Tag: Commentary

Sunday Sermon: A Ruth-less World Falls into a Grain Bin of Truth

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Gleaning on Everlasting Farms

Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012

Augusta, GA

By Al Gray

One of the most moving stories in the Bible is the story of Ruth. The story is one of devotion in how Ruth was faithful to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Compassion flows from the wealthy farmer, Boaz, toward the two of them. Later the compassion turned to love. The whole story is one of inspiration.

The quality most often missed in this story is toughness and tenacity.

These passages were taken from the Bible Gateway, New International Version.

1 Long ago, during the time the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man named Elimelech left the town of Bethlehem in Judah. He, his wife, and his two sons moved to the country of Moab. 2 The man’s wife was named Naomi… Later  5 … Naomi was left alone without her husband or her two sons.

8 Then Naomi told her daughters-in-law, “Each of you should go back home to your mother. You have been very kind to me and my sons who are now dead. So I pray that the LORD will be just as kind to you…” 14 So again they cried very much. Then Orpah kissed Naomi goodbye, but Ruth hugged her and stayed.

16 ….Ruth said, “Don’t force me to leave you! Don’t force me to go back to my own people. Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you sleep, I will sleep. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. I ask the LORD to punish me if I don’t keep this promise: Only death will separate us.”

22 So Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth, the Moabite, came back from the hill country of Moab. These two women came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Chapter 2: 1 There was a rich man named Boaz living in Bethlehem. 2 One day Ruth, the Moabite, said to Naomi, “I think I will go to the fields. Maybe I can find someone who will be kind to me and let me gather the grain they leave in their field.” Naomi said, “Fine, daughter, go ahead.”

3 So Ruth went to the fields. She followed the workers who were cutting the grain and gathered the grain that was left. [b] It happened that part of the field belonged to Boaz…

5 Boaz spoke to his servant who was in charge of the workers. He asked, “Whose girl is that?” 6 The servant answered, “She is the Moabite woman who came with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 She came early this morning and asked me if she could follow the workers and gather the grain that was left on the ground. She rested only a short time in that shelter.” [c]

8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, child. Stay here in my field to gather grain for yourself. There is no need for you to go to any other field. Continue following behind my women workers. 9 Watch to see which fields they go into to cut the grain and follow them. I have warned the young men not to bother you. When you are thirsty, go and drink from the same water jug my men drink from.”

10 Then Ruth bowed very low to the ground. She said to Boaz, “I am a foreigner, so I am surprised you even noticed me.” 11 Boaz answered her, “I know about all the help you have given to your mother-in-law Naomi. I know you helped her even after your husband died. And I know that you left your father and mother and your own country and came here to this country. You did not know anyone from this country, but you came here with Naomi. 12 The LORD will reward you for all the good things you have done. The LORD, the God of Israel, will pay you in full. You have come to him for safety, [d] and he will protect you.”

Wikipedia defines “gleaning” as:  the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers’ fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest.

This writer has made a living from gleaning.

Gleaning requires stubbornness in refusing to accept that all the good has been gotten out of anything. Ruth succeeded in getting enough barley grain to sustain her and Naomi, even before Boaz intervened to make certain Ruth got a bounty.

Gleaning involves excelling above the average competitor. Boaz had field hands – the Book of Ruth makes clear that they were both men and women workers – charged with gathering his riches of grain. Ruth had to work harder and know where to look for grain kernels that fell amongst the chaff, the soil, and ruts of the field. She probably knew exactly what to look for in discovering hidden caches.

Gleaning involves overcoming politics to even be allowed on the field. Surely in that day some owners begrudged the gleaners harvests considering the grain to be “mine” to the point of letting it rot away. We all know and have seen this attitude.

The farmer’s foremen could not have liked the idea of having gleaners around. When the gleaner’s gathered too great a bounty, it would make them look bad in the eyes of the boss. One can bet that, where the foreman had his say, the fields were closed to gleaners. You may have noticed that only part of the field belonged to Boaz.

Gleaning also provides a sense of pride. We cannot help but notice that Ruth continued to glean after she found favor in the eyes of Boaz. He seems to have respected that by letting her earn her own support, probably knowing Ruth would never have accepted outright gifting of the grain. Politics came to the fore on that too, because of the resentment of his paid workers that would have ensued, had the grain been gifted.

Finally, gleaning is just plain common sense. Rather than let unappreciated, uncaptured resources continue to be squandered, it puts them to work providing sustenance to the resourceful, the committed, and the faithful.

The economic and financial times we find ourselves in is giving way to gleaning in myriad fields and ways like wood waste to fuel, scrap steel to recycling, ebay sales of what was “junk” discarded by unappreciative owners but recaptured by the gleaners, and cost recovery reviews that find wasted monies that can fund new, productive ventures.

Political resistance is futile against something so filled with common sense, purpose, proven results, productivity, self-worth, and founded in the works of Ruth. Many fields are fertile from discarded wastes of all descriptions that remain closed. They shouldn’t be and they won’t be isolated much longer. There are strong forces in play that won’t allow it.

We don’t have to glean much to be captivated by the words of Ruth that have descended through the ages, “Entreat me not to leave thee, and to return from following after thee, for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.”

Ruth’s example is not lost. Indeed it soon will emerge triumphant as we turn away from the abyss.

