PNJ picks up Sept. blog post, gets $$$ wrong

The Pensacola News Journal is reporting today Escambia County has settled with the jail contractor – Whitesell-Green/Caddell – to end its litigation over issues with the construction.

ON SEPTEMBER 8, I posted the Escambia County Commission approved the mediation agreement for $4.4 million to settle a dispute over the final payment due to the contractor who built the Escambia County Jail. Read here.

The once-daily newspaper claims they made a public record request for the agreement, but many suspect it was another move by County Clerk Pam Childers to feed the media outlet a story she hopes will damage the Escambia County Commission. Last week, the PNJ reported that a consultant hired by Childers said the broadband contract “could” be disallowed if the federal government audited the transaction – no one bought it as a news story, other than the PNJ.

Childers and the County Commission are locked in a legal battle for her refusal to fund the commissioners’ retirement accounts. She has lost every motion regarding the case, which is still awaiting a trial. Maybe she is worried the judge won’t rule in her favor.

———–

Facts: The settlement releases the funds withheld as part of the lawsuit, $3.4 million, and pays in the interest on those funds, $995,000. The agreement states the majority of the funds will go to the project’s subcontractors. Also, Whitesell-Green/Caddell also agreed to facilitate a process to correct and repair issues with the jail construction.

Unlike what the PNJ reported, the County is not paying Whitesell-Green/Caddell’s legal fees. The once-daily misreported the settlement as over $5.5 million. I spoke with attorneys representing the county and was told they have no idea how the reporter came up with that figure.

The county is suing the owner’s rep DLR Group and hopes to recoup expenditures resulting from the litigation with Whitesell-Green/Caddell.