Beaumont Council Transcript June 7, 2016, Councilman White Asks: “What do you Want Us to do?”
Beaumont City Council Transcript June 7, 2016
3:53:30 White: Ms Bingham, I want you to think about this. You got your SEC Investigation. It’s something you’ve wanted for years, you told me that personally. You have it. Now the question is; what do we do now? Do we hire a discount law firm? Do we not hire a law firm? Do we just back off and let the SEC smack us and do whatever they need to do?
3:54:00 White: Or is it in the best interest of the City, which I believe it is, that we fight this. We go and make the investment..
Judy Bingham: What do you mean ‘fight it’?
White: If you’ll let me finish. So we make the investment to limit as much damage to the citizens and the City of Beaumont that was done by these people that are no longer here. The question is first of all; any law firm we brought in six months ago, any consultant we brought in six months ago or a year ago, has been branded by people on social media, including you, as being dishonest, liars, illegal, all sorts of things they’ve been called. We’re not going to get any other.
3:55:00 White: Why would a law firm or a consultant come and work for Beaumont when they don’t need to and they know when they come in that their reputations are going to be dragged through the mud, everything they do is going to be called dishonest and illegal. So question I have and I struggle with is; ok, the SEC Investigation, the DA Raids, all of that, in my opinion, is something that had to happen for us to get to the point we’re at. Now what do we do though? My problem is that I was elected by the Citizens to make the best decisions for the City. For us to lay down and let the SEC dictate exactly what’s going to happen to the rest of the citizens in the community without us mounting a reasonable defense and protect the Citizens as best we can; I would not be doing my duty as an elected official if I just backed off and let it go.
3:55:00 White: So then the question becomes; yes, these Fees look ‘a lot’, they’re a lot more than I make, okay. I’m not a lawyer. We did review other Firms and the Fees are within range of other Firms. Now the question is; are you willing to pay more for a Firm that has the experience, the credibility, and the gravitas to come away with a better result for the City of Beaumont or do you want to go out and find someone that’s going to do it for half the price and then be in a position where we’re not providing the best interest. Now we may spend, as Mr. Pinkney brought up, Lancaster, I could be wrong, but I think it was closer to a Couple Million to defend their SEC Investigation. If we end up spending a lot of money to defend the City and do our best to..
3:56:00 White: Most of the people here had nothing to do with these people doing what they’ve done to us. If we don’t do our best to defend the City and the community then we are just as bad, I know you think we already are just as bad, but then we really truly are just as bad as the people who did this to us to being with. I want you to think about it now; what do we do with the SEC? I want to find out where you’re at because in the past people have made comments to you that you want to burn the City down. I don’t think you do. But my question to you is; we’re at this point, at a turning point in our City, what do we do with the SEC? Do we just walk away and say ok, give us our punishment and we’ll find a way to pay for it? Or do we try to get a better result for the City and the Community? That’s all I’m asking. I’m done.