They also attended a Celine Dion concert in Las Vegas in Nov. of 2015. After questions arose regarding use of the state jet, Bentley reimbursed the state 19 weeks later.
Posted on 04/20/2016 12:12:05 PM PDT by Bodleian_Girl
The University of Alabama paid a company owned by Jon Mason tens of thousands of dollars this year in connection with billboards the company neither designed nor physically installed.
Mason is the husband of Rebekah Caldwell Mason, a former top adviser to Gov. Robert Bentley who resigned from his administration last month amid allegations that she and Bentley had an affair.
[Sexual conversation between Rebekah Mason & Governor Bentley caught on tape, link in comments.]
University spokesman Chris Bryant told AL.com via email that UA paid Jon Mason's company, JRM Enterprises, $74,450 so far this year "for JRM's coordination of the production, installation and rental agreements for billboards" posted in Dallas and Phoenix in advance of major Alabama football games within those cities' metro areas.
But the company did not design or create the billboard advertisements bearing the slogan "Roll Dallas Roll" that UA paid JRM to help it post in the Dallas area during the run-up to the Cotton Bowl, held Dec. 31 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. They purchased billboards from us for years; they just purchase billboards on behalf of their clients
Several weeks after the game, the university made two payments totaling $45,450 to the Tuscaloosa-based advertising, marketing and design agency, using a credit card to "expedite" the processing of the money, which Bryant said was for work related to the Dallas billboards.
And the university has over the past seven years paid more than half a million dollars to subsidiaries of the company that rents out the billboards. For those transactions, UA has forgone an intermediary like JRM in favor of direct payments to the billboard company, university spending records show.
Bryant offered an explanation via email Tuesday evening for why UA sometimes buys billboards through JRM. He did not answer questions about how the university selected or vetted JRM, beyond stating that "[t]hey were selected because they are a Tuscaloosa business that offers media buying services."
"Media buyers, such as JRM, find available locations, negotiate rates, coordinate production and finalize rental agreements in a more efficient and cost-effective manner than handling it in house, which saves the university money," Bryant wrote.
"UA has its own graphic design staff. We don't know if JRM provides this service or not."
Last month, The Tuscaloosa News reported that four University of Alabama employees won the American Advertising Federation Tuscaloosa award for integrated advertising campaigns for their work on the "Roll Dallas Roll" campaign.
UA pays those four employees annual salaries totaling well over $200,000 to do graphic design, marketing communications and other tasks that included the Dallas billboards.
This year alone, the university has already paid JRM nearly $75,000 to "coordinate" billboards. Since 2010, UA has paid JRM a total of $245,600, university records show.
And on Monday the university issued a statement first obtained by Yellowhammer News that indicated that "[t]here are two additional invoices pending in the amount of $39,150 for billboards in Alabama that were finalized February 25, 2016."
In the Monday statement, Bryant added that UA is not aware of what percentage JRM takes as commission when coordinating billboards for the university. But he said that "[a]ccording to industry standards, a sales agent placing the billboards would typically earn a 15 percent commission from the billboard company."
Jon Mason did not respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday.
JRM served as an intermediary this year between UA and Lamar Advertising Company. It passed university money to Lamar, a national outfit that oversees the rental of thousands of billboards across the U.S., including the ones UA rented in Dallas and Phoenix, where the Alabama Crimson Tide won the National Championship on Jan. 11.
"They purchased billboards from us for years; they just purchase billboards on behalf of their clients. JRM Enterprises is an ad agency and they purchased billboards from us in the past," Hal Kilshaw, Lamar's Louisiana-based vice president of governmental relations, told AL.com via phone Tuesday morning.
"The agency handles the details of getting the billboards placed, and then bills the clients."
University records show that UA has paid Lamar subsidiaries hundreds of thousands of dollars that did not pass through JRM.
UA made dozens of direct payments to Lamar Texas Limited Partnership, a Texas-based subsidiary of Lamar Advertising Company, totaling more than $448,000 between October 2009 and September 2014, according to the records.
