Yesterday, Mayor Ashton Hayward and his City Administrator Bill Reynolds released the ‘binder’ that Reynolds says documents the city’s troubles with the ad agency that Hayward had hired to handle all of the city’s marketing – including Port of Pensacola, Pensacola International Airport and Pensacola Energy.
The mayor had terminated the contract with The Zimmerman Agency at the end of January claiming that the firm hadn’t met his expectations.
The Zimmerman Agency (TZA) had lost the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council account last year after the TDC director killed himself when it was found he had used bed tax and BP marketing funds to buy a yacht and his home in Destin. A recent audit report by the State Auditor’s Office alleged several misuse of funds by TZA. Pensacola city officials have said the OCTDC investigation had nothing to with the mayor’s dismissal of the firm.
A public record request by Pensacola Councilman Charles Bare revealed that Hayward had paid TZA $926,273.79 as of Feb. 4, 2013 and owed them another $41,309.76.
At the Monday Committee of the Whole meeting, Bare called for the council to investigate the TZA relationship with the city.
At the meeting, Reynolds said, ““I can tell you right now, the contract wasn’t being adhered to.†–adding that the city communicated such concern to the firm repeatedly. “—it became clear that wasn’t going to work.”
Since Feb. 5, the Independent News had public records request with the city on TZA. It wasn’t until hours before the COW that we were notified that some of the TZA invoices were available to be picked up.
This didn’t stop Reynolds from asserting in the meeting that he and his staff had all the documentation already for the council to examine.
“You might be shocked,†he told council, “but we have it all put together in a nice little binder.â€
Yesterday, at the end of the day, we are picked up a disc that contained “The Binder” –33 pages of emails from Derek Cosson, Tamara Fountain, Bill Reynolds and TZA personnel.
We have to assume this is Mayor Hayward’s best case to prove that he did what he claimed in his statement to the media when he terminated the TZA contact: “As mayor, I am constantly measuring results and evaluating the city’s contracts.”
There are no emails from Hayward in “The Binder.”
From January through September 2012, the city paid TZA $597,555.62. Cosson was in charge of overseeing TZA over those nine months. “The Binder” only has three emails from Cosson for that period: 1) Asking for receipts for $519.63 invoice; 2) A complaint about Facebook posts; and 3)A complaint over error on a team name.
According to an October email from Reynolds, Tamara Fountain took over handling TZA for the city. By Dec. 31, 2012, the city had paid TZA –$855,678.28.
Here is my analysis of “The Binder,” followed by the actual pdf:
WHAT THE BINDER TELLS US
The first email that showed the city had any issues is dated March 28, 2012 from Derek Cosson, subject: TZA out of pocket. The city PIO asks for pre-approval of all meetings, inclusions of receipts and who is in attendance at the meetings. Total of the invoice in question: $519.63
The prior month Cosson had approve a previous TZA invoice for $402.62 – there is no email in the “binder†from the PIO asking for receipts.
At this point, TZA had billed the city $99,260.25.
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The second email that shows the city had any problems is dated July 31, 2012. Cosson is upset over some events not being posted on Facebook.
By July 31, the city had paid TZA $412,794.63. It was July that Mayor Hayward and TZA unveiled the new city logo.
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On Aug. 8, 2012, Cosson points out that TZA had gotten the team wrong for the Chattanooga Lookouts. The day before the city cut the agency a check for another $44,722.62.
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In September 2012, the city council amended the budget to delete TZA’s marketing dollars from the budget. Mayor Hayward vetoed the amendment. No mention was made to the city council that there were any issues with the ad agency.
By Sept. 30, TZA had been paid $597,555.62
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On Oct. 18, 2012, City Administrator Bill Reynolds complains to Curtis Zimmerman about a GO Air Tran Magazine article for not portraying the city as being young and vibrant enough.
He also lets TZA know that Tamara Fountain “has just signed on to our team.†She would be the primary contract and would oversee the contract. By then, the city had paid $658,600.84 to TZA.
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On Nov. 9, Fountain wrote to complain about TZA taking too much credit for 850 Magazine article. You states…“you all are not meeting our expectations.†She asked for a meeting on the following Wednesday, Nov. 14. By then, the city had paid another $119,050.37, bringing the total to $777,651.21.
On Nov. 28, Fountain, in response to a request from TZA, recommended Pensacola Energy for a Trade & Industry Development award.
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There are no emails in the “binder†for December, although the city wrote more checks to TZA, bringing the total to $855,678.28 as of Dec. 31, 2012.
On Dec. 20, the State auditor issued its preliminary report on the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council. TZA, which had handled most of the TDC marketing, is cited in the report for mishandling bed tax and BP marketing funds. The Okaloosa County Commission had fired TZA earlier in the year.
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From Jan. 2-Jan. 14, there are emails showing that Fountain and TZA were negotiating cost savings and changes to the contract—cutting the cost from $34,355 to $25,000 for a microsite – per Jan. 14 email. The city had paid $30,595.51 on Jan. 8 and 9 and would pay another $40,000 two days later. Total paid $926,273.79
On Jan. 14, Fountain recommends to Reynolds that the TZA contract be terminated. Reynolds tells Fountain two days later to tell the mayor that he is in full agreement with the termination.
No one apparently tells TZA and the agency books a journalist for an article for Site Selection Magazine, per a Jan. 22 email.
On Jan. 24, Cosson complains to TZA the Facebook page hasn’t been updated since Jan. 14.
Also on Jan. 24, Rick’s Blog reports that the Florida Auditor General’s Office released its final audit report on Okaloosa TDC.
On Jan. 25, Fountain informs Reynolds and Cosson that Mayor Hayward has agreed to terminate contract.
As of Feb. 4, the city had not paid TZA for $41,309.76 in invoices received.
On Feb. 5, the daily newspaper announces that Mayor Hayward has terminated TZA contract, effective Feb. 28, citing dissatisfaction with performance. Hayward said in a statement given to the PNJ: “As mayor, I am constantly measuring results and evaluating the city’s contracts. While I appreciate Zimmerman’s work to date, I want to look at new opportunities, including filling some of our needs locally.”
No mention is made of how much the city had paid TZA.
On Feb. 6, PNJ ran an editorial praising Hayward for the change: “As a good steward of public money, Hayward sought the best bang for the buck.â€
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Check out “The Binder:” Zimmerman Binder