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The Divine Spark Of The Ancient Mystics Can Overcome the World – Feel It?

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Born Again of the Wind

Sunday, March 25, 2012

By Al Gray

 

John 3:16 summarizes the essence of the Christian faith in one concise verse. It has rightfully earned supremacy among the verses of the Bible. My favorite, though, precedes this wonderful assurance in the same chapter and goes like this:

8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

A born again spirit simply is. There is difficulty in explaining it, because the spirit is like the wind. You cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. You cannot see it, yet you know it is real and great of force, for it moves the trees and makes mountainous waves.  The spirit within each of us is transformative. It has the power to turn the meek into the strong, the arrogant to the obedient, the angry into the calm, and the sinner into the saved. Just as the wind was harnessed to move the great sailing ships, even the fishing vessels of Jesus’ day, the Spirit can be drive men to greatness, band them together in movements toward God, and transport whole nations to freedom. Christians know this power in our lives, see its effects on ourselves and others, feel its unifying strength, and we Americans live in a country brought to greatness on its perseverance.

How our new birth is accomplished by the Holy Spirit might be incomprehensible to us but we know that it is possible. The wind shifts to blow in different directions – we see its influence in the bending of the tree limbs, we hear the sound, and feel it upon our skins and through our hair – but we cannot detect the air itself. We only know that it is by the effects which it makes evident. “So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” The results are as noticeable and as sensible as those from the wind; but the Spirit itself we cannot see. Yet one born of God senses that he was so born.  The parent of his new birth, the Spirit itself, shows witness in his individual spirit, that he is born of God. Not only does he see it in himself, but also in others.

The notion that each of us holds a “divine” spark, or inner spirit, came into vogue as early as the 4th century, reaching a crescendo – like the building wind – in 14th century Germany. Perhaps the premier of the German mystics was Meister Eckhart. “… in him we find religion expressed in its purest form, a form which goes back in its spiritual experience… The church in his days had failed to see this….But it seems they have condemned Eckhart because his mysticism was a threat to the church. In him religion became too personal. They felt that Eckhart’s mysticism could alienate the believer from the hierarchy of the church, because salvation was not dependent anymore on church membership and church rituals, but on the will of the believer to get into a close relationship with the god inside.” Eckhart was under trial for heresy when he died in 1329 and was branded a heretic by the Roman Catholic Church for seven centuries. It wasn’t until 2010 that the Vatican revealed that the sanctions against him had been lifted and the orthodoxy of Eckhart’s teachings acknowledged.

Politics has always reared its ugly head in everything, hasn’t it? Nothing is supposed to be possible outside of their hierarchy, their Statism, and their power.

This is why John 3:8 holds such appeal, as it did for those mystics: our salvation doesn’t depend on THEM, it resides within, a smoldering spark awaiting ignition. It is an ember that glows hot at times and wanes at times, but as long as there is life it is there. The best of us Christians sometimes starve it and we realize our mistake, hopefully before it is too late.

A church of one, salvation dependent upon no other, a divine spark within, and a confidence in these things free of wanting or even needing to know from whence it came is the truth of John 3:8. Even the unruly, unstructured Baptists have trouble with it. You shouldn’t.

All of the powers and potentates near and far loath and fear it for, as it is written in 1st John Chapter 5, verse 4:

“Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”

Feed the power within yourselves, show it to the others, and watch it become a world changing unity candle that will overcome the dark days mankind’s folly and sin have brought.

On the wind, mightier than the wind, and more forceful than the wind – let that be your divine spark.

Let’s all come to our senses.

I can feel Him in the morning.

Sunday Sermon: Behind The Patriarchs There Were These Archers

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A True Arrow

By Al Gray

Genesis 21:20 And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 

 
Yesterday I spent some time in an archery shop with a friend who has a new-found interest in bows and arrows. On the wall was a banner promoting a local group of Christian archers.  Seeing it prompted me to look into the Bible for accounts of archers, their lives, deeds, and legacies.  One source indicated that “Arrow” or “Arrows” is found 57 times in 53 verses, “bow” 70 times in 66 verses, and “Quiver” 7 times in 7 verses.  Most, of course, are found in the war, wrath, and judgment of the Old Testament.

The story started out to be troubling. The verse above was about Ishmael, disavowed son of Abraham whose life as an archer began with his banishment from Israel with his mother. The Lord promised that Ishmael would be the father of a great nation.  In Genesis 17 it is said that he became the father of 12 princes.  Islamic tradition – Ishmael appears in the Qur’an – holds that Ishmael was a master archer, a prophet, devout man of worship, and patriarch of Islam.

The next encounter was:

Genesis 27:3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me [some] venison

 
The words were wonderful to a life-long bow hunter, but my troubles grew greater. These verses were those of an aged and weak Isaac imploring his favorite son Esau, a great hunter, to take a deer with his bow, prepare it, and bring it as father’s sought –out meal.  As it turned out, Esau’s commanded hunting trip presented an opportunity for his mother, Rebekah, and twin brother, Jacob, to trick old Isaac into conveying his blessing on Jacob. Earlier, in a bout of hunger Esau had foolishly sold his birthright to Jacob for some pottage. To use a Southern expression not relegated to just we archers, Esau bowed up. He was so angry that Jacob had to leave for exile. Esau ended up with Isaac’s estate and flocks. Years later the twins reconciled and Jacob became the patriarch of Israel.

Then there was the story of Jehoash, King of Israel, with whom the Lord had long been displeased:

14 Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!”

 15 Elisha said, “Get a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. 16 “Take the bow in your hands,” he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.

 17 “Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!” Elisha said, and he shot. “The LORD’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.”

 18 Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He struck it three times and stopped. 19 The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.”

