At an emergency Board of Trustees (BOT) conference call on
October 22, then-FAMU General Counsel Avery McKnight said the new front door
was among four projects above $10,000 that each took place at the President’s
House after the start date of President Elmira Mangum’s contract. He said they weren't
presented to the BOT for its approval as required by her contract.
The front door project cost $11,519 and had an invoice date
of September 23, 2014. The start date for Mangum’s contract was April 1, 2014.
The university released the final report by Grant Thornton
LLP last weekend. The only renovation project it discussed was a $71,529 garage
project that had an invoice date of June 19, 2014.
Grant Thornton concluded that “the University did not comply
with the provisions of the President’s Employment Agreement regarding the
renovations to the University owned residence” for the garage project. It
called the problem “Material noncompliance with University owned residence
renovation regulations.”
The FAMU contract with Grant Thornton stated that the
investigation would cover “Renovations to President’s residence and construction
of a garage performed after December 2013 to present.” POLITICO Florida uploaded the full the text of the contract to a story it published yesterday.
Kendall D. Jones, the FAMU Director of Plant Operations
& Maintenance, said he and two other administrators began a project to
install a new front door at the residence after then-Chairman Chuck Badger
suggested it.
But Badger told the Tallahassee Democrat that Jones has it
wrong.
“He’s got me mixed up with somebody else,” Badger said. “It
wasn’t Chairman Badger making the statement regarding the door. I’m pretty sure
(the comment) was made by another board member.”