# 2024-12 Maddox-Rogers Bid-Waiver Signoff (Flock Cameras Thread) On December 30, 2024 — twelve days after Chief Chris Harris executed the Flock Safety contract — Mayor's-Office Procurement Manager **Tiffany Maddox** and Chief of Staff **Felicia T. Rogers** approved Chief Harris's plan to fund the procurement through asset-forfeiture funds and instructed him to draft the Council ordinance with bid-waiver language. The signoff is the Mayor's-Office institutional clearance for the procurement structure that Council later ratified on January 14, 2025 as [[Ordinance O-25-09 — LPR Bid Waiver and Asset Forfeiture Appropriation|Ordinance O-25-09]]. ## Sequence (December 30, 2024, all CT) 1. **3:29 PM** — Chief Chris Harris emails Tiffany Maddox: *"I plan to go to the council in January to use forfeiture money to purchase Flock license plate reader cameras… these cameras are used by all central Arkansas law enforcement agencies, ensuring system compatibility, which is why there are no other quotes. Is there anything else I need to do before Celeste drafts the ordinance?"* 2. **4:18 PM** — Maddox forwards to Felicia Rogers, raising ARPA-funding alternatives and procurement-process questions. 3. **4:20 PM** — Maddox to Harris: *"I am checking in with Felicia… I should have a response to you by tomorrow morning if that is okay?"* 4. **4:26 PM** — Felicia Rogers to Maddox: *"No ma'am! This is a great use of Asset forfeiture funds. The City's ARPA funding is allocated and had to be obligated by 12/31/2024. I am not for sure of the procurement method since all of central Arkansas uses these cameras for contiguity purposes. So council may have to waive the competitive bid process if needed."* 5. **4:31 PM** — Maddox to Harris: *"I heard back from Felicia, and you are good go. Just have Celeste include language in the ordinance asking Council to waive the competitive bid process since this is to ensure system compatibility."* 6. **4:59 PM** — Harris to Maddox: *"I will do it. I appreciate all of your help!"* The Mayor's-Office signoff was complete within 90 minutes of Harris's initial ask. ## Significance - **The Mayor's-Office institutional clearance preceded the Council ordinance by 15 days and post-dated Harris's contract execution by 12 days.** The order is: (a) Harris executes the contract on 2024-12-18; (b) Maddox-Rogers approve the procurement structure on 2024-12-30; (c) Celeste Phillips drafts the ordinance on 2025-01-02; (d) Maddox edits the draft on 2025-01-02 (see [[2025-01 Maddox Advises Strip Sole-Source Language (Ordinance for Review Thread)]]); (e) Council passes O-25-09 on 2025-01-14. - **The ARPA alternative was considered and rejected.** Maddox's initial impulse — model on Little Rock's 2021 ARPA-funded LPR purchase — was eliminated by Rogers's reply citing the City's 2024-12-31 ARPA obligation deadline. - **The "system compatibility" justification is identical to the one Chief Harris had used internally and to the one the executed ordinance ultimately uses.** The Mayor's Office did not seek a competing technical justification; it took the system-compatibility framing as given. ## Sources - [[Pre-Council Procurement Coordination Dec 2024 – Jan 2025]] — the thread file. ## Cross-references - [[2024-12 Harris Pivots to Asset Forfeiture]] — Harris's 2024-12-13 internal pivot; this Mayor's-Office signoff is the 17-days-later operational continuation. - [[2024-12 Contract Signed by Chief Harris via DocuSign]] — the 2024-12-18 contract execution. - [[2025-01 Maddox Advises Strip Sole-Source Language (Ordinance for Review Thread)]] — the next link in the chain. - [[2025-01 Conway City Council Authorizes Flock Purchase (Ordinance O-25-09)]] — the Council vote that ratified what this signoff structured.