Jacksonville City Manager: Lon Morris Property Auctioned without Consent

JACKSONVILLE � Confusion has engulfed the sale of Lon Morris college this week. KETK reports several properties were allegedly auctioned off by AmeriBid, the company handling the sale, that were not to be sold — but rather handed over the city of Jacksonville. According to Jacksonville City Manager Mo Raissi, the rodeo grounds, a recreation center, and a practice field were bid on and won by Jacksonville-based office supplier 11 x 17 Inc. He claims real estate auctioned by AmeriBid must have approval of city management, but they never gave approval to the auction company for those properties. Though the real estate has not technically been sold, the sale is scheduled to be finalized February 4. The winning bids were announced Tuesday.

AmeriBid Spokesman Carl Carter responded to KETK via phone. According to Carter, “All [AmeriBid] did was let people bid on it. Nothing is sold until February 4, unless the city wants to sell [the property]. All we did is generate an offer for a property the city wanted sold. [The City of Jacksonville] doesn’t have to take it,” said Carter. “This was a unique situation, a unique sale with different lenders involved. Everything was done with everybody’s knowledge.” Lon Morris, the oldest junior college in Texas, filed for bankruptcy back in July 2012.