In this story, one of redemption for a wayward king, the arrow was a symbol of victory to come over Israel’s enemies. The striking of the arrows on the ground thrice was prophesy of three victories over the army of Aram.

Not enough arrows struck. Now we are getting somewhere. To achieve ultimate victory requires the use of many arrows, generally with plenty of reserves. Hunting buddies of this author can attest that the mistake that Jehoash made has no relevance at all to the author’s life. Challenges are nearly always surmountable if one looks to have plenty of sharp solutions ready for deployment and activation. Sometimes the hidden ones in reserve are even more powerful. Ultimately it is the unknown and imaginary ones that bring the adversary to a reckoning. There are many tales of overwhelming forces of archers and arrows in the Bible. Second Chronicles 17: 17 includes reference to a leader of the tribe of Benjamin named Eliada,” a valiant soldier, with 200,000 men armed with bows and shields.”  It took more than one quiver of arrows in those days, too!

Our final archer is one of this writer’s favorite characters in the Bible, Jonathan, the devoted friend of David, who readily and even eagerly subordinated his own claim to the throne of Israel to his best friend, to the point of repeatedly incurring the wrath of King Saul, his own father.

 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD call David’s enemies to account.” 17And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.

 18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon feast. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 19 The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel. 20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target. 21 Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here,’ then come, because, as surely as the LORD lives, you are safe; there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, because the LORD has sent you away.”

33 …. Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David.

 34 Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the feast he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father’s shameful treatment of David.

 35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him, 36 and he said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?” 38Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39 (The boy knew nothing about all this; only Jonathan and David knew.) 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, “Go, carry them back to town.”

 41 After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.

 42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’”

Jonathan’s arrows that time were not of lethal intent. They were a signal, just as Jehoash’s arrow was a sign. They were symbols of present danger but a brighter future to come.  For our archers, that future was not always on of personal good fortune, as Jonathan was killed in battle with his brothers and his father, Saul, died from arrow wounds. These biblical archers might not have become the dominant figures of their generation, but they contributed mightily to what biblical patriarchs became.

Now is our time. Do you wisely store arrows of thought for times of need? Do you judiciously use them in service of God and mankind? Are you brave enough to enter the battles to come as America faces multiple perils? Could you steel yourselves to a supporting role behind a greater good, just cause, patriotic duty, or even some revolutionary leader? Doing these things are the stories of our religious past, our national legacy, and perhaps the key to our survival as a people.

Jonathan was a hero of Israel in his own right, having bravely faced down the Philistine army before David ever confronted Goliath. Yesterday, the archery specialist at that outdoors store, showed how a true arrow has no wobble and is incredibly straight. A true arrow flies straight to the target. Jonathan wasn’t just a true arrow, he was a perfect arrow. We should all strive to be that way.

“To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether ’tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them ” – William Shakespeare
Don’t bow up like Esau, be a true friend, a straight arrow like Jonathan.***

By Brother Al Gray, High Reverend of The Church of What’s Happening Now

Last Sunday’s Sermon:
Zacchaeus Sought a Vantage Point, Not an Advantage Point

Zacchaeus Sought a Vantage Point, not an Advantage Point

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Treed then Freed

By Al Gray

Most people never climb a tree past maybe the age of twelve, but some of us frequent assorted oak, pine, poplar, hickory and even cedar trees all the way past age 60 in pursuit of the wary whitetail deer.  One hasn’t lived until he is so well hidden up in the boughs that a squirrel jumps off on his trousers or a raccoon climbs onto his head. This writer has been accustomed to using a camouflage head net for years, even after a sharp-clawed squirrel leaped onto one late one afternoon and got his toes caught in the mesh. Hat, net, and rodent quickly hit the ground that time!

In Luke 19 we begin with a man coaxed out of a tree and we end with flogged sinners coaxed to flee. It is one of the most juxtaposed books in the Bible and it introduces us to Zacchaeus, whose descent to the ground was much gentler than my squirrel friend’s was.
1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Zacchaeus had literally a lot of short comings that made him a most unlikely character to find himself in a tree that day. He was rich. He was influential, backed by the powers of the state. He had to have been uncompromising and seemingly unfair to the crowd. It doesn’t imply this in Luke, but one reason he might have had to climb up there was his unpopularity. The disdain of the crowd was clear.

This man had one redeeming act – he sought Jesus, despite his riches, status, and power. He sought truth and understanding that was alien to his creature comforts, wealth and previous life experiences. In an instant he found release and came down from his lofty perch to a new life that was freer, richer, and forgiven with respect to his past sins. More to the point, Zacchaeus  did something pretty rare even in the New Testament, he embraced the Second Commandment of Jesus and loved his neighbors as well as he did himself.

There is a message in this simple, short story for us and for our day. It is this – worldly things are fleeting – seek the forgiving power of Jesus and act with love to your fellow man.  In these times, when civilization and even the rule of law enabling existence of society are threatened, we have each other and His teachings to save us here and beyond.

Luke 19 closes with the only time recorded that Jesus grew angry, even to the point of violence.

 45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’[c]; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’[d]”

 47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’[c]? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’[d]”

 18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

It was one thing to be a morally depraved tax collector, then to seek Jesus and Truth, but quite another to usurp a holy place to conduct similarly immoral business-as-usual by folks who probably paid the erstwhile religious ‘leaders’ generous bribes for their vending spaces. Give up your riches to enter the kingdom was Jesus command, not betray the kingdom for earthly riches ill-gotten or stolen in the temple.

The story begins with a tax collector who swore off his swindles and ends with the money-changing temple tax financiers bearing the wrath of Jesus. Isn’t it strange that the Old Testament is replete with the anger of God, yet the testament of Jesus shows this one exhibition of anger complete with hostile actions on His part? How great and unforgivable must the transgressions of the money-changers have been?

