Taggart’s phone conversations released
Editor’s note: In addition to the story below regarding Maurice Taggart, there is a letter to the editor from him on the editorial page as well as a column by reporter Eplunus Colvin on Taggart. This package also includes two links about Taggart, one containing recordings of conversations with him by Colvin and another containing files of various text conversations he had with The Commercial staff, including the editor, Byron Tate. Be advised, the phone calls and text strings contain words that some may find offensive.
“You can rest assured, them sons of b***hes are not through with me. They’re trying to bury my ass. They ain’t through with me. I guarantee it. I know how they operate. They are going to use influence.” — Maurice Taggart, former director of Pine
Bluff Urban Renewal Agency, now deceased.
It was as if Maurice Taggart knew his life would no longer be the same after distancing himself from Go Forward Pine Bluff, the Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency and a political action committee.
Taggart, 43, the husband of Jefferson County Clerk Shawndra Taggart, was fatally shot on Aug. 30. According to the Pine Bluff Police Department, which responded to a domestic disturbance call at the couple’s Pine
Bluff residence, his son, Justice Taggart, was wounded by gunfire during what officials said was a struggle that involved a gun. The elder Taggart was shot twice, once in the back and once in the upper shoulder, according to a source who was familiar with a state medical examiner’s report.
During the six months leading up to his death, Taggart spoke freely with The Commercial,
allowing many of his telephone conversations to be recorded. His last conversation with the newspaper was the day before he died. Taggart said he hoped that his voice would one day be heard, especially following his arrest.
In early June, Taggart and Roderick Morris of Texas were charged with 46 counts of forgery and 38 counts of theft of property in a scheme that officials said bilked the Urban Renewal agency out of $667,384 by submitting fake invoices for asbestos testing and house demolitions that prosecutors claimed never happened.
When Taggart was contacted by The Commercial about the charges, he declined to comment on the record, but he did post a note later in the evening to a social media account: “To all my clients, like I always tell you, you’re innocent UNLESS proven guilty. In light of that, just know that I remain steadfast in representing each of you and that won’t change. If I’ll fight tooth and nail for you, imagine what I’ll do for myself,” he stated.
From the criminal charges to accusations from clients who claimed Taggart took payment without rendering services, it was always Taggart’s voice – kept silent because of the criminal case against him – that was missing from all of those stories reported by The Commercial – until now.
In this 1½-hour Pine Bluff Commercial production of The Newsroom’s Web series special, the voice that Taggart thought he would have during his criminal court case can now be heard.
Taggart said he wanted his side of events to be told. He shared with the newspaper that he kept copies of documentation and he longed for the day when he could share it all.
From his relationship with Go Forward Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff city officials and the inner workings of Pine Bluff Urban Renewal, Taggart provided The Commercial with conversations, text messages and emails between himself and several officials, which he said he could easily access through his cellphone. The text messages are online at arkansasonline.com/1022mttexts.
In these recordings, he talks about his relationships with power players in Pine Bluff, his opinion on why prosecuting attorney Kyle Hunter did not recuse himself from his criminal case, the betrayal he felt from Pine Bluff Urban Renewal officials and the love/hate relationship he had with Go Forward Pine Bluff.
He also spoke about the intentional and, in his view, the unethical ways that Go Forward, Urban Renewal and the city operated and how some of the decisions made didn’t pass “the smell test,” going on to explain how the 2017 sales tax proceeds can be moved through several departments including Parks and Recreation.
In his conversations with The Commercial, he mentions, the late Bill Bridgforth, a Pine Bluff attorney; Chandra Griffin, PBURA executive director; Ryan Watley, CEO of GFPB; Tommy May, GFPB chairman; Jimmy Dill, PBURA chairman; Codney Washington, former volunteer director of The Generator who is Mayor Shirley Washington’s son; Lloyd Franklin Sr., PBURA treasurer; Chuck Morgan, head of Relyance Bank; and Marty Casteel of Simmons bank to name a few.
Taggart and Morris allegedly stole the money from Urban Renewal between May 2019 and August 2021. According to a previous interview with Hunter, the prosecuting attorney said the charges were the result of a State Police investigation that began in July 2022 when Hunter contacted the agency and asked for assistance.
