NYT: (Mississippi) Governor's Relative Is Big (Katrina) Contract Winner

Governor's Relative Is Big Contract Winner
By ERIC LIPTON
Published: December 7, 2005


PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss., Dec. 6 - Rosemary Barbour happens to be married to a nephew of Mississippi's governor, Haley Barbour. Since the Reagan administration, when Mrs. Barbour worked as a White House volunteer as a college student, she has been active in the Republican Party.

She also happens to be one of the biggest Mississippi-based winners of federal contracts for Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.

To some contract watchdogs, this could be an example of how the federal government responsibly reached out to give a piece of the billions of dollars in federal hurricane-recovery work to a small Mississippi-based company owned by a Latina. Mrs. Barbour, 39, who was born in Guatemala but now lives in Jackson, Miss., is certified by the United States Small Business Administration as a disadvantaged small-business owner.

But the $6.4 million in contracts received by her company, Alcatec L.L.C., have also elicited questions about possible favoritism.

Federal records show that the company has won at least 10 separate contracts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the General Services Administration to install and maintain showers for relief workers and evacuees, to deliver tents, and to provide laundry equipment. The most valuable were awarded in September and October without competitive bidding, the records show....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/07/national/nationalspecial/07barbour.html

have no shame.

Miss. Gov. Blames Feds for Stalled Recovery


WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional failures to approve emergency funding for roads, schools and housing construction have stalled Mississippi efforts to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, the state's Republican governor testified Wednesday.

Without such help, Mississippi businesses are unable to decide where to relocate and rebuild - potentially costing the state jobs and chilling its economy, said Gov. Haley Barbour. His comments were among the sharpest criticism by a top Republican from the hardest-hit states of Congress and Bush administration relief efforts.

``We are at a point where our recovery and renewal efforts are stalled because of inaction in Washington, D.C., and the delay has created uncertainty that is having very negative effects on our recovery and rebuilding,'' said Barbour, a strong ally of House Speaker Dennis Hastert and former Republican National Committee chairman.

...


Republican lawmakers on the panel, chaired by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., said Katrina aid no longer appears to be a high congressional priority.



See related DU thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1971709&mesg_id=1971709