Glean on.***

Al Gray

Al Gray: Attention Mr. Mayor

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Mayor Deke Copenhaver

Originally posted by CityStink
Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012
Augusta, GA
By Al Gray

The author, Al M. Gray, was President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

Attention Mr. Mayor:

Look… I am approaching 60. I was/am semi-retired. I quit doing formal audit work YEARS ago unless it is an existing client. I like doing COST RECOVERY WORK on a percentage basis – no results and you don’t pay. When I do one of those the deal is basically this…

Mr. CLIENT, old Al will do his best to get your money back and only gets paid for results. You ain’t suing him and you are gonna sign up that way. If you INSIST on being able to sue old Al and want all of those fancy formal audit programs done, the rate is $525 an hour and old Al will take his sweet time being real particular. For all the stalkers out there, that is the deal. And NO, old Al AIN’T a Certified Forensic Auditor – his late friend Mike Hall was. This being said, Old Al got off the couch and dusted off his skills and is finding – to the politicians’ pain – that his old skills are pretty darned good, and the new ones the Colco so-and-so’s made him learn are just plain DY-NO-MITE. Thank you much for the new line of work. Hugs and kisses – the Arrowflinger.

Mr. Mayor Copenhaver, I will give you a discount, but only if it goes to the Salvation Army or some such. It don’t take many arrows for old Al to make it and he don’t need to recover them what’s stickin outta your hide.

Mr Plunk-it ain’t writin’ the contract neither.

While we’s at it….. old Al, after Randy Oliver figured that contractors own Augusta, went and done sumthin real radical….. He spent $1200 on some of them big winder envelopes likin them banks started usin in about 2000 or so….. you know dem that made you LOOK….. well old Al used Photoshop to cram the corporate logo of them fancy Fortune 500 companies NOBODY could get in the door of widout spending $10 grand into the maw of that big old great white shark like that’n in Jaws….. yep old Al sent dem letters all over the USA to all them corporate execs….. yep, sho nuff that worked….. Old Al’s renegade marketing got the attention of HUGE great big old companies like Corning, Home Depot, Lowes, Carmike, 3M, Intel, Bristol Myers, Eli Lilly, Duke Power, Bass Pro and great big old heap of others….. Mind you old Al AIN’T STUPID so he is listing these folks because he ain’t got no bidness wid dem….. hahahahaha….. when old Al started jumping on politicians they weren’t gonna be NO WAY IN HELL he was gonna leave some client list on LinkedIn or other such bizzybody places so’s y’all could ruin him….. Hahahahaha….. when old Al ‘gets you’ you done been GOT WID YOUR OWN RECORDS….. so there ya got it, iffn you can catch Old Al’s drift.

Sincerely,
The ArrowFlinger Al Gray

Parking Gate Providing a “Teachable Moment” for City Leaders

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The controversial new $12 million TEE Center parking deck

Originally Posted on CityStink.net
Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012
Augusta, GA

Contributions were made to this article by Al M. Gray, President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

Today, Augusta Commissioners will decide whether to push ahead with a 15 year management contract with Augusta Riverfront, LLC over the controversial new $12,000,000 TEE Center parking deck, or to put the brakes on the deal because of recent revelations that we helped uncover showing that not only does the city not own the land under the deck, but that it has liens on it to secure more than $7,000,000 in debt. Citizen activists Lori Davis and Al Gray, representing the group Augusta Today, who uncovered the information about the land ownership and liens will speak before the commission today to explain why the management agreement should be voted down.

Some people will argue that we just need to move on and approve the deal;  that, yes this ordeal is a mess and there were lots of mistakes made, but that they cannot be undone now and so the best course is to just minimize our losses. But that argument is based on faulty logic. Is this really the best deal the city can negotiate with Augusta Riverfront, LLC? Let’s remember who negotiated it on behalf of the city: Administrator Fred Russell, the same Fred Russell who mislead commissioners on multiple occasions about the land being donated and kept information from them about the liens. Can we really believe that Fred Russell negotiated the best deal possible? It is only slightly better than the one the commissioners voted down a few months ago, and this current proposal has been only slightly improved with what Russell has described as, “minor tweaks.” With the information uncovered in the last couple weeks, is that really good enough? We don’t think so. The fact that this current deal has Russell’s fingerprints all over it is all the justification needed to defeat it.

Commissioner Grady Smith has a better idea. In an interview with WJBF’s George Eskola yesterday, Commissioner Smith said, “I think we should get into the room with the other side, let’s get all the facts on the table.” He is right. The Commissioners themselves should go back to the negotiating table with Paul S Simon of Augusta Riverfront, LLC and see if a better deal can be made, instead of trusting the one that Fred Russell crafted is in the best interest of the taxpayers. Commissioner Smith went on to say, “When you’re dealing with the taxpayers’ money, let’s make sure everything is on the table. A lot of times… where there’s smoke, there’s fire, innuendo’s. Let’s get them clear.” We could not agree more with Commissioner Grady Smith on that point.

Mayor Pro-tem Joe Bowles told Chris Thomas of WRDW that he would “absolutely not” support the current management agreement on the table saying, “It needs to be five years.” It appears to us that our elected officials may be able to do a much better job than Fred Russell in negotiating new terms over the management contract for the TEE Center parking decks.

The Mayor’s Misdirected Outrage

Mayor Deke Copenhaver

It’s not often that Mayor Deke Copenhaver speaks out on an issue of controversy but he finally weighed in on the debate over the TEE Center parking deck and the calls for a deeper investigation. But the Mayor appears to have directed his outrage towards the citizen watchdogs who uncovered the misdeeds rather than the people responsible for the mess. In a lengthy guest column that appeared in this past Sunday’s Augusta Chronicle, the Mayor wrote:

“I also have shared that those individuals and families who are the foundation of my support generally are not the people who grouse and complain through websites, blogs and silly Facebook pages where adults behaving in the most childish manner possible actually invest hours out of each day in trafficking in rumor, innuendo and misinformation while seeing who can act the most absurd.”