Taggart ran Urban Renewal, resigning in September 2021 to practice law, opening up Taggart Law Firm.
In Taggart’s letter of resignation to the board, dated Sept. 14, 2021, he stated that he would resign effective Sept. 30.
“I have decided to take on a role in the private sector which will prevent me from giving the full attention necessary to complete many of our ongoing projects,” the letter reads. “The decision to resign was a difficult one and after careful consideration, I know it is in the best interest of my family and URA.”
Before his ties with Urban Renewal were cut, Taggart agreed to work temporarily as a paid consultant with the agency.
“If my services are needed in the future, I will gladly consider on a short-term basis to help ensure URA remains on task towards completing what we started,” Taggart said. “I appreciate the support, I appreciate the citizens of Pine Bluff, their support over the years, and their continued support.”
During the recorded conversations with Taggart, with his permission, he discussed several accusations that made headlines such as him chairing a political action committee, the goal of which was to raise money for city council candidates who would support Go Forward Pine Bluff.
He shared an email with The Commercial between him and Tommy May dated March 10, 2022. Taggart said he composed the language of the letter and May approved.
The letter read: Dear __________________
You recently received a letter from __________ requesting your financial support of candidates for the City Council whose platforms reflect the values and spirit of what the citizens of Pine Bluff voted for in 2017. We think it is important for you to know which candidates the ____________ has decided to support in the upcoming Council races. Listed below are those candidates that we have determined are best suited for delivering on the promises that were made to the citizens.
Ward 1: Latisha Brunson Ward 2: Glen Brown Jr. Ward 3: Lanette Frazier and Quaranner Q Cotledge Ward 4: Andrea Dean We are excited about their campaign and their ability to serve our community. Again, please consider pledging your financial support to each Political Action Committee (“PAC”) so that we may help to these candidates.
—
Maurice L. Taggart, Esquire
“We will either find a way or make one” —Hannibal of Carthage
—
Taggart also talked about how his life and relationships began to diminish after stepping down as the chairman of PAC. He shared another letter with The Commercial, dated March 16, 2022, that he sent to several recipients including May, George Makris, head of Simmons Bank, Marty Casteel, Bill and Julie Bridgforth, Watley, Morgan and several others involved with the PAC.
That letter reads: Morning Team. I recently accepted a business opportunity which would require additional time and energy in addition to my current responsibilities running my own firm. As such, it’s in the best interest of both myself and the PAC that I resign as a member. As always, if my services are needed in the future and the timing is right, I stand ready to do my part towards ensuring Pine Bluff regains her prominence as a hub for Southeast Arkansas and the state.
Thanks again for your confidence in my leadership and your friendship. Maurice
—
“I stepped down. Some people didn’t like that,” said Taggart to The Commercial. “I wouldn’t let them use my name. Folks didn’t like that neither.”
In a text message exchange with The Commercial, Taggart wrote:
“I’ve got something to say about the lawsuits by clients, lawsuit about Relyance, URA, GFPB and the mayor. I’ll never say anything negative about her because she’s so close to my family and I love her like a mother though she has shown me where he(r) loyalty lies…and it ain’t with MT.”
In another text message exchange with The Commercial, Taggart explained how getting off the PAC turned everyone involved against him in an effort of trying to damage him because he was not cooperating any longer.
“They used Chandra to ‘get me’ by any means necessary. She’s my wife’s sorority sister and came clean after I confronted her…I literally ‘raised’ her to be the ED. She cried. After I got off, Bill [Bridgforth] called me and said I’d regret it … in so many word(s).”
Taggart said the State Police investigation started after his resignation, and the contract he had with Urban Renewal as a consultant was abruptly cut off.
Other admissions by Taggart included the Relive Downtown Plan and how GFPB paid $250,000 for it upfront but then submitted an invoice to the city to be paid back.
“Aint nobody taking no loss but the tax,” said Taggart. “They’ll always get their money back.”
Taggart talked about how he was always under pressure and the level of influence Go Forward Pine Bluff has, and he referred to himself as the “sacrificial lamb.”
“I’ve been around here a long time and I’ve been on the inside for a long time,” said Taggart. “Some people don’t like when you … well I’ll say this … When I worked for Urban Renewal I had to answer to other people. When I went into business for myself, I didn’t have to answer to nobody.”
