Category: Public Policy

Politics, public administration, law, regulation, banking, and property rights

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

Movement on Forensic Audit; Brigham Defiant

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Augusta Commissioner Jerry Brigham

Originally posted at CityStink
Friday, Feb. 3, 2012
Augusta, GA
By The Outsider

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.

There appears to be some traction on the forensic audit for the questionable land deals involved in the controversial new $12 million TEE Center Parking Deck. It was reported yesterday that the city’s procurement department has issued a request for bid proposals for the audit. That’s the first step towards choosing a forensic auditing firm and putting a price tag on the effort. The motion that the commission approved on Dec. 20, 2011 was to begin the process of looking for an auditing firm. Once bids are submitted, commissioners would still need to approve allocating the money. And that’s where Commissioner and Finance Committee Chairman Jerry Brigham vows to fight it.

A defiant Brigham told Chris Thomas of WRDW that, “People are just muddying the water with a forensic audit.” (Editor’s Note: Full article no longer available online.)

Assuming that all the controversy surrounding the parking deck is much ado about nothing, Brigham says, “Why waste $30,000 on something where there is nothing to it?”

It’s interesting that Brigham is so concerned with saving money on the audit, which is peanuts when compared to the millions of dollars that the city may have been duped out of on the parking deck and TEE Center.

Brigham’s defiance against the audit also gives the impression that he may have something to hide. If you remember, back in the fall of 2009 when the entire TEE Center project was at a stalemate over increasing funding, Brigham’s name got caught up in a scandal where local attorney David Fry attempted to bribe Commissioners Alvin Mason and Corey Johnson to switch their votes on the project to get it passed. Brigham admitted back then that he had contact with Fry and was made aware of his intentions; however, he neglected to go to the police with that information. Brigham says that at the time, “I did not think that this was nothing more than talk.”

Commissioners Mason and Johnson ended up contacting police over the incident and Fry was arrested on charges of attempted bribery of public officials. Allegedly, Fry was offering special management concessions to the commissioners in the TEE Center parking deck, the same one at the center of the current controversy. Some people laughed that off as ludicrous at the time; that Fry had no authority to make such an offer, but many people believe that Fry was a go-between for more powerful figures who could deliver on the promise.

And just in time as the management agreement for the parking deck goes back before the commission on Tuesday, Fry’s bribery trial will begin the day before on Monday, February 6th: Talk about timing!

There is a March 16th deadline for bids on the forensic audit, and despite how it may appear politically for Brigham, he contends he will fight against its approval anyway. Brigham told Chris Thomas that if there is an audit on the parking deck then it should also include the Laney-Walker redevelopment. Actually, that is a good idea. The bond financing for the Laney-Walker/Bethlehem redevelopment project is inextricably tied to the TEE Center and parking deck. However, Brigham’s suggestion seems to be more about “muddying the waters” to direct attention away from the parking deck where there is more funny smoke than inside Willy Nelson’s tour bus. And Brigham should be reminded that he opposed Commissioner Bill Lockett’s request for an omnibus forensic audit that would have covered the Laney-Walker/Bethlehem Redevelopment.

Scrutiny of the Laney-Walker project will happen in due time. In fact, we here at City Stink have already raised many questions in the past several months over the Laney-Walker Overlay District, which Brigham supported.

But as this forensic audit proceeds, commissioners must make certain that a few things  happen:

  1. City Administrator Fred Russell should have absolutely NO involvement in the process of choosing the auditing firm to conduct the investigation. Russell is up to his eyeballs in this scandal, and there is ample evidence to suggest that he purposefully misled commissioners on multiple occasions.
  2. The audit should include both the TEE Center Parking Deck AND The TEE Center. The stench over this deal wafts over both sides of Reynolds Street. We already told you about parcels under the TEE Center that were supposed to be deeded to the city that never were. A forensic audit of the entire TEE Center project would likely need to occur anyway based on what is uncovered in the investigation over the deck, so why not kill two birds with one stone, instead of having to go back and pay for a separate audit on the TEE Center?
  3. The primary  criterion for selecting the forensic auditing firm should be thoroughness and not just who is the cheapest. It is imperative to choose a firm with a stellar professional reputation in investigating these sorts of cases with no connection to Augusta’s “Good-ole-Boy Network.” That means it’s likely best to go outside of Augusta.