We assume that the Mayor is talking about us and Augusta Today.  That’s OK, we don’t mind being called names. And I guess it does mean that the Mayor is paying attention to what we are doing, so that’s a good thing. But, “trafficking rumor, innuendo, and misinformation?” We’re not exactly sure what the Mayor is referring to unless he believes that the city’s own public records contain “misinformation” on the parking deck deal, because that is where we have found most of our evidence thus far. And we would think that the Mayor would also be outraged to learn that there was a pattern of deception to mislead the public and public officials over the TEE Center parking deck: First learning that the land was never donated as promised and then to learn that it has liens on it jeopardizing the city’s air rights. But the Mayor seems to think there’s nothing to it all.

The Mayor also took the time to blast the call for a forensic audit, calling it a, “waste of money.” Actually, we now agree with the Mayor that a forensic audit may be unnecessary, but not because there is not impropriety involved over the TEE Center and parking deck, but rather because we have already proven a pattern of deception found in the public documents that we were able to obtain as well as through newspaper articles going back over 5 years. So in a sense we have already done the forensic audit for the city for free. Now, it all depends on what authorities choose to do with the information we uncovered.

And whereas we appreciate The Mayor’s concern for not “wasting” any more of the taxpayers’ money, that argument does seem to be a bit disingenuous coming from him. The Mayor didn’t seem so concerned about taxpayer money being wasted on huge severance packages going to fired incompetent department heads because Administrator Fred Russell could not keep accurate employee evaluations. The Mayor also did not seem too concerned about tax money being wasted on continuing to fight a loosing lawsuit against the video X-Mart. The Mayor also didn’t speak out when the city’s procurement department was costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of tax dollars in lawsuits. And just recently, The Mayor asked and received $100,000 in tax money for what is essentially a fancy conference room in the middle of Broad Street. This, amid one of the tightest city budgets in years that included layoffs and cuts to nearly every department, including public safety.  But now all of a sudden when it comes to investigating the irregularities over the TEE Center and parking deck, the Mayor is concerned about what he calls, “government waste.”

But in a broader sense what is most troubling is the Mayor’s attitude that all of this should  just be swept under the rug because he thinks it makes the city look bad to outside companies. We agree with the Mayor, yes, building $50,000,000 worth of taxpayer financed facilities on privately owned land with liens attached to it, does indeed make the city look very foolish. But what would make the city look even worse in the eyes of outsiders is to blatantly try to cover it all up and suggest there’s nothing to it all. You see, that’s the dismissive attitude that lead to the financial collapse of 2008. A culture of corruption thrived in the financial sector because of a lack of oversight. Real estate was over valued with our tax dollars, and the folks with the creative accountants and lawyers made out like bandits with the taxpayers bailing them out in the end. We believe that outside companies would be far more concerned with obvious efforts by city officials to try and cover up deception, corruption and the blatant misuse of tax dollars, after all they would be paying large sums in taxes to this city if they chose to locate here.

Albert Einstein once said that, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.” Well, this is certainly not the first time Augusta has found itself in a bad situation over one of these  real estate deals. We would like to remind the Mayor that the the city forgave a $7,500,000 UDAG loan to Augusta Riverfront, LLC back in 1998 over the construction of the Marriott over the objections of then City Administrator Randy Oliver. We have to wonder how this current situation would have been handled differently with someone like Oliver at the helm instead of Russell. Back then, Oliver received some heavy criticism from some very powerful local special interests for raising objections over forgiving the loan. But, then Oliver knew who he worked for, the taxpayers, not the special interests.

The question now before Augusta leaders is, “Will you learn from this error and make sure that it doesn’t happen again?” It is very clear that a lack of oversight contributed to this. We now need our elected officials to be more engaged in the process and not simply trust Fred Russell or the lawyers to provide all of the answers, because it is apparent that the commissioners had extremely important information held from them by the city administrator and the lawyers; and these are people who are supposedly working on behalf of the city and being paid with our tax dollars.

In his Sunday guest column, the Mayor chided certain elected officials (without naming names) for “bullying” certain city employees. We certainly agree with the Mayor that  it is important to maintain decorum at commission meetings and there is certainly no place for insults and name-calling. But we must say that the timing of his column was quite odd. What about the taxpayers who have been “bullied” over this bad deal over the parking deck? It seems that the Mayor could have found the space to address that issue, but instead he seems to think that any criticism of the public employees who are partly responsible for this debacle should be off limits. We could not disagree with him more. We need our commissioners asking more tough questions and holding employees accountable. That’s what we elected them to do. In fact, perhaps if commissioners and the Mayor had been more engaged in the process from the beginning, all of these could have been averted  years ago.

What the Mayor is suggesting is that Appearances should trump The Truth. We could not disagree more. And besides, public officials look the most foolish and suspect in the eyes of the public when they are trying to cover up the truth. It’s always best to get the truth out in the open, admit mistakes were made,  and then learn from them so that the same mistakes cannot be made over and over.  In the case of Parking Gate, we have a teachable moment, how our elected officials choose to learn from it is up to them.***

CS

TEE Center and Parking Deck: A Grand Deception?

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The TEE Center and Parking Deck are tainted with deception

Billy’s Best Bud?

Originally posted by CityStink
February 6, 2012
Augusta, GA
By Indy Injun

The author, Al M. Gray, was President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

Mr. Paul S. Simon has been a successful Augusta business leader, civic-minded patron and is a proud founder of one of the best banks in the area, Savannah River Banking Company. He is admired far an wide. His partner in Augusta real estate ventures, newspaper publisher emeritus Billy Morris, has been a man of similar high regard here from his history of generosity and benevolence.