Today America has been brought to her knees by the most pernicious of money changers, financial charlatans, and outright thieves to ever walk the earth. We often hear the admonition, “What would Jesus do?” In this situation, it seems that the instructions are radically different from that of healing through forgiveness. We have money changers who have overturned our precious constitution and have turned our land into “a den of robbers!” Will Christ excuse our tolerance of evil to hold onto our cushy lifestyles, as Zacchaeus was certainly tempted to do, or does he expect us to defend our lands, our patriot-won freedoms, the Constitution and his teachings, even his example here, from the wicked, power-grabbing, and mendacious opportunists we see?

In what most of us were taught about free markets, people were free to fail, with those who did so more-or-less gracefully accepting their diminished fortunes for the remainder of their days. The powerful and connected of our day seem to have other objectives, most of which will end in the enslavement of everyone else as they rush to use politics to make themselves whole in their money and power.

The message from Luke 19 is probably as forthright as such a contrarian tale from the New Testament can be. Hate the sin’ and love the repentant sinner who seeks grace, but spurn those who assume entitlement to grace because of espoused religiosity or clerical position while subverting our most revered principles to their greed.

We stand on the verge of extinction of the rule of law if we don’t make the climb of Zacchaeus  to seek the truth in Christ and once again become “ a people hung on His Words” and “amazed at his teaching.”

The singular teaching that money changers in our temples are not to be tolerated at times must be revived.

Now is one of those times.***

By Brother Al Gray, the High Reverend of The Church of What’s Happening Now.

Sunday Sermon: The Blood Money of Judas – It’s All Ours Now

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30 Pieces of Silver

The End of America?

Sunday, March 4, 2012
Augusta, GA
By Al Gray
 
Today’s message will not be light. It carries leaden words that may be mindful of Jonathan Edward’s Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God. It was not written in humor, jest, or any frivolous sense.

We are all Judas. His story is of greed, betrayal, anger, and despondency. Ours is the same. We are at the Betrayal stage. Sadly most will make the choices that Judas made. Some won’t. In which group will we be?

For brevity let’s turn to this saddest of men in Matthew 26, verse 14 in the New International Version.

14 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15 and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

 
Next Mark 14, 43-48 tells of betrayal and anger.

43 Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.

 44 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” 45 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. 46 The men seized Jesus and arrested him. 47 Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

   48 “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me?

 
Finally, Matthew 27, 1-6 tells of abject despondency.

1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. 2 So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

 3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

   “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

 5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

 
About now you are thinking, if I am Judas, where are the 30 pieces of silver? Who is it that I am betraying?

Back in those days, money was silver or gold. Today it is electrons or paper. Later in Matthew 27, verse 6, the biblical Judas’ silver was referred to as “blood money.” What is our blood money? This writer submits that it is our entitlements. Readers might think “I have no entitlements!” at the same time they grouse that “48% of the USA receives a government check!” Therein lies the thorny truth. Nearly 100% of the people in the USA has at least one entitlement, some have 5 or more. Most folks the author’s age see Social Security as earned, not an entitlement, choosing to forget that we let the fund be raided by politicians decades ago. Throw in Medicare, government retirements, FDIC insurance, credit union deposit insurance, federal pension insurance, and everything else and you might begin understanding. Yes entitlements are our blood money and the amount of it exceeds $210 trillion, as Economist Lawrence Kotlikoff claims. This is more than $680,000 apiece for every one of us!

Now that we know we all are expecting blood money, who and what is being betrayed? The easy answer is future generations. To think it will be limited to them is wishful thinking. We have betrayed each other, our beloved Constitution, and the basic foundations of a functioning, civil society, with our ceaseless, unwitting, and unlimited demands that government create ever increasing seas of blood money! Judas had blood money. If you think ours isn’t very literally blood money, look at where it is to come from and the impossibility of peacefully extracting it!

Yes, brothers and sisters, we are caught heavy handed in betrayal, having taken blood money to satiate our greed and politics to make it flow universally.

Next will come anger. Matthew and Mark reported that one of those accompanying Jesus drew his sword and cut off the ear of one of the high priest’s servants. John reports that the swordsman was Simon Peter. The anger then and the armaments then were from one. We have millions of the betrayed with millions of guns and billions of rounds of ammunition. Can we belay and control this anger? We must try. The alternative is too terrible to contemplate.
The final acts of Judas were recognition of how horribly gone wrong with greed he had become, despondency in that knowledge, and taking his wasted life under an overwhelming pall of grief for his treachery.

What will it be for us? Will we force violence, war, and even servitude for our children, grandchildren, and future generations as Nehemiah was seeing in his day? The Constitution would have protected them and us from our avarice. The Constitution would have continued to guarantee their freedom and ours.  The Constitution demands the rule of law, central to every functioning society since creation. We gutted the Constitution and one day will feel the lament of Judas from having betrayed that product of the sacrifice of so many heroic Americans.

Look what is happening. MF Global, a trusted primary dealer of the Federal Reserve Banking system, just stole $1.5 billion in cash from customer accounts. The CEO, a former US Senator, faces no charges. Closer to home, a publishing magnate and his lieutenant lost $150 million and saw remaining assets placed in receivership, only to turn to the generous teat of local government with separate real estate holdings to milk $50 million in free buildings and equipment, plus $600,000 a year to operate them! Many aging unemployed are reaching for disability pay. The banks that largely caused the financial crisis are flooding toxic assets under the FDIC entitlement umbrella. No nation can withstand these things!

What of those entrusted with positions of leadership and trust? Jesus had to face a corrupt high priest, remember? Sadly, even our ministries of today are so dependent upon our corrupt monetary system, that their voices are bought off and silenced. The accounting rules mavens have responded to the epic fraud, not with outrage, but with surrender in the form of making fraud ‘legal.’ We won’t even mention the politicians.