The university has also made a series of payments to three entities called "Lamar Media 2," "Lamar Media 3" and "Lamar Media L2" totaling more than $218,000 since 2009. So far this year, UA has paid "Lamar Media 3" more than $27,000.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission records show that Lamar Advertising Company has a Delaware-based subsidiary called Lamar Media Corp., but it is not entirely clear if the three "Lamar Media" entities UA paid are affiliated with the company. More detailed financial records filed by universities in other states state that "Lamar Media 2" and "Lamar Media 3" indicate that the outfits provide advertising services much like those offered by Lamar Advertising Company.
Last week, Bryant sent AL.com an email explaining why UA selected JRM to sometimes handle its billboard coordination rather than going with another company or simply having UA's in-house staff handle those duties.
"JRM is a vendor we have used because they are local, and we knew they offered this service," Bryant said.
"The decision was made by UA's University Relations office, now called Strategic Communications. This office produces and purchases advertising for UA. These purchases were made by University relations, now Strategic Communications."
There have also been questions in recent weeks about why the nearly $75,000 in disbursements the university made to JRM so far this year were processed via PayPal, a rare method of payment for UA. Bryant downplayed the fact that more than half of the money UA spent via PayPal between January and March went to JRM, calling it "a common practice for universities."
In 2011, Bentley appointed Jon Mason to the top post at the Governor's Faith-Based Community Initiative, now known as Serve Alabama. He still holds that position, for which he receives an annual salary of $98,583.42.
All such contract awards shall be made as a result of original bid takings, and no awards from negotiations after bidding shall be allowed. A copy of each contract, regardless of the amount, entered into by a public official, public employee, a member of the household of the public employee or the public official, and any business with which the person is associated shall be filed with the commission within 10 days after the contract has been entered into."
At least he got paid well for his wife’s services.
Thought it was going to be a car thread.
They also attended a Celine Dion concert in Las Vegas in Nov. of 2015. After questions arose regarding use of the state jet, Bentley reimbursed the state 19 weeks later.
Bear Bryant’s son Paul “retired” from the University of Alabama board of trustees in Nov. 2015 as news of Bentley’s affair leaked via Roger Schuley’s blog and via local attorney Donald Watkins on Facebook. His bank pretty much runs things and Governor Bentley’s son was given a job at the bank by Paul Bryant.
Governor Bentley “appointed” a friend of his on the UA BoT to head up a contested project to turn the Gulf Shores public state park into a luxury development. No bid.
And the half has not been told.
Rebekah Mason & the Governor share a safety deposit box.
EXCLUSIVE: The complete Governor Bentley-Mason affair audio recordings and transcripts:
http://yellowhammernews.com/politics-2/complete-bentley-mason-affair-audio-transcripts/
Bentley is toast....................
He’s digging in though!
Reminds me of the governor in Oregon.
How positively Clintonian.
We get our local news from Pensacola and Mobile. Bentley’s problems are on every night just about...............
Ping to new Bentley thread, concerning the mistress’ husband and how much he was paid through the University of Alabama via Paypal in addition to his full time job that the Governor created for him with the State of Alabama.
The law enforcement guy will make bank from his lawsuit:
It’s almost worse since Lewinsky didn’t wield any power. Bentley’s mistress became the de facto governor.
I don’t know Spencer personally but I know people that do know him well, and they universally think the world of him.
He definitely got a very raw deal.
Still haven’t found out what he ‘taught’ at U of A. Been scrubbed from their website.
It’s been interesting to see how the media plays it. The affair was such an open secret and only two people were willing to break the story last year. One a quirky blogger and the other a local lawyer.
Bentley and Mason ordered Alabama law enforcement to use the crime database to investigate them and try and intimidate them.
Then when the story did break with the audio tapes, the Birmingham News fell all over itself trying to claim credit for breaking the story when in reality they sat on it and even published several articles that were straight news releases from Mason helping her cover her tracks!
Maybe OJ needs to put out a reward for the info. I mean, that’s how ridiculous their cover-up is.
One of the professor rating sites might have more information.
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