Admiration stops when it comes to the activities of these men with respect to the TEE Center and Deck controversies. In an article in Morris’ Augusta Chronicle in 2007 it was clearly stated that Augusta Riverfront’s land would be deeded to the city. Subsequent articles told of the land “donation.” The land never got deeded and the donation turned into air. Barry White, of the Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau, wrote July 8, 2007, “Not only does Augusta Riverfront, LLC bring proven expertise, it has offered to donate to the city downtown real estate valued at an estimated $1 million.” The “land valued at $1 million” looks to be underwater because of $7 million in liens. Despite these things these gentlemen never set the record straight, with the assertion that land would be donated continuing to the commission meeting in December 2009 in which the TEE Center was approved. Setting the notion of the grand donation in print and never retracting it certainly looks like deception from this vantage point. See the timeline in one our earlier stories on the matter here —> Deeds and Misdeeds: A “Chronicle” of Promises to Donate Land for TEE Center/Parking Deck.

If someone can show otherwise, please do so and a retraction can be issued.

The deception of the LLC mavens may have been simply neglecting to correct misdirected glowing praise they had first basked in. Indeed there are no documents known to be in the public domain that have their signatures or even business letterhead on to prove anything. Most of the versions of the Term Sheet used in the negotiations even state that the LLC’s would retain the land. If there are ways to tie the Term Sheets back to the LLC mavens, then can’t one conclude that deception was there because they represented to the public one thing while expressing the opposite in private?

The actions of the County Administrator and attorneys look far worse. They represent the greatest malfeasance in office of any public officials that most of us engaged in this matter have ever seen. Their deception of the county commission, the media, and the public looks to have been continuous. Their actions to cater to the financial needs of the LLC’s look to have overridden the public interest that they have been paid to protect. A forensic audit like the one that the County Commission has approved is an appropriate response. The circumstances demand it.

Both county administrator and county attorneys admit to knowing about the Wachovia Bank (now Wells Fargo) liens very early on. They failed to tell the County Commission that the valuable “land donations” were really enormous liabilities. They allowed the $12 million Reynolds Street Parking Deck to be built on land the city mostly doesn’t own and the TEE Center to be built over a parcel the city doesn’t own. Now the city is being forced into retroactively approving contracts that the administrator promised commissioners would be in place up front. The commission is being told, “approve it first and then you get to use the building you constructed.” These are grounds for dismissal in this writer’s opinion.

Attorney Jim Plunkett‘s assertion Monday that the buildings, “had to be built,” before the necessary easements could be established flies in the face of the public’s experience with real estate transactions.

The $1.8 million claimed financing savings from using air rights, the Jackson land swap, and the WAGT purchase to reduce the LLC ownership interest appear bogus. Examination of the situation shows that the only reason higher cost taxable bond financing would have ever been necessary was because the LLC’s were retaining too much ownership. In other words, the interest “savings” came from not losing tax exempt financing on that which would have otherwise been eligible. Isn’t this like setting a neighbor’s house afire, then rushing in with fire extinguishers pretending to be a hero?

The new wrinkle in the TEE story – Assignment of Rents

Why did the attorneys have to maintain the same number of parking spaces for the LLC’s? The truth is probably found in the Assignment of Rents that the LLC’s had also executed with Wachovia Bank. Since the property is entailed and also liened by the Assignment of Rents, that had to be accommodated by going to the air rights package.

The attorneys did not notify the commission about the Assignment of Rents nor did they notify about the security deeds on the property. They failed to do this even though the security deed says that any buildings or structures “hereafter erected” also come under the security deed. How does an attorney let his client build on land under such language without clearing that up first?

Billy Morris got another sweetheart deal at our expense

In the background, coincidentally or otherwise, the LLC’s interests were being sublimely served. The banking crisis that exploded in 2008 spilled over into commercial property markets in 2009 and 2010. Across the nation and especially in Georgia, the epicenter of bank failures, borrowers were being faced with crushing demands by banks, when loans came up for refinancing. Banks increased the amount of equity required and also reappraised properties which were falling in value, generally increasing the amount of new equity required to refinance. Morris Communications announced its bankruptcy filing in March 2009, just as the TEE Center cost estimates were being prepared. The security deed against the deck parcels owned by 933 Broad showed a final payment date of June 30,2009, only a week before the July 2009 commission meeting where the commissioners were first confronted with the terminology about air rights instead of land donation. Did the LLC’s have demands or needs to come up with more collateral like everyone else?

The appraised value of the parcels was $552,000, far less than the loan amount cited in the security deed of $7 million. Now, to clear up one misconception, the $7 million loan seems to have been secured by additional properties, not just the deck land. This being said, commercial property values fell by 20 to 40% locally, which likely prompted action or concern with respect to the LLC loans. Please see the land acquisitions document here—> TEE Center Land Acquisitions. Pay close attention to Page 2.

The Jackson land swap and hot dog stand buy-out must have looked like manna from heaven to those LLC’s. It gave any bank real estate appraiser a comp value of $2.2 million an acre! This would not only have applied to the deck parcels, but the parcel under the Tee Center, and the lands of affiliated Morris Simon entities. It would have relieved the pressure from the reappraisal process.

There is no way of knowing the magnitude of the cash outlays the Jackson swap averted for the LLC’s except that the relative values before and after the swap transaction had to have been huge.

Fred Russell has been less than honest over this deal

Then there is the matter of the effects of Augusta’s Administrator and attorneys hiding the loans and liens from the Augusta Richmond County commission. Approval of the TEE Center was a close thing, with the term sheet initially failing a vote on August 21, 2007, only to be revived and approved later in the meeting. The disclosure of security deeds for a $7 million loan would have been disastrous. Approval would have been impossible. As it was, the commissioners were under the impression that $1 million in land would be donated, not $552,000 of land with $7 million in liens.