There is hope and there may be a bright end instead of the despondency of Judas.

We have each other. We can change. We have the Bible. We can regain our faith. We can restore the constitution. It was too late for that Judas. We still have time.

Pray.

Besides, our blood money doesn’t really exist no matter how much political power is exerted. Soon it will all be gone. Math says so and math stands next to God. God says so, too, but you have to listen.

We made one heck of a mess in pursuit of Judas. We must resolve not to carry it through to the same end. Jesus showed us the way and the path to follow.

Count your blessings. All the money that turned us, every one, into Judas is gone. This will be plain very soon. You will see. Let’s send the greed, anger, violence, treachery, and despondency of Judas with it. We will work harder than we ever imagined in our old age. We will ache. We will hurt. We will die out, one by one. Justice will reemerge. We won’t die like Judas. We won’t die as slaves.

The next generations will be free. America will rise again. God Bless America!

Amen.***

Al Gray, High Reverend of The Church of What’s Happening Now


Last Week’s Sermon:


Every One Raised Up; Walk!

Wide Open Records at DCA Put Sunshine on Magnolia Trace

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Magnolia Trace Under the Magnifying Glass

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Evans, GA

by Al Gray

The furor over the construction of Magnolia Trace Subdivision, a low income housing development funded under the auspices of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA), was white hot back in November of last year. Much was said and written about hidden machinations behind this development, particularly the Columbia County Board of Commissioners’ resolution in support of the development at the apparent prompting of county attorney Doug Batchelor in June of 2010. Ire of project opponents reached epic proportions when it was revealed that Batchelor had worked for the developer, Affordable Equity Partners of Columbia Missouri, or one of its stable of interrelated companies on an earlier project and was the closing attorney when AEP affiliate Magnolia Trace, LP purchased the land in the second half of 2011.

Speculation abounded, but truth lies in the documents, to the extent that they are discoverable. This writer prefers to focus on the story the documents tell, so was moved to examine the process by which Magnolia Trace came to be approved for DCA’s tax credit program. The review found that the DCA’s Qualified Application Program was so stunningly exhaustive in its information and filing requirements that very few mysteries would remain, should an examiner look at all of the filings that DCA has. Doing an examination of the required documents was natural and logical.

A Georgia Open Records Act request for DCA to make the Magnolia Trace Application available for inspection and copying was submitted last week, with the review taking place yesterday, Wednesday, February 29, 2012 in DCA’s Atlanta headquarters. Ms. Phyllis Carr, of the DCA Housing Finance Division, graciously coordinated the review, provided the documents, assisted, and answered questions.

The examination was intended to answer these inquiries: 1) Was Doug Batchelor prominently engaged by Magnolia Trace, LP in the application phase? 2) Was there active involvement of Columbia County, over and above what has been disclosed, during the application process? 3) What was the nature of the agreement to purchase the land by Magnolia Trace, LLP from previous owner, DORRA, LLC? 4) What realtor(s) were involved? 5) What entities benefited from this transaction and were politicians tied into them more than previously reported?

Beyond Batchelor’s involvement with gaining the favorable county resolution and being the closing attorney for the developers, no other evidence was found anywhere in the 8 inch thick application and supporting documents of his involvement or that of his firm, Hull, Towill, and Barrett. The attorney appearing on the option for the developer to buy the property was the Atlanta giant, Smith, Gambrell & Russell. VanMatre, Harrison & Volkert, P.C. Of Columbia, Missouri is the attorney of record for the project. Legal fees budgeted for the construction were $52,000, with no distribution among firms cited. Legal fees for land acquisition, where Batchelor is known to have fit in, were set at $15,700. Title and recording fees were a surprising $18,000.

Columbia County’s involvement beyond the controversial resolution endorsing the project was minimal. Most of the preliminary inquiries were done by intermediaries without the project or its owners being named. At December 31, 2010, when the application was due for decision, no issues pertaining to Columbia County remained.

The contract for the purchase of the land was executed March 24, 2010 between Peach Way Holdings, an affiliate of Affordable Equity Partners (AEP) and the owner of the land, DORRA, LLC. The particulars of purchase price, contingency upon DCA approval of tax credits, and eventual closing date have been widely discussed and will not be reiterated here. The contract for the sale shows that the realtor was Sherman and Hemstreet represented by agent Billy Franke. The deadline for closing of March 2, 2011 was obviously missed and was extended. The contract gave the buyer wide latitude to cancel the sale until it had approved and accepted the offer of tax credits on March 14, 2011.

The new information discovered in this review was that in a initial review and determination letter sent to Magnolia Trace, LP, dated December 14,2010, the DCA, “determined that the Application does not meet the required Threshold requirements of the Application.” The reason cited was that costs were out of line with other DCA developments. Magnolia Trace appealed within the allotted 5 days of the letter.

The tax credits were approved on March 14, 2011, three months before a sister AEP entity, Capital Health Management, Inc. gave Georgia House Speaker David Ralston $5000, so there was no quid pro quo evident in these events.

Overall, the strategy employed by AEP appears to be to internalize as many of the project planning, development, financing and other major cost components of its projects, meaning reduced use of other professionals. This strategy is employed in conjunction with lavish campaign contributions at the state level and to a much lesser extent, the local level, with Rep. Ben Harbin being the key local beneficiary.

Look for future reports here on the broader policy issues presented by this particular financing method for low income housing in Georgia, using Magnolia Trace as an example. The current effort was restricted to addressing local government in the process. No effort was made to investigate the DCA evaluation of this application after the initial rejection, because the reasons cited were costs, not local government factors.

No smoking guns were found in this examination as relate to Columbia County and its officialdom. What was found was a highly-regimented and documented process required by the Department of Community Affairs accompanied by a high degree of supporting documentation. The author was and is most impressed, as not many recent reviews have found such accuracy.