Taggart explained that in regard to some of the things that he may have been involved in while working at Urban Renewal, he decided not to continue those once he went into his own business.
“Some things that I may have been asked to do or support, I couldn’t support,” said Taggart.
Taggart refuted any argument that Go Forward and Urban Renewal were, for practical purposes, separate entities.
Watley had explained his side of the story during a Facebook live interview with The Commercial, saying how Urban Renewal activities had been turned in to the State Police for investigation and that Urban Renewal fell under the city and was a separate entity from Go Forward Pine Bluff.
“Ryan can’t separate himself from Urban Renewal,” Taggart told The Commercial.
According to Watley, in a previous interview with The Commercial, after inquiries on how much Urban Renewal was spending on demolitions, at the mayor’s request, Griffin began to go through invoices to tabulate the amounts spent.
Griffin was the administrative assistant to Taggart while he was executive director.
Watley said Griffin came across invoices from the RM Group that she had never seen before and she didn’t recognize the name on them.
“She looked at the amount that was paid and immediately was very upset and so was I of what was going on,” said Watley, who said Griffin spoke with the mayor first about her findings and then came and told him, stating the mayor had turned it over to the State Police.
As far as how something like this happens, Watley said it was the appearance of working every day and the normal business process. He also explained in a live video that the payment requests also require an Urban Renewal board member’s signature before they are turned over to the city clerk’s office, which won’t pay an invoice without proper documentation.
City Attorney Althea Scott said then she was not a part of the discovery or included in any discussions on what should be done about the missing money, and was later notified by the mayor that there may be an investigation that had to do with Taggart and that Hunter was handling it.
According to Scott, she didn’t know any details of the investigation and said the mayor’s office “championed it from the beginning to end.”
Washington has said in a previous interview that they were instructed by authorities not to speak about the investigation.
Griffin also released a statement stating the PBURA first discovered discrepancies between its records and the city’s and immediately reported those issues to the proper authorities.
“PBURA has fully cooperated with the investigation into this matter,” the statement read. “The PBURA will continue to cooperate with law enforcement authorities throughout with the goal of properly upholding the public trust.”
In a June 2023 interview with Taggart’s attorney, Ronald Davis of Ronald L. Davis Jr. & Associates PLLC of Little Rock, he said that regardless of what is contained in the information that was filed, they were going to vigorously contest the charges and that Taggart was innocent.
In a recent state Legislative Joint Auditing Committee held in Little Rock earlier this month, where Washington and Griffin were there to explain audit findings identified by the committee, including Parks and Recreation disbursements and debt payments of more than $600,000 and the misappropriation of $667,384, the lack of oversight was forgiven with a reassurance from Washington that all mistakes made had been corrected.
“I am also not surprised that the legislative audit was a nonevent,” said PBURA official Kirby Mouser during the Urban Renewal meeting held on Tuesday. “We did everything right and they obviously recognized that. There’s things we can do better and the city can do better … but we did everything that we were supposed to do.”
It was also noted during the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee presentation that with Taggart’s recent passing, the other individual charged is scheduled for a jury trial on March 11, 2024.
Taggart himself often said to The Commercial this was bigger than him and how he didn’t know whom to trust and that he feared for his safety. On Aug. 18, Taggart made a ZOOM appearance that displayed his name only during a city council committee meeting where the 2017 sales tax was being discussed.
He shared with The Commercial how he knew that action made many uncomfortable, considering he had been out of the political spotlight for a while. Shortly after that, at his request, the recorded conversations with the newspaper stopped, but even though the recordings were no longer being made, his previous conversations remained. And one element that continued throughout his conversations with The Commercial was his pronouncement that at some point, he would tell all.
“To them, it’s like well Maurice Taggart getting screwed over versus another seven years of $4 million a year. Well let’s see $28 million versus Maurice Taggart getting screwed over? Hey we gonna take Maurice Taggart getting screwed over to save the $28 million,” said Taggart. “… I will say this, I was intimately involved in all decisions and like I told him (Ryan), look man, let the cards fall where they may but remember now, what you don’t want is for me to start talking.”