We are hoping that Brigham is alone on the commission now in continuing to oppose the forensic audit. Commissioners Aitken, Bowles, and Jackson also voted along with Brigham in opposing the audit at the December 20th, 2011 commission meeting. But we hope that most of them have now changed their tune with all of the new information that has come out in the last two weeks and is expected to come out next week.

This is one issue where commissioners probably are going to want to be on the right side. If this thing continues to get much worse than it already has, then any commissioner who continues to oppose the progress of the investigation is going to look mighty foolish and suspect in the eyes of the public.***

Stay tuned, more to come.

Related Story

Austin Rhodes’ Challenge: Hire a Lawyer!

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Augusta afternoon radio personality Austin Rhodes

Originally Posted By CityStink
Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012
Augusta, GA
By The Outsider

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.

Austin Rhodes started his radio program off yesterday by issuing a challenge to the members of the citizens local government watchdog group on Facebook called Augusta Today: Hire a lawyer! It’s not that Augusta Today is in any sort of legal trouble, but rather Rhodes contends that ultimately it will take legal action for the citizens activist group to get real action on their goals of government reform at the Marble Palace.

Augusta’s government is kind of like a meth addict. Their behavior is often highly inappropriate, but they don’t think they have a problem. They’ve been doing things this way for so long that to them it’s just the normal way of operating. In addiction psychology, that’s known as DENIAL. You can’t just politely ask them to change their ways. Sometimes there has to be an INTERVENTION. And that’s where the lawyers come in. So far, members of Augusta Today have been presenting the evidence of the bad deal the city got suckered into over the TEE Center and parking deck hoping that commissioners would “see the light,” and change course. But over the course of the 13 weeks since we broke the ParkingGate scandal, there’s been very little action from the commission. In fact, some of them have even tried to marginalize members of Augusta Today as just grumpy gadflies.

On December 20th, 2011 six commissioners did finally approve a forensic audit to examine any possible improprieties involved in land transactions involved in the TEE Center Parking Deck, but since then there has been no further action on the audit and now at least a couple of commissioners are trying to torpedo it. But members of Augusta Today press on, believing that in the end they will be vindicated because the facts are on their side.

Legal counsel could be helpful to the group, though, and it is an idea that has been discussed before, even at the very beginning of its formation, which evolved out of ACAVE. Citizen activists can make a lot of noise, get information out there before the public by getting the media involved; they can pack commission meetings, call commissioners, write letters and emails, send letters to the editors, request public records and even start their own political  news blog! But in the end the decisions are in the hands of the elected officials, and in the case of Augusta, the politicians have been in denial for so long that they often just ignore the public they are supposed to serve.. no matter how valid their arguments are or how loudly they make them.

Enter the lawyers. Legal counsel has the power of the courts at their disposal to force the commission’s hand, just like a court can order a repeat drug offender into rehab. It’s called a writ of mandamus. It’s when a court forces a lower court or government officer to perform a duty. In the case of ParkingGate, it could be forcing the commission to move forward with the forensic audit… they did vote to approve it after all. A writ of mandamus could also possibly be used to force a public referendum on any new ballpark… that some elected officials are doing their darndest to get around.

But some of you may say, “But Woody Merry and his group filed lawsuits against the city all of the time and that got nowhere.”

True. But Woody Merry would usually file a lawsuit about any and everything and he often didn’t have the evidence to back up his claims. That’s counterproductive and in the end just costs the taxpayers more in legal fees.

Augusta Today is different; they do their homework. They’ve done exhaustive research on the parking deck and TEE Center, as well as the Laney-Walker/Bethlehem redevelopment overlay, submitting open records requests for hundreds of pages of public records. And that doesn’t come cheap. Individual members have dug into their own pockets shelling out hundreds of dollars to get these records. Another appeal of retaining legal counsel would be that it would cover obtaining most of the necessary legal documents and public records to move forward on a particular project. It’s like killing two birds with one stone.