The Columbia County Commission can breathe again.***A.G.

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Sunday Sermon: Everybody Raised Up – Walk!

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Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012
Augusta, GA
by Al Gray
How many truly great friends do you have? Folks who would go to nearly any extreme to give you comfort, aide, and assistance? One man in the bible had friends like that, friends who would not be denied in their quest to get help for him. He was paralyzed physically and with sin.  Jesus forgave and healed, but first there was that marvelous team of friends.

1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

 6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

 8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them,“Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

This miracle definitely made an impression on the disciples of Jesus, as this story appears in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, as well as here in Mark. Imagine the dedication they witnessed!

The paralyzed sinner was carried to the house where Jesus was on a pallet. To their dismay clamoring people had crowded the house and spilled outside.  The most quick-thinking of them found a most daring of solutions and told the others. The stronger of the band of friends hoisted the ailing one onto the roof. The more industrious of them removed a section of roof. Together they gently lowered their beloved friend into the presence of Jesus.

First Jesus took away the sin to the murmurs of doubters of his powers. Then he took away the man’s physical disability, telling him to pick up his mat and go home. We don’t know whether the healed one hesitated. It certainly would have been human. We do know that forgiving the sin was the greater feat, one that Jesus repeated for us all, but one that was not an overt demonstration of his healing power. The sight of the healed man walking out with that mat did that.

We are left to use our imaginations for the rest of the story. How did the healed one thank his devout, strong, unfailing, and devoted friends? We can envision a huge celebration immediately after his miracle. We can conjure up a lifetime of returned dedication to each one of them.

Did this band of brothers remain close for the rest of their days? Unfettered by the shackles and chains we have in modernity that was a much easier task in that day. It was a necessity. It will become one again, probably the hallmark of our collective salvation, reform and recovery after the cataclysmic collapse of our universally corrupt society. That is coming.

Folks who can be a friend and have friends like the man in this story will survive. Those who try another course are very much doomed.  Buying and hoarding gold won’t work. Fleeing America won’t help. Collecting guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition is foolish. Fortifying your home is illusory. In the end and before the end, we have each other. We should all strive to be as good a friend as possible to as many as possible on our way back to the future. The band of friends in this story is there to inspire us.  Hate the sin and love the sinner, it is said. That is easier said than done. It is not impossible.

What do you think the healed man did with respect to sin in his life?  One has to suspect that having felt the healing of Jesus, that this fellow lived as best he could for the rest of his days. We know not how many more days we have individually and as a people. The lesson of today is of friendship. Learn how to nurture it and you will pass the remainder of your days in happiness and peace.

Do this well enough and there will be people willing to walk through fire for you and even die for you.  As one who, until recently, was perfectly content to live out his days, but suddenly chose another path in which new friends and intensely devoted ones now walk, you just have to feel the power there to believe it.

The second commandment is “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It is the hardest of them all. When duty calls one to be critical to change another’s wayward behavior, he must always hold out the hand of friendship beyond the controversy.  This writer tries that once a week, calling somebody who thinks there is unrequited animosity to tell them, there is tomorrow and tomorrow let’s work together. Most of the time they are stunned and sometimes this caller will hang up in tears himself.

I have to do better. We all do. Jesus commands it and it is our salvation, and soon, our survival.

Yes, we have to be very committed to changing our society back to comity, honesty, honor, and sacrifice and that means confrontation. Just keep in mind that tomorrow is another day, one in which a lot of wayward people will come home.

Let us close these thoughts with that wonderful song of the power of friendship, You Raise Me Up***



Brother Al Gray, High Reverend of The Church of What’s Happenin’ Now


Last Week’s Sermon: A Ruth-less World Falls Into a Grain Bin of Truth

Augusta’s Contract With Heery International Contains More Surprises

  By , ,

Hear Ye, Heery is Here

More Overpriced Payees for the City?

Originally posted on CityStink
February 24, 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.

In 2003 the City of Augusta did a wise thing in a very foolish way. The administration saw an enormous upswing in capital spending that it lacked the staff and expertise to plan, engineer, procure, manage and control. A large, growing, and respected Atlanta-based firm, Heery International, was selected to perform these functions. The strategy was sound.

The execution was horrible.

This blanket order was executed with 4% annual rate increases mandated. Despite the downturn in construction and the overall economy, in which labor, overhead and profit have tended to fall, the compounding of Heery’s rates continued unabated. The rates established for next year are up an incredible 48% over the initial rates. A Principle in Charge then was $162.16 an hour, this year one is $230.81 and next year it would be $240.04. A project manager then was $87.32. Now one is $124.28, rising to $129.25 next year. An administrative assistant went from $42.41 to $62.78 an hour.

The cumulative effects are stunning. In July 2010 the contract was extended to 2013. At the time, the contract price was raised from $7,082,355 to $10,317,906.

Amazingly, the total overhead and fee in RW Allen’s contract to build and equip the entire TEE Center is $1.8 million, while Heery’s program management fees will top $1.2 million. There is another $1.3 million slated for the Webster Detention Center Phase II. The Reynolds Street Parking Deck is a surprising $549,390.

A defense can be made that division of duties between the construction management firms and Heery reduced the costs of the former. That is a valid point. The difference in rates probably negates a lot of this advantage, however.

A fairly common approach is for the hourly rate for such services to be based upon some verifiable figure, usually the salary rate of the employee divided by 2080 (52 weeks, 40 hours per week) times a multiplier that is negotiated. 2.0 to 2.3 is a normal range. The Heery contract does not accomplish this. The rates were firmly set on an unknown basis back in 2003 and 2004. Augusta did not negotiate controls over composition of rates.