Get the picture? Morris Communications announced a restructuring in March 2009 that ended up writing down its debt by more than $100 million. About the same time, or sometime well before construction by the city began on land it doesn’t own, administrator Fred Russell and attorneys had to have been aware of the liens and Assignment of Rents on the Morris LLC property, yet they did nothing to inform the commission! The conclusion is that they had a determination to see the TEE Center built no matter what, even to the extent of hiding material facts from their employers. What kind of discipline or censure is the commission going to respond to that with?

The commission is in a box of these peoples’ making. It has to approve the Conference Center and Reynolds Street Parking Deck Agreements first, before there is any relief from the bank liens. There is no option but to approve the deals. In any other environment couldn’t this be seen as extortion by the county’s own employees?

Why did they do these things?

Forensic Audit Would be Impotent

Despite our call for a forensic audit in the past, this new information would makes the exercise a farce. First of all, Administrator Russell and attorney Plunkett admitted last Monday to knowing about the liens and not telling the commission. Second, the forensic auditor would likely run into the same stonewall of claimed attorney-client privilege and unsigned, undated documents that citizen Lori Davis met in her open records request. Mayor Copenhaver and Finance Chairman Brigham are right that a forensic audit in the face of such pronounced and determined refusal to disclose anything of a material nature would be a fruitless exercise. Commissioner Johnny Hatney very correctly pointed to the need for all agreements with these LLC’s to be audited. It is noted that the two new agreements call for financial audits. Those would be even more worthless than a forensic audit. Those things are rubber stamps.

Serious reforms have to be in place before the Commission votes to approve the new agreements with the LLC’s.

Commissioners have allowed themselves to be trapped in a box

The public simply won’t stand for anything less.

Meanwhile. Mr. Morris is so happy with Administrator Fred Russell that his Augusta Chronicle feted Russell with a tribute piece.

The people of Augusta-Richmond County might have a different tribute in mind.

Commissioners find themselves in a box canyon not of their making. They cannot be happy.***

AG

Citizens Urged to Pack Tomorrow’s Commission Meeting

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Originally posted by CityStink
Monday, Feb. 6, 2012
Augusta, GA
By Al Gray

The author, Al M. Gray, was President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

UPDATE: Exclusive video from the Feb 7 Augusta Commission Meeting.

All concerned citizens of Augusta and surrounding counties are urged to pack tomorrow’s Augusta commission meeting at 5pm. On the agenda is a motion to approve a 15 year management contract with Augusta Riverfront, LLC for the controversial TEE Center parking deck. We urge citizens to call or write their commissioners and ask them to vote NO! And we urge citizens to be present at tomorrow’s commission meeting to show commissioners that you demand accountability. Over the past 4 months we have revealed evidence showing that commissioners were mislead by City Administrator Fred Russell. When the TEE Center and parking deck were approved back on Dec. 9, 2009, Russell explicitly told them not once, but several times that the land for the parking deck would be donated by 933 Broad Investment, LLC, a subsidiary of Augusta Riverfront, LLC, which has connections to William S Morris III, publisher of The Augusta Chronicle. It never was, and commissioners were never told until after they built a $12 million parking deck on land they did not even own.

But making matters worse, we discovered that the property has liens on it as collateral for over $7,000,000 in debt! That includes the city’s air rights! The city administrator knew this all along as well as the real estate attorney hired by the city to facilitate the deals involved in the deck, but they never bothered to tell the commissioners! Now commissioners are being told that they must approve a very lop-sided deal to have the air rights released by the bank. They have been put in a box. It is clearly evident that there was gross malfeasance and downright deceit involved in this parking deck deal. Will commissioners just try and sweep it under the rug tomorrow by approving this very bad deal? That’s up to you. Don’t let them get away with it. This is your money and they have proven that they cannot be trusted with it.  That’s why your presence at tomorrow’s meeting is so important. The other side will try and spin this with more propaganda and more deceit (We have seen that today). Do not be fooled! Tell commissioners that they work for you, not the crony robber barons who have swindled and deceived them and the taxpayers. It is time once and for all to put an end to this madness!

Lori Davis and Al Gray are on the agenda to speak at tomorrow’s commission meeting, representing the citizens activist group Augusta Today. They will make the case on behalf of the citizens as to why this bad deal should be defeated. But they need your support and your presence at the meeting will speak loud and clear. And even if you are not a resident of the city of Augusta, this still affects you. The TEE Center and parking deck were partially paid for through sales taxes, so you helped pay for this mess! So even if you live in Evans, North Augusta, Lincolnton, or Wrens, but spend money in Augusta… you are also urged to attend.

The meeting gets promptly under way at 5:00 pm tomorrow (Tuesday), February 7th at the Municipal Building (Marble Palace) at 530 Greene St, Augusta GA 30901 in the Commission chambers on the 8th floor. You are encouraged to arrive early if you want a seat inside the chambers.

CityStink.net will be releasing more information regarding the TEE Center and Parking Deck Today at 2:30pm, so stay tuned.

Please see new information we uncovered here—-> Parking Gate: A Grand Deception?

In addition to your attendance, please call or write the following Augusta Commissioners to vote NO to this bad deal and stand on the side of the people.


