If I'm not mistaken, intentionally reducing a cost estimate with regard to a city/state project to avoid the process of bidding the project out is against the law, a felony. I belive Marlon Sams stated in the article that "THEY" intentionally did this. Who is "THEY". I believe "THEY" is "ALL OF THE CITY COMMISSIONERS AND LEADERS AND CITY MANAGER COLLECTIVELY", that's who "THEY" is.

Sure they stopped the work, but, it had already began and the fraud was already committed. It's like robbing the bank, and then after you're in the get away car, changing your mind and taking the money back in and saying, "we've changed our mind, we're not robbing you now".

Who was the company doing the work, anyone know. They'll be the ones with the answers to the questions.

This whole thing stinks, but what dont around corbin? I love the way everyone is saying... 'ITS HIS FAULT, THEY KNEW IT... !!!".

If I was Sams.... Id be making my peace with everyone... cause this whole thing is gonna land him in the BIG HOUSE ...

This type of crap is what Attorney Generals love and live for... and there is no question that AG will be involved soon... and real soon.

Someone said that the actual person to talk to is the blackwood guy.. he is the one who did a fancy behind the back play with sams... According to the newspaper, this work could have been done for free, so why in the name of peanut butter would sams want to pay someone to do the work? I know exactly why! Free work means no money to the decision maker! so lets do a little buddy system deal here ... sound familar? Cannon is guilty as hell too and I cant help but believe this will be the last of these critters...

Im sorry, but sams and a couple of others are going to be sitting in a small cubicle called a jail cell and Im truly surprised its took this long to land them there.

Look at the bright side guys... your cable bill, food, exercise equipment, will all be paid for with taxpayer dollars and no cost to you! ( wait... they already are getting that ) Oh and the new jumpsuits come fully equiped with zippers both front and back!!

Ward Cleaver wrote:

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WOW, our city government at work. No one knows now who told whom to start this project, and they all thought it was free. Man, do we have a commission and mayor and city manager that's on the ball or what.

Would you call this a "Immaculate Construction" project, where it just happened?

But, all is well, as Dennis Lynch said he "knows nothing" and will investigate it.

I wonder if anyone was injured when they started pointing fingers so quickly at each other that they dislocated them. Everyone sure distanced themselves from this. The only one with any guts was Marlon Sams. He at least stood up and took the hit for starting it, as I understand it. And, I'll guarantee someone above him told him to go ahead and let it start. Of course, those that did will never admit it.

And now we know why our tax bills were so late. The incompentence from the tax bill issue went right along with this construction project issue.

I hope Estep comments on this next week in his editorial, it'll be interested who he blames this on.

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Wasn't Mr. Sams President of Corbin's Chamber the past two years? Isn't he President of the Varsity Club? Is it true he is a big cronie to Blackwood, and Carpenter?  How can you turn down free work from reputable people who care about little league sports to run around a bid system and give the work to a buddie?

I appreciate A.J. Carr and Steve Brock who have been willing to help our kids. The broom needs to sweep clean at City Hall and Economic Development. The people of our area need to be served effectively by people who care about the people and not themselves.

All I can say is, what a MESS!!!!

I cant think of one good reason why anyone at city hall would do something so stupid as this "no bid" project.  This being and election year you would think these guys would use common sense before pulling a stunt like this!

If Brock and Carr were going to do this work "pro bono" as the mayor said, what reason will "they" (meaning the city officials) give for hiring it out to the tune of $44,000 bucks?  

The blackwood guy is involved because he and sams are buddies.  Im pretty sure he helped sams bring the bleachers that were sitting on the lot down from the expo center back to the civic center after the rodeo.  My guess is these two are the principals of the deal.  

Any way this goes, I hope that the kids get to play football this year, and hopefully Lynn Camp will be kind enough to let them use the old playing field again since our city cant seem to get fields built for them without breaking laws.  This is a real shame and disgrace to our town.  All involved will no doubt be facing charges, but most importantly our city goverment should be looking for ways to improve rather than destroy.   

If I were to take a guess, I would say NOTHING will come of this. Something SHOULD come out of it, but it won't.

Cannon and McBurney will lobby with Hammons, the city attorney, and talk with the state behind closed doors, and have all their paper ducks in a row as they didn't know anything about it until that bill was sent to them. All the elected officials will do the same. It'll be hard for them to get Lynch to go along, as Lynch knows he's the wild card in this election that has the highest probability of getting beat by Tye. Lynch may be the "fly in the ointment" and not go along with them and keep pointing fingers at them all, and continuing to promote his innocence and ignorance.

Remember, Lynch has a big personal stake in the old civic center, and I can't see him not going up there every day, checking things out, like he does at city hall. He's there all the time poking around.

Cannon will plead the 5th, so to speak, and throw whatever violations that may be out there, on Sams. Sams made his case in the newspapers, so, he's hit no matter what. Both newspapers have his quotes, and more than likely, they taped the interview as well.

Estep has already began backpedaling, wanting the funds back, so he can show he knew nothing about it. His recent editorial is a good indicator of him trying to cover up the issue and spin it as it can still be done with volunteer work.

I think it all depends on how much the state wants to look into it, and how much Mr. Carr wants to push the issue. Mr. Carr is a true "freind of the kids" in corbin, and his intentions were of the highest integrity.

What I would love to know, is why would we forsake a "free deal" with Mr. Carr, and hire this Medlin group to do the work which would require pay. That dumbfounds me. It's typical corbin politics and backscratching, but why would they do it.

And, there's Sams. He'll be the scapegoat. It's a shame, he'll pay the price for them all. But, Cannon should go down on this one. He's in charge, and he has no idea what is going on in the city.

I sure wish there were more viable candidates running for commissioner. This would make a perfect platform for someone running.

Oh, and not to leave him out of this mix, the Mayor is just as much to blame as anyone. It's his watch, his term, he's the big dog in the city government, so he should have been totally involved in this from the start.

We'll just have to wait and see I guess.

This whole thing is out of control. First off let me say that I or my partner wish no ill will against anyone involved. The whole point for us doing the grade work for free was a donation to TCSA and to simply expedite the fields and to save money so it could be spent for other items such as lighting, fencing, sod or seed, etc. This is an expensive project, and we wanted to conserve as much money as possible. My only concern is now where we play. I hope Lynn Camp will let us play again there, otherwise its going to be terrible for our kids.

I have had many individuals call me after the newspaper article wanting to know what went wrong. I really dont care who does this project as long as it gets done. The city will answer on its own and I hope this gets moving soon. We was donating this work to the TCSA and not to the city. If it has to be bid out, then lets move forward and bid it out. The more time wasted is less time we have to get these fields ready to play on.

If you know me, then you know I am a positive and proactive person. I dont see problems, I see solutions waiting to be developed. My character wont let me stand idle and quiet either. Lets get this thing done and get the grass growing. July is not that far away, and I am ready to coach the Falcons to a Super Bowl. Dirty Birds gonna take it to the house this year!!

Play till the whistle blows!!!!!

AJ