Beyond this, generally there is a firm division in setting rates that only people directly engaged in the project or on site are billed. Principals, Project Directors, and home office administrative assistants, all of whom appear on Augusta’s contract, are included within the markup applied to the directly-engaged employees. Augusta’s Heery contract allows these employees to be billed in addition to the marked-up billing rates of the direct employees.

Augusta is only permitted to audit the hours billed and the employee classification. Augusta is not allowed access to payroll records to ascertain accuracy of the rate billed or upon what basis the rate is determined. The language is blunt: “OWNER may only audit accounting records applicable to a cost-reimbursable type compensation.”

What this says is that the public can never know how community liaison Butch Gallop‘s Heery billing rate got to be a whopping $177.91 an hour billed, with the potential of being billed at the $240.04 an hour on the rate sheet for next year!

The contract is nearly always advertised as a joint venture between Dukes Edwards Dukes and Heery International. Indeed, Dukes Edwards Dukes principal Winfred Dukes appears on the billing rate sheet at $240.04 an hour in 2013, up from the initial $162.16 an hour. For the sake of clarity and honesty, Dukes bills only about 4 hours a month. He is one of several Heery executives who Augusta should never have allowed to be billed, in this writer’s humble opinion, since they are at supervision levels above the Senior Project Managers and directly-engaged staff on Augusta’s projects.

To summarize, the Heery contract has been on auto-pilot with compounding rates, unverifiable rate bases, and apparent inadequate division of direct labor versus overhead. The fault lies with Augusta, not its contractor, in this case as in all of the others recently reviewed. Augusta is profligate with taxpayer money, in this case by not revisiting a blanket order for services, electing to extend it untouched for years.

Who is Winfred Dukes? Well we found him under the Gold Dome in Atlanta.

Who knew Augusta had another State Representative in the Georgia House?
Mysterious bodies abound in Augusta’s contracts. So far there are two in the Heery contract.

Stay tuned, there is more to come, as the deciphering of Augusta’s contracting continues.
Much more.***

A.G.
Related Stories:
“Galloping” Away With Taxpayers’ Money

**View Heery Document Below

Heery

TEE Center Update: Did Fred Fix the Kitchen But Fail to Execute?

  By ,

The Convention Center Agreement Today

Fred and Barry’s Unexecuted Fix?

Friday, Feb. 24, 2012

Augusta, GA

by Al Gray

In TEE Center Kitchen Costs Leave Taxpayers Burnt! , yesterday’s City Stink exclusive, this writer covered deficiencies in the City of Augusta’s TEE Center Term Sheet with its partner in the project, Augusta Riverfront, LLC, which was approved by the City Commission on August 21, 2007. This was the approved document recently cited by attorney Jim Plunkett’s resolution recounting the history of Commission votes ratifying TEE and Parking Deck Agreements. A formal agreement was belatedly drafted and conditionally approved for the Reynolds Street Parking Deck on February 7.

Despite references in Board of Commissioner meetings all through 2009, no formal contractual agreement has been found executing the final TEE (now Conference Center) operating agreement. The original operating agreement for the Convention Center was recorded in the office of the Clerk of Superior Court. There doesn’t seem to have been any modification nor has there been any action to define rights with respect to the .23 acre tract that the LLC owns under the TEE Center. Like the parking deck agreements, the formal agreement seems to have lagged negotiations by years.

Based upon a schedule obtained in an earlier open records request by City Stink contributor Lori Davis (See Modifications Sheet Document Here) and informational updates made since the August 21, 2007 approval of the original term sheet that was unfavorable to Augusta, as noted yesterday, it looks like Augusta City Administrator Fred Russell and City Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Chief Barry White actually may have done an exceptional job of renegotiating the deal so that it is dramatically more favorable to the City!

The proposed modifications put the City in control of the Center’s finances, gives it catering revenues, provides for a set fee rather than profits from operations, and provides that profits from operations go to Augusta. If this modification represents the final agreement, it is vastly superior to the original deal and is actually a very good deal for the City of Augusta.

From here it looks like the original Term Sheet stands as the only basis of an operating agreement actually approved by the Commission and that the final agreement has been mired in what have to be tremendous legal complexities of merging the TEE agreement with the existing Convention Center Agreement.

The final agreement should take care of the issue of the new kitchen equipment and replacements of that equipment going forward, but the Issue of how the new agreement relieved the LLC’s responsibilities going into this transaction, up to and until the combined TEE Center starts operations, still stands as does the issue of LLC responsibility for the proposed HVAC changes demanded by the Marriott.

Leaving issues like these, which should have been finalized before construction, hanging for 4 ½ years is a huge failure of administration, despite Fred Russell’s accomplishment of what looks to be a much, much better deal.

This story will be updated as new developments are known.***

A.G.

Related Stories:

Exclusive: TEE Center Kitchen Costs Leave Taxpayers Burnt!

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!!CityStink.net Exclusive!!

And Now, The Tee Kitchen Saga

A cost recovery opinion and perspective



Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012
Augusta, GA
by Al Gray

 

In a very heated Augusta Richmond County Commission meeting last evening, February 21, 2012, a proposed change order totaling $836,288 for modifications to the TEE Center Contract with RW Allen was disapproved. The substantial price increase was really the aggregate of 13 different change orders combined for the purpose of gaining Commission approval, usually a rubber stamp. This time the Commission balked because of a stench boiling out of the unfinished TEE/Convention Center Kitchen. $399,823 of the increase was an HVAC upgrade to the kitchen area at the insistence of the city’s partner in this public-private partnership, Augusta Riverfront, LLC, operator of the Marriott hotel.

Neither side of the vote on the Commission was wrong. Augusta’s entire project management team had signed off on the change order four months ago, so disapproving it now was a moot point. Some commissioners accurately saw it that way and voted for approval, yet they all have serious questions. The rest missed the point about construction contract law and jumped to the real issue – are the Augusta Riverfront partners in this project controlling and expanding the scope to their benefit, yet totally at public expense?