Commissioner Jerry Brigham
District 7
Contact:
Ph: (706) 863-1698 (home)
Ph: (706) 650-1700 (work)
Fx: (706) 650-1141
Email: Cbrigham@augustaga.gov

Commissioner Joe Jackson
District 6
Contact
Ph: (706) 533-7839 (home)
Fx: (706) 821-1838
Email: JtJackson@augustaga.gov

Commissioner Matt Aitken
District 1
Contact
Ph: (706) 724-4377 (home)
Ph: (706) 564-6281 (cell)
Fx: (706) 821-1838
Email: MAitken@augustaga.gov

Commissioner Joe Bowles
District 3
Contact
Ph: (706) 733-9074 (home)
Ph: (706) 825-6894 (work)
Fx: (706) 210-1871
Email: Mayorpro-temBowles@augustaga.gov

Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle
District 8
Contact
Ph: (706) 592-2385 (home)
Ph: (706) 796-3444 (work)
Fx: (706) 821-1838
Email: CWayneGuilfoyle@augustaga.gov

Commissioner Grady Smith
Super District 10
Contact
Ph: (706) 825-9473 (cell)
Ph: (706) 733-9473 (work)
Fx: (706) 821-1838
No email available

Commissioner Alvin Mason
Dist 4
Contact
Ph: (706) 955-6130
Fx: (706) 821-1838
Email: amason@augustaga.gov

Commissioner J.R. Hatney
Super District. 9
Contact<
Ph: (706) 722-5035 (home)
Ph: (706) 726-8186 (cell)
Fx: (706) 821-1838
Email: Jhatney@augustaga.gov

Commissioner Corey Johnson
Dist. 2
Contact
Ph: (706) 736-4435 (home)
Ph: (706) 993-0224 (cell)
Fx: (706) 821-1838
Email: CJohnson5@augustaga.gov

Commissioner Bill Lockett
Dist. 5
Contact
Ph: (706) 798-7175 (home)
Ph: (706) 825-1847 (cell)
Fx: (706) 821-1838
Email: Wlockett@augustaga.gov

Sunday Sermon: Nehemiah Gazes on Augusta

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Listening to Old Nehemiah

Scripture for the Mayor’s Next Prayer Breakfast

Originally posted on CityStink
Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012
Augusta, GA
By Al Gray

The author, Al M. Gray, was President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

Local and state leaders are stuck on “moving forward” to the point of absurdity. There is a whole book in the bible that supports that positive , literally constructive, approach. The book of Nehemiah is a tribute to building and teamwork. The fifth chapter abruptly tells a different tale. There, readers see Israel in the throes of a depression, even as the great temple was being built. Nehemiah, perhaps as wise as was Solomon, saw dislocations happening and sprang into action before things spun out of control.

History repeats, it is said. Nehemiah would recognize our time well. There was a great famine. People could not repay their loans. Between taxes and debts they lost their lands and were forced to sell their children into slavery. By some accounts there was a dearth, more people than the land or economy could support.

There are many versions of the Bible to study that take on these problems in different contexts. I like the words of Nehemiah found in the Bible Gateway’s Easy to Read Version. 

When I heard their complaints, I was very angry. 7 I calmed myself down, and then I went to the rich families and the officials… Then I called for all the people to meet together 8 and said to them, “Our fellow Jews were sold as slaves to people in other countries. We did our best to buy them back and make them free. And now, you are selling them like slaves again!”

The rich people and officials kept quiet. They could not find anything to say.9 So I continued speaking. I said, “What you people are doing is not right! You know that you should fear and respect our God. You should not do the shameful things other people do! 10 My men, my brothers, and I are also lending money and grain to the people. But let’s stop forcing them to pay interest on these loans. 11 You must give their fields, vineyards, olive fields, and houses back to them, right now! …”

12 Then the rich people and the officials said, “We will give it back and not demand anything more from them. Nehemiah, we will do as you say.”

Then I called the priests. I made the rich people and the officials promise to God that they would do what they said. 13 Then I shook out the folds of my clothes. I said, “God will do the same thing to everyone who does not keep their promise. God will shake them out of their houses and they will lose everything they worked for. They will lose everything!”

I finished saying these things and all the people agreed. They all said, “Amen” and praised the LORD. So the people did as they had promised.

In Verse 14, a too-big government was oppressing the people. What Nehemiah did was stunning.

The people were also greatly oppressed by the servants and officers of the governor; but, during the twelve years that Nehemiah had been with them, he took not this salary, and ate none of their bread. Nor were his servants permitted to take or exact any thing from them. Having such an example, it was scandalous for their chiefs, priests, and nobles, thus to oppress an afflicted and distressed people.

The Lesson For AUGUSTA Today

We have a problem like that of Nehemiah and his people. The demographics of the baby boom population were always bound to produce a dearth. This writer acknowledged it and planned for it. The dearth was scheduled to strike after 2020, but it is of the here and now. The greatest wave of financial corruption the world has ever seen – ever-morphing, expanding with the speed of instantaneous communication and power of globalism – has sped up this dreadful time by a full decade.

In desperation, the formerly wealthy who were largely wiped out in 2008 have seized upon their political domination to restore their fortunes. If they go unchecked, there will be no American middle class in a scant 5 years. Are these things happening in Augusta, as elsewhere? Yes, they are.

When the share price of the demised Wachovia Bank fell from $57 to $2 and Regions Bank suffered a similar tumble in 2007 and 2008, some in the know say it took a $billion out of the wealth of Augusta. This writer estimates the losses at more than $600 million. Commercial and residential real estate, particularly resort homes, crashed in value.

These were sledgehammer blows to the wealthy class and would have permanently shifted wealth to those who planned, saved, trained, and invested for these times. Those who lost want none of that. Their excesses of power and influence have been stunning, taking us to the brink of extinguishing the rule of law and flaunting the laws of mathematics.

The first levers of power to be engaged were over government contracts, stimulus funds, capital projects, and tax incentives. $50 million in improvements on lands Augusta doesn’t own, $millions in federal stimulus money dumped on Laney Walker to the benefit of the whitest of Columbia County developers who had lost in the crash, an unannounced ‘opportunity zone’ foisted upon Harrisburg, and a public housing project in Martinez greased by massive lobbyist funds to the highest of Georgia officials are overwhelming evidence. These are just the incidences that have been disclosed. More are coming.