But lawyers don’t come cheap. And the one that Austin Rhodes is recommending, Robert Mullins, won’t likely work for peanuts. Mullins has a successful track record suing the city. In 2009 Mullins sued the city on behalf of the Association for Fair Government to force the city to release public records. That suit involved the release of public records over construction bids that the city’s procurement department kept stonewalling over. In the end, Mullins prevailed.

Mullins won a settlement from the city on behalf of Thompson Wrecking Company for a sum in excess of $200,000 in July of 2011 over claims that the city’s procurement department violated a 2007 order regarding the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program.

The upper echelon of Augusta Today tell City Stink that they are taking a serious look at Robert Mullins and his track record. But first the group has to raise the money. Austin Rhodes quickly pledged $100 to the effort on the air yesterday. Then former Augusta Commissioner Andy Cheek called in and pledged $100 of his own. Members of Augusta Today are telling us that work is being done now to file the right paperwork so that they can form a legal fund and begin taking donations and start the process of retaining an attorney.

Once that happens the group will add a donation button to their Facebook page. We will also add it to CityStink.net as well. Stay tuned.***

UPDATE: We just learned that the city’s procurement department has begun the process of issuing requests for proposals from forensic auditing firms.

Arrowflinger Sings in Georgia Senate Chambers – Ethics? Where?

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It’s hard to be humble when you are a Georgia legislator. The Arrowflinger Al tackles the hot topic of Ethics in the Georgia Legislature – There aren’t any. So he decided to put his frustrations over Georgia Gold-Domers to song. See his video serenade below.

After Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson went down in flames of scandal and personal ruin in late 2009, in the early days of 2010 Arrowflinger Al went on a local talk radio program, the Austin Rhodes Show, on WGAC in Augusta, Georgia to endorse David Ralston as a “Reformer.”

That summer Ralston took a $17,000 European vacation courtesy of lobbyists. More recently he received $5,000 from Affordable Equity Partners of Missouri who plopped down a public housing development, Magnolia Trace, in the middle of a sedate part of Columbia County.

There is also the matter of Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols, also touted by the Arrowflinger on the Austin Rhodes Show as a “reformer.” Then he went about soliciting sporting event tickets on PSC letterhead!

Then some months ago, old Al confronted Representative Tom McCall about the lack of ethics at a Concerned Citizens of Lincoln County meeting and got blown off. The newspaper reporter failed to report what was a heated discussion.

This seemed to be an appropriate response.

If the good men and women of the Georgia General Assembly don’t do something and fast, they will be laughed out of the state and shunned at home.

The Arrowflinger has been let down by politicians more often than a practice dummy at funeral training school.

The original footage was shady and a mite crooked. That is PERFECT!

Revenge is sweet?

(Note: The sounds, rendition, images, and execution of ideas within this post are entered under Fair Use, for the purposes of Journalism, Education, and Commentary. They are transformative in nature and protected in their entry under Fair Use).

Breaking News!: Committee Fails to Pass Parking Deck Agreement

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Originally posted on CityStink
Mon. Jan. 30, 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.

!Breaking News!

This just in. The revised management agreement for the new $12 million Reynolds Street Parking Deck has failed to win approval in committee. In a 2-2 tie vote, the motion to send the deck agreement to the full commission with committee recommendation failed by default. Committee members Jerry Brigham and Wayne Guilfoyle voted in favor of sending the deck management agreement forward without a recommendation. Commissioners Alvin Mason and William Lockett were opposed. It takes at least 3 votes to pass a motion. Ties cannot be broken in committee and thus the motion fails by default.

This vote comes amid a new controversy that City Stink broke last week revealing that there are liens on the property under the deck held by Wells Fargo Bank (formerly Wachovia) as collateral for a loan to prospective deck operator Augusta Riverfront, LLC for more than $7,000,000.

Commissioner Bill Lockett wanted to hold off on the vote altogether to proceed with the management agreement until after a forensic audit of the land transactions and financing of the parking deck is completed. Brigham asked if the forensic audit was germane to the discussion over the management agreement. General counsel Andrew McKenzie said that it was.

