Federal Authorities Investigate MLK National Memorial Project Foundation for Questionable Bidding Practices

On May 15, 2008, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Interior is investigating the bidding practices and other aspects of operations of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Foundation.  Here is an excerpt from the article:

Among those questioned in the inspector general probe were Atlanta painter Gilbert Young and his wife, Lea Winfrey-Young, leading critics of the memorial foundation.

Winfrey-Young said the couple gave federal investigators records they had collected since they formed the group “King Is Ours” to protest the hiring of Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin, whose works for the Chinese government have included a statue of the late leader Mao Zedong.

Winfrey-Young said her concerns grew about the outsourcing of the project after she was told the foundation had not put the project up for competitive bidding among American artists and had not contacted American granite companies for the stone.

For the entire article, see “Probe targets King memorial group: Finances, bidding practices the focus of federal investigation of project’s foundation,” in the May 15, 2008, issue of the AJC.

DAB