Into the maw of this chasm of government money and power, a group of local citizens has sprung forth to meet it head on. This writer is proud to be amongst them. The danger to our fortunes, occupations, freedom, and even our lives is palpable. There have been threats. We acknowledge them and move forward with firm resolve. In the scant 4 months since the Augusta Today Facebook group, City Stink and ArrowFlinger Reports have been created, the results have been stunning and the support from the community has been overwhelming, yet humbling. We thank you all for that. I believe that through similar efforts we can claw Augusta and America back from the brink of an apocalypse.

The approach is simple. We formed a nucleus of dedicated researchers, professionals, and public policy freaks to identify, plan, document, execute, and publicize projects, supported by a guarded social network that now exceeds 200.  We pull from professional resources from across America. We try to excel in presenting documents for the public to examine on line that buttress our case. If there is opposition, they find themselves not in argument with our findings but in direct confrontation with their own deeds, words and documents! This was our plan from the outset. Its effectiveness is an epic success.

If one thinks upon it, the approach of turning government and power back upon itself can be seen as a form of martial-arts in which size and force of the opponent is his own worst enemy. We give the broadcast media a knowledge base and stories that cannot be fully explored in the two minutes or less that they have on the air. In these times of swift, yet unrecognized, shifts in local fortunes and power, we may prove instrumental in restoring the free market to the process, as traditional media remains welded to the past, unwilling to risk offending those who have failed. The past belongs to those who failed. We embrace the future with relish.

What can you do to help? First, you can form your own nuclei of project teams within the overall framework of Augusta Today, coordinating with our group or independently if you wish, much as the Magnolia Trace Group has done. You will have to thoroughly vet the members and restrict the number to ten or less. You will have to have discipline and a high degree of coordination. (We learned this lesson the hard way, as we had no formal plan – we just ‘happened.’) Inclusion of media people is not advised, as the objective is to be a source for all dedicated to none.

There is no dearth of opportunities. The current group has at least six months of projects and stories already. There is room for expansion. Second, as we get the capability to accept donations, please contribute. Radio talk show host Austin Rhodes initiated this aspect of our efforts in order to engage tough legal counsel as a force multiplier against the City of Augusta, should common sense fail with regard to the City’s Reynolds Street Deck Agreements. Our current intention is to employ that resource there and elsewhere on projects from Augusta to the gold dome in Atlanta.

We acknowledge the tremendous role of the broadcast media in spreading our stories, particularly Renee DeMedicis of WNRR, Austin Rhodes of WGAC, Tony Powers of WNRR , George Eskola of WJBF, and Chris Thomas of WRDW. They have added a forceful dimension that we could never achieve. We will similarly embrace whatever journalistic print media survives this maelstrom too.

We have no Nehemiah, we have ourselves and our resolve to avoid the abyss of lawlessness, incontrovertible stupidity, arrogance, and abuse of power that lies ahead. Augusta’s mayor is stuck on, “moving forward.” We have seen the path he is on and we have bolted from it. How about you?

Nehemiah’s Message to Augusta Power Brokers and Manipulators

There have been times like these before in Augusta, periods of economic downturn and those finding themselves with decimated fortunes while still holding enormous political power with which they tried to regain their riches at public expense. The names Bert Hester and Gene Holley come to mind. Senator Holley was once one the most powerful men in Georgia and had amassed one of the state’s largest fortunes, before enormous losses in oil led to overly aggressive financial actions that ended with a conviction for bank fraud. When this writer recalled Holley’s conviction and imprisonment, it was wondered how Mr. Holley lived his final years. His obituary reported that they were spent in simplicity of lifestyle, regained faith, and in the love of his family and friends. That is not bad, not bad at all.

If you are one of the Augusta elite and high society, for your own sake – follow the advice of Nehemiah. A storm comes and it is one in which we all need each other. Reject the rest of us and you will find yourselves in the gravest of dangers. Gene Holley’s epitaph wasn’t bad, not bad at all.

May your next prayer breakfast be blessed.

Nehemiah’s gaze is upon you.***

Al Gray

Sen. Hardie Davis’ Tax-Free Energy Drink

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Taste Grates, Less Filling

Orginally posted on CityStink
January 14, 2012
Augusta, GA
By Al Gray

The author, Al M. Gray, was President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

When Augusta Democrat Senator Hardie Davis heartily endorsed Nathan Deal’s latest financial brainstorm, the elimination of sales and USE tax on energy used in manufacturing, we were surprised for a host of reasons, the main one being that it will cost Augusta Richmond County $millions in lost tax revenue. In a time that the state and municipal governments are desperate for revenue, Davis wants to give away stable sources of sales taxes that cannot be replaced? He wants to shift the Georgia tax burden from corporations to constituents on fixed incomes, like social security recipients?

Then it hit us. Hardie Davis is switching to the Republican Party. Good for him. It will be a marriage made in heaven – the Gold Dome. It might be even smart politics. Everyone involved can guzzle tax free energy drinks courtesy of the Georgia Traditional Manufacturers Association (TIPAC). The legislators have a ken for fun drinks, but to constituents this one grates the tongue and doesn’t fill the revenue coffers with anything more than hot air.

If Hardie isn’t going GOP, he has sure failed us with a stellar imitation. Right about now, Hardie and every other GOP hawker of this money give-away are screaming about passing this exemption to become “competitive.” Change the word to “cannibalistic” and you about have it. What this give-away does is to strip Augusta Richmond County and the 13 county region of $11 million of sales tax revenues over 10 years, if you believe the projections underlying the huge new transportation tax increase. This writer knows the losses to be far worse. You can multiply that $11 million (see page 11) by 4 – the loss on the new 1% transportation tax, plus the existing 3% local, special, and educational taxes, for a stunning $44 million over ten years! If the legislators tinker with not having the exemptions apply to local sales, that subverts the simplicity always cited for a sales tax.