Lockett’s motion to delay the agreement pending the outcome of the forensic audit failed 2-2 with Guilfoyle and Brigham opposed.

The attorney who handled most of the legal transactions for the city over the parking deck, Jim Plunkett, was in the hot seat at today’s committee meeting. As we told you last Friday, commissioners were never told about the liens by Plunkett or city administrator Fred Russell, nor were they told that a parcel under the TEE Center itself was never deeded over to the city by Augusta Riverfront, LLC as it was promised on multiple occasions. That took most commissioners by complete surprise. Some commissioners were calling for Plunkett to be removed as the attorney overseeing the project on behalf of the city. That sparked Fred Russell to jump to Plunkett’s defense. Committee chairman Jerry Brigham shouted over everyone that he had heard enough.

Attorney Jim Plunkett told commissioners that he had an agreement from Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) for release from the liens prior to construction of the deck. Plunkett also told commissioners that easements could not be established until after construction of the deck was completed. From the expressions on the faces of commissioners and others in the chambers, it was obvious not many people were buying that line. Bill Lockett asked about the timing and the release of information and why commissioners were consistently left out of the loop.

Commissioner Lockett told Plunkett, “This body has been misled over and over…”

Commissioner Aitken, who is not on the committee but was present in the chambers for other business, urged committee members to forward the parking deck on to the full commission for approval saying that he was proud that Augusta Riverfront, LLC gave things up in the new agreement. But the revised agreement only had minor tweaks and did not address deeding the land to the city as commissioners were originally told it would be at the Dec. 9th, 2009 commission meeting where the TEE Center and deck were approved.

Aitken said, “Sometimes when votes are cast we have to deal with it and move forward.”

But for now, the management agreement is stalled until commissioners get more information. But the city finds itself in a real pickle. According to Jim Plunkett, an agreement between the city and Augusta Riverfront, LLC must occur before the air rights will be released.

Now the big question is: What happens next?


Bowles was absent from the committee meetings today. His position on the matter is crucial. Now the agreement moves on to the full commission next week without any action or recommendation from the committee. All eyes will be watching Bowles. He could be the wild card in all of this.
Stay tuned, we will bring you more updates.***

Deeds and Misdeeds: A “Chronicle” of Promises to Donate Land for TEE Center/Parking Deck

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“Donate the land? We were only joking!”

Originally posted on CityStink
Monday, Jan. 30, 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.

As the Augusta Commission wrangles over terms for the management contract  with Augusta Riverfront, LLC over the new $12 million Reynolds Street Parking Deck and the TEE Center still under construction, we must be reminded that this is not the first time this massive project has hit roadblocks and been mired in controversy. In fact, this has been an ongoing saga for more than six years, since voters approved $20,000,000 in SPLOST funds for a Trade and Exhibit Center on the Fall General Election ballot in 2005.

Dirty Deeds Not Done Cheap: A Time Line

As we told you in our breaking news story last Thursday: TEE Center Parking Deck Air Rights Gone With The Wind, not only was the land under the parking deck never deeded over to the city by 933 Broad Investment, LLC (as commissioners were told it would be), but we also discovered liens on the property held by Wells Fargo Bank (formerly Wachovia) as collateral for a loan to Augusta Riverfront, LLC, totaling over $7,000,000! But we also found out that Augusta Riverfront, LLC also still retains ownership of a parcel under the TEE Center itself across the street that was supposed to be deeded to the city.

Since Augusta Riverfront, LLC  is ultimately headed by Augusta Chronicle publisher William (Billy) S. Morris III, it seems only fitting to turn to his paper to help fill in the paper trail on the true story behind the land deeds.

We found a Chronicle story from January 13, 2007 by staff writer Laura Youngs (Editor’s Note: the article is no longer available online.) At that time, a TEE Center task force had just finished negotiating a revised operating agreement with Augusta Riverfront, LLC for the TEE Center and recommended the facility be built on land adjacent to the Augusta Marriot Hotel and Suites owned by Augusta Riverfront, LLC. Under the agreement then, Augusta Riverfront, LLC had, “AGREED TO DEED THEIR LAND over to the city for the TEE Center.”

