“If we get enough women in the right places, we’ll start getting paid the right amount.” — Rep. Alyce Clarke, D-Jackson, speaking to hundreds of Mississippians at the capital for the Women’s March on Jackson
“I think the governor is going to take Capitol Street and fix it.” — Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, on a state capital infrastructure bill he has introduced for this legislative session.
Allen’s Defense Hangs on DJP’s Public/Private Status by Tim Summers Jr.
“The Department of Finance and Administration shall develop a comprehensive plan for improvement projects in the city in consultation with the State Capital Infrastructure Fund Project Advisory Committee,” Blount’s bill states. “The plan shall attempt to incorporate the needs of the city, the DFA, JSU, the UMMC and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Any plan developed by the department must be approved by the governing authorities of the city.” The bill states that the plan may be updated at any time but must be updated at least every five years. The state’s finance department would then implement the plan after City ap-
Downtown Jackson Partners President Ben Allen faces charges that may hinge on whether DJP operates as public or private.
legations, and Sam Begley, a local attorney and member of the DJP board of directors, requested an attorney general’s opinion about the nature of the organization: Was it a public entity, and were the funds it received public? The response pushes the decision over to the courts to determine, such as in current pending litigation against Allen, as well as DJP’s counter civil lawsuit against Brune in Madison County for allegedly forging checks to herself when she worked for Allen. The questions about DJP’s public-private status, the attorney genera’s response states, “require a determination of fact which can only be made by a court of competent jurisdiction; therefore, we are unable to respond with an official opinion.” In his most recent memo to the court asking for dismissal, Allen’s attorney Merrida Coxwell argued that the
proval, Blount said. Some details of the law, such as who would be on the committee that would develop the plan, could change during the legislative process. Last year’s Capitol Complex Improvement District bill laid out a committeebased approval system similar to how the 1-percent sales-tax commission works now, with some of the members appointed by state-interests balanced out against representatives determined by Jackson leaders. “The 1-percent sales tax commission seems to not really be able to operate smoothly,” Blount said of the group assembled to decide how to use funds supposedly targeting Jackson infrastructure. “I think
charges of embezzling by a public official do not apply to Allen because DJP is a “private nonprofit” organization. “This … chapter does not apply to Mr. Allen. He is without a doubt not a public official,” Coxwell wrote. The second set of charges are the allegations that Allen funneled money through the nonprofit DJP as a collection point for donations for the newly elected mayor Tony Yarber in 2014 for his inaugural gala. This time, Coxwell argues that by the time of the gala, Yarber was not a candidate, and so that law would not apply to DJP’s handling of the gala donations. Coxwell included in his filing a document that outlines his interpretation of the differentiation between the types of nonprofits, as delineated in federal law. The subset of regulations, 501, that determine how nonprofits should operate separates the organizations into two categories, 501(c)3 and 501(c)4. Coxwell included a primer entitled “The difference between 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations” that he used to support his supposition that a nonprofit could provide political support. “501(c)(4) organizations can engage in unlimited lobbying so long as it pertains to the organization’s mission. 501(c)(3) organizations are not permitted to engage in political activity, endorse or oppose political candidates, or donate money or time to political campaigns, but 501(c)(4) organizations can do all of the above,” the document states. Wendy Mullins, general counsel for the Mississippi Center for Nonprofits, told the JFP that she could not comment on the public-private question around DJP because her husband is one of the attorneys representing Allen. Chuck Mullins works with Coxwell. Although the BID is registered as a nonprofit, it still
the governor is going to take Capitol Street and fix it.” Other Options, Too Blount’s bill is not the only option on the table this session. DeSoto County’s Sen. David Parker, a Republican, authored a bill that Jackson Sens. Hillman Frazier, Sollie Norwood and John Horhn but not Blount co-authored, designed to create an “Additional Sales Tax Revenue for Municipal Infrastructure Program.” The program would divert monies to municipalities only if the total sales tax revenue, as certified by the Commissioner of Revenue, increased by more than 1 percent over the year before.
more DOWNTOWN, see page 8
Blount said the bill would drain money from the state, if every city took advantage of the program. Sen. Horhn also introduced a way to help the capital city defray some of the costs of maintaining the infrastructure necessary to support the seat of state government, by taking 2 percent of the gasoline, diesel fuel and kerosene taxes on sales within Jackson. This was also a big push from one of the city council members, Ward 4 Councilman De’Keither Stamps, during a council meeting concerning the upcoming legislative session. Email city reporter Tim Summers Jr. at tim@jacksonfreepress.com.
January 25 - 31, 2017 • jfp.ms
‘Private Nonprofit’? In 2014, after a tip from Linda Brune, Allen’s former assistant who registered as whistleblower, the Mississippi State Auditor’s office began an investigation into the DJP’s handling of finances. The investigation began after Brune brought a number of documents to a Clarion-Ledger reporter, who published a story questioning Allen’s handling of funds and resources while serving as the head. The auditor’s office approached the DJP about the al-
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hether Downtown Jackson Partners is public or private, governmental or nonprofit, is a pivotal issue in the case against indicted DJP President Ben Allen. Allen faces an indictment of 10 total charges, eight for embezzlement by a public official or trustee, as well as allegations that DJP handled money for then-Mayor-elect Tony Yarber’s inaugural gala. The Hinds County grand-jury indictment states that the gala donations violate Mississippi’s campaign-finance laws preventing private corporations from donating more than $1,000 to political candidates. The charges, thus, cut both ways on an organization that is arguably a public-private entity. DJP’s position as a “business improvement district” that levies what many call “taxes” on business owners within its footprint is a gray area to many, with some arguing that it is handling “public” money and others that is it is a private corporation, both of which figure into the charges against Allen. But Allen’s defense attorneys argue in their motion to dismiss the charges against him that DJP is a private, nonpublic entity, making Allen a private head of a private firm, which they argue makes the charges he faces non-applicable to their version of the facts even if the businesses in the BID must pay the fees to the organization.
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