CHARLOTTE — Former CMS Board Chair Stephanie Sneed and former CMS employee Raki McGregor teamed up to seek a $400,000 contract with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.
Sneed, Raki McGregor, Kim McGregor, Hannah Perryman and former CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings made the pitch to MCSO in April. MCSO did not move forward with the proposal.
Charlotte Ledger first reported the proposal.
The group called themselves JCG704, LLC and they were pitching the sheriff’s office on a 12 month $400,000 “organizational transformation proposal.”
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The proposal itself was essentially for consulting, leadership training, and social-emotional programming.
“JCG704 LLC proposes a 12-month strategic engagement to implement a seven-pillar transformation model designed to strengthen leadership, elevate public trust, optimize operations, improve program performance, stabilize the workforce, and deliver direct community impact,” the presentation said.
Sheriff Garry McFadden is stressing he did not enter into a contract with the group.
“The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office is responding to a media inquiry and clarifying that it did not enter into or execute a contract with JCG704, LLC, or Qonnect, LLC, related to an organizational transformation proposal submitted to the Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff McFadden said. “The Sheriff’s Office notified the County Manager’s Office of the proposal. No contract was executed by the Sheriff’s Office. To respect the request made by the District Attorney’s Office to the State Bureau of Investigation, the Sheriff’s Office will not make any further statements regarding this inquiry at this time.”
Because of Sneed’s involvement, several questions are raised, including:
- Is it ethical for Stephanie Sneed to work with Raki and Kim McGregor on this project given their ties to CMS?
- Did the CMS Board know about the partnership between Sneed and McGregor? Former Superintendent Dr. Crystal Hill says the Board was in the dark about McGregor’s ties to the CMS At-Home project, a contract Sneed signed.
- Is it appropriate for Sneed to seek a contract with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, when county tax dollars fund it?
The same taxes that fund the sheriff’s office also fund CMS. In order for the sheriff’s office to pay the $400,000, the group suggested using money for things they said weren’t mandatory like community engagement, rehabilitation services and nonmandated training.
Sneed did not respond to a request for comment.