Mayor Admits No Bids For City Hall Construction

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. -- A Channel 2 Action News investigation uncovered that a city hall in Clayton County was built without bids and several high-ranking city officials and their family members were among the contractors hired to work on the building project.Investigative reporter Mark Winne dug up the records, and on Tuesday he sat down with the mayor of Lovejoy to talk about the questionable family connections and why the city skipped the bidding process.Mayor Joe Murphy confirmed to Winne what our open records request uncovered, that no formal competitive bids were submitted for the construction of the new Lovejoy City Hall-Public Safety Building.Murphy said, ?The taxpayers? benefit from us building City Hall way outweigh any of the questions that I have to sit here in front of y?all and answer.?Murphy insisted that skipping the bidding process saved the city money even if it raised questions.?I understand people wanting to know how their money is spent,? said Murphy.Winne also obtained the meeting minutes from the Lovejoy City Council meeting where the council decided to appoint itself as the general contractor on this construction project.Murphy told Winne this decision was warranted since he is a contractor by trade and former assistant building director for Clayton County.Furthermore, the mayor said members of city government possess building expertise.?I think that the city saved hundreds of thousands of dollars,? said Murphy.Murphy said while the city used no formal bid process for the building construction, it did get estimates for much of the work.Murphy acknowledged Lewayne ?Bo? Davis, the project superintendent hired by the City Council, was the stepbrother of council member Bobby Cartwright.But Murphy said the city advertised the job and that Davis was the most qualified of the three candidates they interviewed.Murphy also confirmed that the city paid $5,500 to a company named C&C Lovejoy, Cartwright?s firm, for fence work on the project.?The price that he put the fence up for was practically at cost,? said Murphy.After several attempts to interview him on camera, Winne reached Cartwright by phone this afternoon. Cartwright said the City Hall fence work he did was at his cost and there was no conflict of interest. He said he sometimes does work for the city for free.For the record, Cartwright said he did not use his influence in any way concerning his stepbrother?s hiring.The mayor also acknowledged his son?s firm, Greenland Contractors, was paid $14,910 for work on the building construction project.The mayor?s attorney Steve Frey said, ?The money saved was equal to or greater than the transparency lost.?City Attorney Keith Martin said the approach was unusual but legal and cost efficient.?They could?ve protected themselves from the accusations that have led to this interview,? said Martin.

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