Deeding the land was viewed by some commissioners at the time as a quid pro quo for the generous operating agreement that had the city paying Augusta Riverfront, LLC $350,000 a year for operating expenses and capital improvement costs for running the center, in addition to it being connected to their hotel. The TEE Center was being built entirely with public money.

But commissioners continued to balk at the operating agreement as being too lopsided in favor of the interests of Augusta Riverfront, LLC, with taxpayers assuming most of the financial risk. So it stalled again.

Fast forward to July of that same year. Now we find  a July 8th, 2007 guest column in The Chronicle penned by Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) Barry White and CVB President and CEO Phil Wahl. They both sing the praises of Augusta Riverfront, LLC and their generous offer to donate their riverfront land for the facility, writing, “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 LLC also will pay annual center operating expenses over $250,000 and capital improvements over $100,000 a year.”

Donation of the land was one of the major selling points to commissioners for locating the TEE Center next to the Augusta Riverfront, LLC owned Augusta Marriot Hotel & Suites and awarding them the operations contract.

Now fast forward to 2009. The TEE Center project is still stalled because now it is learned that the facility will cost nearly double the $20,000,000 voters had approved in the 2005 SPLOST. That news had many people rethinking the whole deal altogether and even suggesting alternatives, such as renovating existing facilities to use  with the initial amount from the SPLOST. Former Augusta Mayor Bob Young penned a guest column that appeared in The Chronicle on September 27, 2009 (Editor’s Note: article is no longer available online) that suggested the James Brown Arena could be expanded and essentially function as a TEE Center at a significantly lower cost than building a new facility. Also, the city already had a management contract with Global Spectrum to operate the arena and this could cover the TEE functions as well, instead of entering into a separate contract with Augusta Riverfront, LLC for a new facility on the riverfront.

A rebuttal to the former Mayor’s column appeared a week later in The Chronicle from former Augusta CVB treasurer and chairman Abram Serotta, telling us that the “TEE project MUST be ok’d.“ Mr Serotta once again brings up the issue of land ownership at the Reynolds Street site, writing, “Land purchases have been negotiated and, in total, the city has invested more than half-a-million dollars in the project to date.”

Bad Investment

But some critics were trying to tell us that spending  money on a TEE Center was just simply a bad investment, period. Commissioner Betty Beard had made a motion in September 2009 to see what it would cost to bring Dr Heywood Sanders, a professor in the College of Public Policy at the University of Texas-San Antonio to Augusta to rebut claims being made by Barry White of The CVB and others that a TEE Center would be an economic boon. Dr. Sanders authored the 2005 Brookings Institution study: Space Available: The Realities of Convention Centers as Economic Development Strategy, which debunks many of the myths about convention centers being significant economic stimulators.

In a Sept. 16, 2009 Augusta Chronicle article by Johnny Edwards, it is stated that, “Dr. Sanders said cities throughout the country are losing money on trade centers and, desperate to book events, are offering discounts and incentives that make competition even stiffer.”

In the end, Dr. Sanders was never consulted by the Commission and the TEE Center and a new parking deck were approved on Dec. 9, 2009.

In a Dec. 10, 2011 Chronicle article by La Tina Emerson we learned that the CVB is having difficulties with booking conventions for the facility still under construction.

Commissioners Ask Questions About Land Ownership

Commissioners were told repeatedly by Fred Russell at that Dec. 9th 2009 commission meeting that land parcels for the parking deck and for the TEE Center itself owned by Augusta Riverfront, LLC would be donated to the city. Commissioner JR Hatney brought the issue up and asked for clarification from Fred Russell. Below are excerpts from the minutes of that meeting.

Hatney: “The other question I would ask to our Administrator I remember when we talked about the parking deck before. We were not so warm on that issue and the volume was $500,000 and you’ve come back and you said you were going come back with a lower scale because it would be more cost effective to go ahead and do that then to I believe pay a $1.1 million or something like that on I guess the lease or rent or whatever you do and still that eventually buy the property. You said this property’s going to be given? Talk to me.”