The change order is a “done deal.”  A war appears imminent between the partners over financial responsibility for various areas of the project.

There is a powerful ODOR coming from the kitchen.

The parties jumped into this agreement based upon a document entitled Management Agreement Term Sheet – Trade Center, Version 6 dated June 29, 2007, which the Commission approved on August 21, 2007. The purpose of the term sheet was to set forth that the “City of Augusta (“Augusta”) and Augusta Riverfront, LLC (“LLC”) are interested in entering into a joint venture to own, build and operate a Trade, Exhibit and Event Center (“Trade Center”).”

This controlling document failed to establish effective dates or define WHEN operations start and construction ends. It would appear to embrace start of operations before project completion because it requires the Convention and Visitors Bureau to expend City funds 18 months before the project is complete. Aside from this, the project itself was scheduled to accommodate ongoing operations.

Let’s see what the Term Sheet says about cost responsibility: “LLC has total responsibility to provide all operating cost of the Convention Center, including, but not limited to, labor cost, supply cost, insurance and all repair, maintenance, and replacement of equipment. These replacement costs include replacing kitchen equipment, laundry equipment, HVAC equipment, outside walls and roof.”

Then there is this section:

AUGUSTA AND LLC AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS TO OWN, BUILD AND OPERATE THE TRADE CENTER

5.  OPERATIONAL & CAPITAL FUNDING: It is anticipated that the new Trade Center’s rental revenues may not be sufficient to cover its operating expenses, particularly in the early years. The Trade Center will have capital needs for addition and replacement of various fixed assets. Augusta and LLC will participate in these Operational and Capital Funding needs as follows:

…

d. Augusta’s Capital Funds shall specifically not be used for items related to Kitchen Equipment, Laundry Equipment, and any Convention Center or Hotel capital cost.

Remember there are no dates given to establish when operations start because operations were ongoing and overlap construction activities. Even more confusing is what is “Convention Center” versus “TEE Center.” Indeed, by actions of Augusta Riverfront, LLC publicly acknowledging that BOTH are the “Convention Center” hasn’t that partner effectively agreed that its financial responsibilities for the combined total include those that previously existed for the Convention Center?

Interestingly, the Term Sheet provided that the kitchen for which Augusta Riverfront had equipment repair and replacement responsibilities would be consolidated with the TEE Center kitchen.

7. KITCHEN AND BACK-OF-HOUSE: LLC and Augusta will allow the necessary modifications to the Convention Center to provide for the combined use of the kitchen, laundry and back of the house areas. The modified kitchen and back of the house space will be designed for use for both the Convention Center and the Trade Center.

In so combining the “Convention Center” with the “TEE Center” did Augusta Riverfront’s existing financial responsibility for kitchen equipment disappear? Or did it carry over?

4. TERM OF AGREEMENT: Augusta and LLC agree to modify their agreement for the operation of the Convention Center to include the Trade Center.

The Term Sheet also clearly stated that catering revenues produced by the kitchen equipment do not result in any benefit for Augusta.

APPENDIX A: Definitions

For purposes of calculating the “Trade Center Operational Funding” described in Section 5., the Operating Revenues shall not include the following:…..

m. Trade Center Catering Revenues

2. Trade Center Catering Revenues: shall consist of those food and beverage revenues generated on formal, catered meal functions held in the Trade Center.

City Stink and Augusta Today contributor Lori Davis obtained the December 31, 2012 project billing from Construction Manager at Risk RW Allen to the city (See Document here: Attn to Kitchen Equipment Line Item Item 19 on Page 3). This billing includes a line item of $1,376,987 for Kitchen Equipment, $275,946 of which has already been billed and presumably paid, less the retainage. Examination of the supporting subcontractor invoice shows thousands of dollars to repair and clean existing equipment that would have apparently been the responsibility of the LLC under the previous agreement. The controversial HVAC change order to meet Marriott standards can be added to the total.

It is clear that the infrastructure and building costs for the kitchen are the responsibility of Augusta. These costs are included in the building mechanical, electrical, HVAC and other contracts. No potential issues are apparent there, other than cost issues that might be unearthed in the future by a construction auditor.

Adding the $1,376,987 of kitchen equipment to the Marriott-directed kitchen HVAC upgrade $399,083 means a total of $1,776,070 of kitchen equipment capital costs that are potentially disputable by the City of Augusta as costs to be born by Augusta Riverfront, LLC.

Questions abound. Has the City backcharged the LLC for any of the $275,946 paid to date for kitchen equipment and repair or cleaning of existing equipment the LLC seems responsible for? Isn’t the full $1,776,070 capital expenditures for which the LLC is responsible under the existing agreement and the Term Sheet?  Was an intent to treat the capital expenditures for new kitchen equipment as an Augusta cost adequately stated in the term sheet? Are the provisions for the LLC to be a partner in the project mean it can claim one start date for its project start date, yet another as the start date of ‘operations’ under the same agreement when no dates are stated in that agreement? Hasn’t the LLC by announcing that the whole is now the “Convention Center” legally shot itself in the foot by in doing so embracing responsibility for kitchen capital expenditures? How many other costs of the Tee Center construction supplant existing LLC responsibilities for operating and capital costs from the existing Convention Center agreements? Where are the backcharges to the LLC?

Summary

To summarize, the Term Sheet establishing the relationship between the City of Augusta and the LLC for the TEE Center Project seems to be flawed in terms of effective dates; makes repeated statements that capital costs of kitchen equipment, which cost more than $1.7 million, and other capital costs are LLC responsibility; combines the existing “Convention Center” agreement with provisions making the LLC responsible for kitchen equipment with the new TEE Center construction and operations; and excludes Augusta from any apparent benefit from use of this capital equipment.

