Dr. Dixon has said repeatedly that all Johnson Controls will make on the Red Plan is 2 percent. This is either a lie or an example of gross incompetence on his part. Here’s what the District’s March 16th Two-Page DNT ad said about it:
“For assessing the district’s needs and overseeing public discussions over an 18-month period, Johnson Controls received a lump sum of $250,000. For program managment over a 5-year period, according to its contract with the district, the company will receive 2 percent of the project’s construction costs. Other fees for design and engineering will flow throu Johnson Controls to other design firms and professional services providers.”
This is a little more subtle but Dixon has repeatedly used the 2% ceiling.
But Let Duluth Vote has an experienced Contract manager who has looked at the JCI contract (which was gotten only after filing a Minnesota Data Privacy Request” for this very public information. Here’s his analysis:
He adds up income totaling $92 million dollars. That’s more than a third of the cost of the Red Plan. That’s a considerable improvement on Dr. Dixon’s laughable 2% claim.
Don’t expect to read this in the Duluth News Tribune. When Robert Aho first told them that the contract JCI offered him was a menace to the public good they decided it wasn’t worth a story. Then again the District has set aside $150,000 (three teacher’s worth) to advertise much of it going to the Trib. Why spoil a good thing when you can get a piece of the action as the District wrestles with its growing budget shortfall?
