal with Winn Dixie to put them in their stores around town...I will admit it sounds like a pregnant idea to me. At least the public could get some use out of them other than turning them into boat anchors. But then there seems to have been an issue with MAS providing the software for them and apparently the kiosks were shipped to the locations without the software installed. Doh!

As one reader put it....this appears to be a clusterfuck. Indeed sir, indeed the clustering fuckishness of this thing seems to be getting more clusterish and fuckishy by the minute.

More to come.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the last paragraph of your post.

I mean, the rest was good, too, but that riff on clusterfuck was funny.

The rest of it made me tear up a little. Only that weird little Chinese kid has being a corrupt official as her childhood dream.

Reading your post, I felt sorry for the people at City Hall.

The picture up on the City Hall site shows that that Russell guy has a sad and nervous little smile, like a kid who knows he is going back to school for another year of being picked on, but he wants his Mom to think he's happy and OK.

The massive turnout for the Save Charity demo, and all the support you got when those horrible people (who can't face the implications of their own choices) tried to bully you with their sad little libel suit, make me feel bad for them all.

Well, I felt bad until I read through the comments on the older posts, and discovered someone had uncovered more little side businesses and LLCs run by City Employees and their spouses, and now I'm back to feeling betrayed and scornful.

They have pitted themselves against everything worth loving about their own city; I don't get that.

I did some more digging on the real estate thing, and it isn't pretty. I'm afraid it will turn out to be even worse. I'll keep digging, and I hope that an "honorable explanation" will emerge.

I can't handle my life as it is, or I'd offer to create a blog to follow all the land deals. We've got stuff over by the Hospital sites (with potential 'Shamrock Ventures LLC' issues), stuff over in Algiers, and some other little hot spots that make no sense yet.

We still don't really understand how to find or use the FEMA 106 lists or how to figure out who at City Hall has been authorizing what.

The little group of friends I'm part of does not yet have access to the Notorial Archives, and we don't know what foundations or groups (beyond the ones mentioned here) we need to look into. Kick us some leads and we'll do some leg work, and tell us where to post what we find.

We do know how to use google maps, so that's something. The NORA site is useful, too.

To the sweet anon who wanted Sparky to explain, go to google maps and there are tutorials about how to use the "My Map" features. It's really easy. My Mama can do it, and she can't reliably open a Word document, so you'll be fine.

Anonymous said...

P.S. to the long sad post:

Miss Pac Man is awesome.

Do you remember when there was a cereal of it, with toxic and delicious little marshmallows?

Anonymous said...

Pick some names from the City Attorney's office like Chris Lund, Brenda Breaux, and enter their names in NA's. You will find a treasure trove of information that will have you shaking your head.

The city should give the public access to all documents filed for free. If you want to print the document then charge but you should be able to see it for free. The system in place now allows for corruption to take place because no one knows where to find the hidden scandals.

Anonymous said...

Yeah we were wondering about Brenda Breax. We've got three business entities that seem to be her: BMB Associates LLC, Best Building Services, Inc., and this was a little shocking:

"Brenda M.Breaux, Director, HANO Scholarship Fund"

We wondered what the hell that was about.

Kiosks in Winn-Dixies don't sound like a bad idea. But you know, I'd have prioritized grocery stores in all neighborhoods.

"A Winn-Dixie in every neighborhood rather than a Kiosk in every Winn-Dixie." How does that sound?

Anonymous said...

Breaux Realty LLC
Breaux Real Estate Trust

Anonymous said...

Several of the kiosks were set up at the Main Library by September 2006. You can visit them on the first floor and see how they work.

I don't think that anybody at the Library had any say in getting them.

Anonymous said...

Said kiosks were installed at the Main Library around September 2006. They are still on the first floor, if anyone wants to see one.

Anonymous said...

The dudes I hang out with are refering to Breaux, (maybe Lund), Ellis, Naef, Torres, etc.-to-what-extent-we-don't-know as "The City Attorney Mafia".

Anonymous said...

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/09/crimecamera_kickback_scheme_su.html

Interesting that no one has mentioned that Dell had a relationship with Tropos during this entire episode and that Tropos also recieved kickbacks from the city corruption cartel. There is so much more to this vast criminal enterprise yet the vastness of scope has only yet been scrached. What would happen to this lawsuit if the plaintiffs themselves weren't so innocent?

Anonymous said...

I like both "City Attorney Mafia" and "City Corruption Cartel".

Can the terms be used interchagably, or is it more correct to refer to the City Attorney Mafia as a subset of the City Corruption Cartel?

Anonymous said...

Corruption probes need to look into the role of the casinos, too. Just saying.

Anonymous said...

This is getting to be like a Mexican Soap Opera.

Who the @#$* is Tropos?

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Anon:

Mark Fradella, Harah's Operating Co.

If this is the same Fradella family, this is messed up.