Somebody has a grand mess in their kitchen. This writer would be hard-pressed to decipher financial responsibilities under this informal, rushed, and incomplete Term Sheet “agreement.”

The lawyers are salivating because dividing this baby is going to take more than the wisdom and judgment of Solomon. The opinion from this quarter would be that it could be split 50-50. Given the size of these costs, that won’t be an easy pill to swallow.

The Commission is, yet again, in an impossible position with respect to this project. Can they get any more Tee’d off?

Stay tuned for more cost recovery analysis  as the TEE Center documents are dissected while the project nears completion.***

 Al Gray

Editor’s note: City Stink contributor Al Gray is President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a Lincoln County, Georgia-based firm focused on construction, public administration, policy and cost recovery reviews on a guaranteed results basis. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

Related Stories:
TEE Update: Did Fred Fix the Kitchen But Fail to Execute?

** Below are pdf files of the documents referenced in the above article:

RWA December 2011 Pay App
TEE Term Sheet (1)

Al Gray: TEE Center GMP Construction Contract Provides No “Guarantees”

  By , , ,
When A Guarantee Isn’t One

Originally posted on CityStink
Tuesday, Feb. 21, 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.

Augusta Commissioners on February 21, 2012, today, face a thorny vote on whether to approve a very expensive Change Order to R.W. Allen, LLC’s Construction Manager at Risk Contract for construction of the TEE Center. The contract is structured as a cost-plus arrangement with a Guaranteed Maximum Price. Such deals are commonly called GMAX or GMP contracts.

Under a cost-plus GMP contract, the construction manager starts construction before the design and specifications are complete in an effort to accelerate project completion. Otherwise all of the design, specifications and plans must be complete in order to bid the job on a lump sum or fixed price basis. Under a GMP contract, the construction manager mobilizes, awards the early sitework, underground piping, and preliminary concrete work while the architects and engineers complete packages for the various construction disciplines (steel, electrical, HVAC) that occur in later stages. When the overall design reaches majority completion, in this case 65%, the construction manager has enough data to provide the owner with a Guaranteed Maximum Price.

RW Allen and Augusta agreed to a GMP of $27,900,000 in January 2011.

The public highly distrusts cost-plus contracts, even those capped by a maximum price “Guarantee.” In this instance, properly done, cost-plus should have saved money and been the best choice method of project delivery. RW Allen had to deal with a brownfield site (unknown underground obstacles and conditions), coordination with ongoing operations of the hotel and convention center, in a congested area, and in conjunction with new design. Trying to force fixed price contracting intended for a set design would have resulted in risk-loaded contract prices where the real risk remained with the owner, the City of Augusta. The unknowns and variables were too great. Because the Guaranteed Maximum Price assumes set design parameters at the time the price is set, every GMP contract allows for change orders in the event that the design changes in the later stages at the recommendation of the architect and engineers. A change order increases the guaranteed maximum price.

Change Order 2, totaling $836,228, is actually the aggregation of 13 component change orders, including a controversial $399,083 change to the HVAC system to increase air turns to 8 over the base design standard of 2.5. Augusta’s architect approved this change months ago.

Some Augusta commissioners are grumbling because they confused “Guaranteed Maximum Price” with “Lump Sum.” In either contracting method there still would be change orders and they would be legitimate. The commissioners reticence to accept price increases because there is a price “guarantee” is a misunderstanding of the deal.

When a change order like this one gets to the Board of Commissioners it generally is a fait accompli. This looks to be the case in this instance. Under the RW Allen contract, the city is already bound. Look at the dates and signatures on the change order. The master change order 2 is dated October 17, 2011 and is more than four months old! The component change orders have to be of even earlier vintage. RW Allen’s contract for the TEE Center spells out that change orders increase the contract price in Article 15.

There is little doubt that RW Allen was given the authority to proceed. The City of Augusta’s architect/engineer, program manager, and city administrator have all signed the authorization. Under the TEE Center contract, the commissioners have no real options.

Augusta commissioners really should not want a lump sum at this point, because a lump sum contract has fewer options for cost reductions and cost recoveries as the contractors have born the risks and have earned the rewards of bearing those risks. (This doesn’t mean that lump sum contracts do not bear auditing, though!).

Commissioners can look forward to reductions in the Guaranteed Maximum Price as the TEE Center is completed. Allowances will be adjusted to actual cost both in the construction manager contract and in the component subcontracted packages. Contingency in this contract was $566,000 and that will be adjusted, too. Adjustments of ‘costs’ may or may not happen, depending on diligence.

Augusta Commissioners should be happy with the contract that they have and not yearn for a counterproductive fixed price that never would have been a lump sum. Just because a contract and change orders to it set a contract price, that does not mean that an evaluation of the scope documents cannot later reduce that price.

The administration and Board of Commissioners need to take prudent steps to verify the costs at completion. In fact, this needs to be performed for all of the various cost-plus GMP contracts the city has done in the last 3 years. Based upon the volume of these contracts, this writer projects that the costs recaptured by a comprehensive effort would range from $1.25 million to $5 million.

Nothing much is “guaranteed” in a GMP contract, just that the contractor keeps the change. Rarely is the change of the loose pocket variety. Augusta has let its contractors keep $millions in change by fruitlessly grumbling about change orders, then closing out “completed” contracts with nary a care.

That does guarantee a price.

Not if Augusta commissioners get wise.***

Al Gray

Editor’s note: City Stink contributor Al Gray is President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a Lincoln County, Georgia-based firm focused on construction, public administration, policy and cost recovery reviews on a guaranteed results basis. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

Below are the documents referenced in this story:

r w Allen Gmp G-1 Tee Center
RWA – Tee Contract