The
TC Daily Planet wants to investigate a questionable no-bid contract awarded by Minneapolis Public Schools for public relations work.
In January, the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) awarded a no-bid $15,000 contract to long-time MPS critic Don Allen to do public relations and promotion. The contract was first proposed, and then pulled off the school board agenda in December, after objections by board member Chris Stewart. In January, at the first meeting with new board members seated, staff brought the contract back for a vote and got it accepted.
If MPS gave a $15,000 contract to turn
a critic into a promoter, that's something the public should know about. What are his qualifications and credentials? Who at MPS made the decision?
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When did Allen approach Minneapolis Public Schools?
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Who made the contract decision?
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What changed between the original vote and the January contract award?
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What other public funds are going to no-bid contracts for Minneapolis Public Schools?
Until the contract was awarded, Allen was a vitriolic and frequent critic of MPS. Now he's producing public relations for them. What's going on here?
The sample ads Allen produced had
serious errors of fact. He later referred to the errors as a
strategy to get "free ads" in the newspapers that pointed out the errors. His publications prior to getting the MPS contract included a
YouTube video criticizing white people moving into North Minneapolis.
We need your support to get to the bottom of the story. [FULL DISCLOSURE: Allen has threatened lawsuits and attempts to "defund" TC Daily Planet if we write about him.]
We wrote about
the blog wars over the contract, but what really happened?
Sheila Regan is pursuing a Minnesota Government Data Practices Act with the Minneapolis Public Schools. MPS says they will eventually produce documents but that we will have to pay an unspecified—and probably large—amount for them.