Just one Augusta manufacturer provided a written statement in 2010 to the Georgia Tax Reform Council that indicated that her plant pays $2 million a year in state sales taxes on electricity and a staggering $1.5 million a year in local Augusta Richmond County taxes. Right about now some of you readers are exclaiming, “The consumers of the plant’s products really pay those sales taxes!” Right. The problem is that the vast majority of consumers paying the embedded Georgia and Augusta tax of our manufacturers are in other states. Tax payments by consumers spread the revenues around so that they come to rest outside of Georgia. Does this still sound like a good idea?

The $1.5 million Augusta will lose from that plant on SALES taxes is probably dwarfed by USE taxes that are paid by every Augusta manufacturer that uses a heating process loop in any of their production and manufacturing utility systems. This new exemption also covers industrial fuels, such as coal, natural gas, or diesel fuel in addition to electricity. This revenue loss could easily be between another $2 million and $3.5 million of Augusta local taxes (without the new transportation tax). How will Augusta make up the loss of $3.5 to $5 million of local tax? Is it that easy? On the state tax side of the ledger, doesn’t Georgia need the corresponding $7 million or so to pay teachers?

We sympathize with Georgia companies who are hurting, but what about her people?

The Hardie Davis tax free energy drink won’t sustain financial life in a host of other Georgia municipalities with similar concentrations of manufacturing, such as Chatham, Glynn, and Daugherty counties. Even worse will be the unsuspecting smaller counties with an unknown large energy user. State sales tax reporting to counties doesn’t show the source of the revenues, so many really don’t know what is about to hit them. For example, even though the textile industry has moved largely offshore, electricity-guzzling yarn plants have remained in Georgia and the USA. Can little Rabun County afford the loss of $1 million in sales taxes? Heard? Mitchell? Putnam? Effingham? Bartow?

Proponents of the tax free energy treat cite competitiveness needs between the states. This has some validity, as other states have chosen to cannibalize tax revenues in a futile attempt to overcome the $30 an hour labor cost difference with China, just as Georgia has futilely spent as much as $168,000 per $40,000 auto plant job in the race for our politicians to claim some very strange bragging rights. This will be just throwing good money after bad.

Since the justification for this tax break is to attract new plants one compromise that could be made comes out of Georgia’s own manufacturing tax rules from the 1980’s. Back then, a new manufacturer or a major plant expansion qualified for new exemptions, while existing ones had to be content with the incentive packages that they received upon building in Georgia. This would satisfy the lack of competitiveness for new plants without destroying the fruits of the past and the revenues of many Georgia counties with them.

That we would welcome Hardily and Senator Davis could keep his Democratic Party bona fides. Who knows, Augusta even might get an energy drink bottler, with $168,000 per job incentives, of course. Better yet, let’s return good old fashioned mathematics to the legislature. Professor Davis can lead our way instead of drinking Gov. Nathan Deal’s Kool-aid.***

AG

A Voice Cried Out From The Wilderness

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A Voice Cried Out from the Wilderness

A CityStink Editorial

Originally posted on CityStink
December 14, 2011
Augusta, GA
By Al Gray

The author, Al M. Gray, was President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

When CityStink.net and Augusta Today contributor Al Gray put up this warning shot of a Youtube video, few paid attention.

Whoa.

When CityStink replayed this short presentation two thoughts about current events  leap to mind.

Nathan Deal’s Columbia County Chairman, Trey Allen, whom Al Gray directly warns in this video, is now in dire straits politically, economically and professionally because Deal “rewarded” him by appointing him to the board of the Department of Community Affairs (DCA). DCA is financing the hated Magnolia Trace subsidized housing development in the heart of Allen’s Martinez District of the Columbia County Commission. The citizens furor is stoked by Allen’s DCA post and his early meeting with the developer in the county attorney’s office.

Trey Allen could have heeded the warning and resigned from Deal’s campaign. Voters in the Georgia CSRA rejected Deal 2:1, and 60% to 40% in Columbia County, despite the entire political power structure standing behind Deal, including Rep. Barbara Sims, in whose district Magnolia Trace is to be built.

Then yesterday’s national news struck like a thunderclap. The US Senate questioned MF Global CEO Jon Corzine about billions of dollars that were transferred out of customer CASH accounts and into his company’s accounts when the later came up short. Market Tickerguy and CPAC 2009 honoree Karl Denninger wrote this in an article yesterday, “Prior to the CFMA of 2000 customer funds could not be invested in other than municipal or US Government debt fully guaranteed by the US Government… As it stands right now any account you hold at any brokerage can be effectively stolen through being lost via the same mechanism. Got that?  Good. Your 401k, IRA, anything — all at risk.”

Mention of the CFMA of 2000 sent us back to Al Gray’s July 2010 video of warning. Yes, CityStink knows Gray’s economic and financial alarms seem incomprehensible to the layman, but this video is worthy of a careful and complete hearing. Why? It lays the responsibility for this devious act of Congress at the feet of Nathan Deal and tells of the consequences if the Dealer became governor. It tells of what lies ahead from Deal and company’s ruinous votes in Congress.

Now the ruin that lies in the wake of everything Nathan Deal touches is being visited on us. Ask the folks of Magnolia Trace. Ask “cash” account holders at MF Global. Ask the dismissed and forced-out staff of the Georgia Ethics Commission shortly after they received a complaint against – Nathan Deal.***

The voice crying from the wilderness was right.

Heck, ask Trey Allen. He looks to be the ultimate bad Deal victim.

AG