 

Russell: “I need the map. There we go.  If you look at the round area up there, there if you look at that brown area would be the area that we’re looking at for the building the parking deck. And then if you look at the two areas that are not being donated, one of which belongs to the radio station which is a, sorry about that. That’s where the hotdog stand is. That’s owned by a private individual. The other part of the place is owned by WAGT Television. The balance of that is owned by Riverfront Development and that’s the property that’s going to be donated.”

 

and later on in the minutes….

Hatney: “About donating the site, about donating? Did we check with them yet on the possibilities?”

 Russell:   “They’ve agreed to donate the property. ”

Commissioner Betty Beard had earlier raised questions about land ownership at a July 7th, 2009 commission meeting with Fred Russell.

At this meeting Fred Russell was referencing a map outlining the various land parcels that the city would need to acquire or would be donated for the parking deck and TEE Center:

Russell: “I haven’t finalized anything waiting for your approval but I’m getting very close to giving you the final documents on all three if not the schematic designs, the land acquisition and the operating agreements. Land acquisition, the green part is the park for the TEE Center. The area in black is owned by the Riverfront Development Corporation or some subsidy there is, there are. They will be donating that property towards the completion of the TEE Center. The other two pieces of property in negotiation are the Lock Shop and the warehouse building on the corner.”

The green part that Russell is referring to on the map is a parcel under where the TEE Center would be built that Augusta Riverfront, LLC had agreed to deed over to the city, as we told you earlier in the Chronicle paper trail. And as we told you last week, Augusta Riverfront, LLC still owns that parcel. It was never deeded to the city as promised.

Betty Beard asks for clarification about this parcel at the July 7, 2009 meeting:

Ms. Beard: — what are they donating again?

Mr. Russell: The area in the black is the property that they own.

Ms. Beard: In the black?

Mr. Russell: The little black square up there, green, I’m sorry.

Mr. Mayor: Outlined in black.

Ms. Beard: Oh across the street.

Mr. Russell: That’s the location of the TEE Center itself.

 

And later in the minutes Betty Beard had the foresight to bring up the issue of  the significance of Air Rights regarding the parking deck:

Ms. Beard: In one part of the information it said air rights would be donated.

Mr. Russell: I’d like to talk about that a little bit later. That gets into the parking issue and there’s a couple items we’ve got there that we need to talk about if you don’t mind.

Ms. Beard: Well, what about the Trade Center itself?

Mr. Russell: That’s the green property.

Ms. Beard: I mean the air rights.

Mr. Russell: We build a building there. The air rights would not be significant. It would be part of the building itself.

Ms. Beard: I don’t know why people say they are not significant. Okay. 

Betty Beard was right. The issue of air rights are extremely significant, as we now know  that is all the city ended up with for the parking deck as the land was never donated by Augusta Riverfront, LLC. And the green parcel across the street under the TEE Center that Beard references was also never deeded to the city. So what about the air rights over there for the TEE Center?

Today the Augusta Commission meets in committee to decide whether to approve a revised management contract with Augusta Riverfront, LLC for the parking deck and TEE Center. It would be wise for them to hold off on that until this matter can be investigated further. Rushing into things without having all of the pertinent information is what initially put them into this mess and rushing now into another bad contract is certainly not the way out of it. We will have an update on this story as it becomes available. Stay tuned.***

Fred Russell is Running Out of Excuses

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Originally posted by CityStink
Friday, Jan. 27, 2012
Augusta, GA
Commentary
By The Outsider

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.

Just how many more major screw-ups from Fred Russell will Augusta Commissioners tolerate?  Well it doesn’t get much bigger than the total clustermuck over the TEE Center Parking Deck. As we told you with our breaking news story yesterday: TEE Center Parking Deck Air Rights Gone With The Wind!, not only does the city not own the land under the deck, but that land has liens on it held by Wells Fargo Bank (formerly Wachovia) for use as collateral on a loan for over $ 7 million to Augusta Riverfront, LLC, the same entity seeking the management contract for the deck and the TEE Center. That not only puts the city at a huge disadvantage in the negotiations over the management contract, but it also appears to leave taxpayers at risk of losing their $12 million asset if Augusta Riverfront, LLC defaults on their loan. That’s a position the city should have never been put in.

