So, did you hear the one about the contractor and his swim buddy?

You have to admit, there's some humor here. Maybe not if you are one of the guys in the pool, but still your buddy's wife steers a big fat public works contract your way and then, a few months later, there you are with her husband in a swimming pool in Bermuda. Funny! In an ABC sitcom sort of way.

Purportedly, Walker Sanders of the Community Foundation (left) with John Lomax of Lomax Construction in Bermuda.

Still, I know blogger Billy Jones (AKA, Billy the Blogging Poet) didn't bring it to our attention for our amusement. He legitimately wondered, was there some quid pro quo or some hinky back-scratching going on when a picture surfaced purportedly of John Lomax, of Lomax Construction and Lomax Properties, in a pool in Bermuda with Walker Sanders whose wife Dabney, as downtown greenway project manager for Action Greensboro, had steered $788,690.01 in public funds for construction of a portion of the greenway to Lomax' control as construction manager just a few months prior to the vacation. (Greensboro City Council minutes, p. 23)

So, follow the money, right? I did. When City Council approved these funds, it required that Lomax follow the city's bidding procedures and hire a company to do the work. In other words, the nearly $800,000 was not going to Lomax, he was asked to manage it through a bidding process that adhered to the City's guidelines right down to minority business participation.

With swift, complete and much appreciated help from the City's department of Engineering & Inspections, I have received the winning bid, it was awarded to Yates Construction, Inc. in the amount of $779,466.25. That money goes not to Lomax, but to Yates.

While the City allowed Lomax to charge a 6 percent management fee for the project, the total fees and construction costs cannot exceed the $788,690.01 approved maximum. As it worked out, only about 1 percent of that remains for Lomax's management fees after construction costs. That's $9,223.76.

Not to be lost in the math is the fact that there is no indication that Lomax paid for the Sanders' trip to Bermuda (for that matter, I am not even aware of any indication that Dabney Sanders was on the trip). Even if he did, however, he would have paid what Orbitz says would be at least $7,000 in travel and hotel alone as a reward for his roughly $9,000.

Even if it was just, "Hey, let's go spend the nine grand I made on the project," however, it might rightly rub some people the wrong way for Lomax to have paid for Mr. & Mrs. Sanders to go to Bermuda under these circumstances. But if that's what happened (and remember, there is no indication that's what happened or that Dabney Sanders was on the trip) the contract was put out to bid. The public's interests were protected. How Lomax spends his small compensation is his business and the appearance of any impropriety by Mr. & Mrs. Sanders is between them and the organizations they represent, in my opinion.

I have emailed Dabney Sanders, referred her to this post and asked if John Lomax paid for the trip.