Madison County Recorder Amy Meyer said she acted “in good faith” when she signed off on two no-bid contracts with Fidlar Technologies for more than $439,000 without notifying the county board in order to seek reimbursement under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
“I want to caution everybody that we do not want to tie up our land records in politics,” Meyer said.
“The reason why I signed off on this contract and did not bring it through immediately was because … the Recorder’s Office, and this has been explained, is seeking to get full reimbursement for this through the CARES Act,” she added during the Oct. 21 county board meeting.
The CARES Act was adopted by Congress in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The contracts Meyer entered into with Fidlar are for the digitization of property records.
The contracts for $181,347.79 and $258,328 were signed Oct. 2, which is roughly two months before the Recorder’s Office is combined with the County Clerk’s Office beginning Dec. 1. As part of the merger, which was approved by voters in 2018, County Clerk Debra Ming-Mendoza will take over the Recorder’s job duties.
A special meeting with the Real Estate Tax Cycle Committee was scheduled for 2 p.m. tonight to discuss the contracts.
Board member Phil Chapman said the issue had previously been presented to the Real Estate Tax Cycle Committee last year, but the committee unanimously chose to postpone a decision until Ming-Mendoza took over.
“Because she’s the one who’s going to have to ride the bull next year,” Chapman said.
Despite the request being put on hold, Madison County Chairman Kurt Prenzler said he learned that the contracts had been signed after Fidlar confirmed the agreements. Before reaching out to Fidlar, Prenzler said he requested copies from Meyer of all contracts signed this year through the Freedom of Information Act on Oct. 8. He was provided with those documents a few hours before the Oct. 21 meeting.
Prenzler asked Meyer why he had to FOIA the contracts and why they took so long to obtain.
Meyer responded that she had the right to receive an opinion from an attorney before providing the information.
“We did try to convey information to you, Mr. Prenzler, but I will say it has been contentious. And so you have the information, sometimes I wonder if you’re willing to receive what we’re trying to tell you,” she added.
Prenzler responded that his emails to her were not contentious and that he didn’t know the contracts existed when he reached out to her.
Meyer told the board that the contracts were no-bid contracts because the county has a 20-year working relationship with Fidlar and had no other options.
“We have their system,” she said. “Their system is the only one we can use.”
She added that she signed off on the contracts without going through the county board because “it was an urgent need.” She explained that the Recorder’s Office has been critical and work has increased during the pandemic. Digitizing the records helps ensure that operations could continue outside of the office. She said that currently, a majority of the records are kept in a vault, and they’ve had to schedule times to obtain those records due to the pandemic.
“This was not done in a vacuum,” she said.
“Soon-to-be Clerk Recorder Ming-Mendoza was aware that this was something that we were looking to do,” she added. “I take full responsibility for it, but I did not do anything behind her back.”
Board member Ray Wesley said the lack of transparency from the Recorder’s Office should be noted by the board.
“I don’t want that to be lost on this board with regard to her actions,” he said.
Wesley asked if the urgency Meyer expressed superseded policy and ordinance guidelines. He also questioned if the county is liable for the invoices.
“I would like to know whether anybody can act in that manner if they consider it urgent?” he asked.
Meyer responded that the invoices have not been submitted for payment, but that the digitization needed to be done.
“Before we assume that what I did was in error, or not necessarily according to established protocol, I would ask that we have the State’s Attorney review it and make a decision on it at that point in time,” she said.
Assistant State’s Attorney Jeff Ezra chose not to provide an opinion during the meeting, saying he needed to gather all of the facts first. He added that Chapman, who is chair of the Real Estate Tax Cycle Committee, also asked for the State’s Attorney to weigh in on the issue.
“I’d prefer to get a good answer than a quick answer,” Chapman responded.
While Meyer assured the board that the funds are available if reimbursement falls through, board member David Michael, who is running for county auditor, said the money doesn’t add up.
He said that as of Aug. 31, the Recorder’s automation fund had already spent $291,000 of the $407,000 that had been appropriated for the year. That means there was only $116,000 left. Further, the Auditor’s Office projects that only $4,700 will be left at the end of the year.
Meyer responded that he is referencing the budget and not the fund balance.
“Furthermore, I think you are also making an assumption who has the authority with regards to that fund, which is specifically earmarked,” she said.
“It is my belief and opinion that it rests with the elected,” she added.
Board member Don Moore, who is chair of the Finance and Government Operations Committee, said specific standards are put in place to protect the county.
“Frankly, I don’t think that urgency, regardless of what it is, outweighs policy and a way to go around policy and not go through policy,” he said.
Moore said that anticipating money from the CARES Act is like “rolling the dice and hoping to win.”
“That is no way to conduct business within the county,” he said.
Board member Jamie Goggin said that going around the board “lacks transparency” and is an “insult to voters.”
“If we don’t have oversight over everything, we don’t have oversight over anything,” he said.
“It’s all a sham unless we can review all of it,” he added. “If you can hide any of it, there’s not point in all of this,” he said in reference to purchasing requests and protocols.
Board member Tom McRae agreed. He noted that the urgency argument “doesn’t hold water” because a special meeting could be called within 48 hours.
“We spend a lot of time as board members to try to do the right thing, and if people can just sign off on $400,000 in contracts with no board oversight, then what are we doing?” he asked.
McRae also said that the contracts were signed when the county is looking at projections of $4 million in funding shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, they have been “looking for money under every rock” in order to preserve people’s jobs.
He suggested that the board contact Fidlar and ask them to put the contracts on hold and for the county to not pay any related invoices until the issue is resolved.
Meyer said that after learning that the CARES Act deadline had been extended, the contracts were placed on hold so Ming-Mendoza could take over.
Board member Heather Mueller-Jones asked how the contracts are going to be put on hold.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “If you already signed a contract, I’m a lawyer, usually you don’t get out of those.”
Meyer said the county has a good relationship with Fidlar, who is willing to renegotiate the contracts if needed, but added that “we would be fools at the county to not jump at” the CARES Act reimbursement.
“It may very well be that the money isn’t there anyway,” McRae responded.
Prenzler said it is his understanding that Fidlar’s work on the contract is not being put on hold. Fidlar’s note to Prenzler indicates that it will stop its work after completing the scanning process.