But that’s exactly where we are. And what’s Fred’s response? Well this is what he told George Eskola of WJBF yesterday:

“We’ve got lawyers, we got bond attorneys, we’ve got everybody who’s charted around, thinking this is safely where we need to be. At the end of the day and people on the sidelines are having issues.”

Oh really? I suppose the, “people on the sidelines” Russell is referring to are the citizen activists like Lori Davis, members of Augusta Today and City Stink who exposed this new bombshell. And we have to wonder if this news would have ever come out if not for the tenacity of  these citizen activists. It appears that commissioners were completely surprised by these revelations. Mayor Pro-tem Joe Bowles said in George Eskola’s report:

“We didn’t know that, of course, and that’s something we just got information on. I’m waiting for clarification from our attorneys. If we built a building on property that, you know, secured debt for somebody, I do have a serious issue with that.”

We are glad that the Mayor Pro-tem is taking this issue seriously, but he and other commissioners and the Mayor should be more than just concerned, they should be downright outraged. It seems that the more layers of the TEE Center/Parking Deck onion you peel away the more rotten it gets. And it appears that commissioners have been left in the dark through the entire process. And who’s job is it to keep commissioners in the loop? City administrator Fred Russell.

Russell knew about the liens, but neglected to tell commissioners. But Russell also told commissioners the land would be donated for the deck, but neglected to inform them again when that changed to only “air rights.” How can commissioners continue to have confidence in a city administrator who consistently leaves them in the dark on some of the most important and expensive issues facing the city?

And it’s not like this is the first time. Russell cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands more than it should have cost to terminate incompetent employees because he did not keep accurate records of their true job performance and then he negotiated their very generous golden parachutes. When commissioners gave Russell more authority over personnel matters, he took that as an opportunity to award generous raises to over 40 select employees, when commissioners were looking for more cuts to balance the budget. We could take up an entire column on previous Russell screw-ups, but we will leave that for another time.

Now Russell is saying that the issue of the bank liens on the property where the $12 million parking deck sits is just a matter of some “loose ends” that need to be tied up by “the lawyers.” Oh really? Well shouldn’t all of these “loose ends” had been taken care of before the city built a $12 million parking deck with taxpayer’s money on land it doesn’t even own that has liens against it? Who would build a house on someone else’s property that had bank liens against it? You don’t need a degree in finance to understand the stupidity of these actions. And Russell’s excuses just aren’t adding up.

And what about those lawyers? Russell is not the only one to blame here. Commissioners should also have some serious questions for attorney Jim Plunkett, who handled most of the legal transactions and bond financing for the city over the TEE Center, the parking deck, and the Laney-Walker/Bethlehem Redevelopment. Surely Plunkett knew about the liens, so why did he not take care of clearing up those “loose ends” before the city started up the bulldozers on the construction of the $12 million parking deck? Why were the bonds issued before the liens and other ownership issues were taken care of? And should we expect any similar surprises over the transactions involving the Laney-Walker/Bethlehem redevelopment with its bond financing inextricably tied to the TEE Center/parking deck?

Plunkett has a long relationship with the city in handling legal matters involving these public-private partnership real-estate ventures. Records show that the city paid the Sherman, Plunkett and Hamilton firm $577,538 for outside legal work last year. Susan McCord documented the particulars in a series of articles. She wrote, “Jim Plunkett specializes in economic development legal work, such as the public-private partnerships between Augusta and operators of the Trade, Exhibit and Event Center and the Laney-Walker and Bethlehem redevelopment project.” (Editor’s Note: January 8, 2012 article by Susan McCord no longer available online.)

But in this case it appears it was the private interests being protected and the public’s interest was being put at great financial risk. We have to wonder if this is the first time something like this has happened regarding one of these Public-Private Partnership real-estate developments, or is it just the first time it has been exposed? Perhaps that’s something for investigative journalists to look into.

But now the ball is in the commissioners’ court. How will they proceed  over the management agreement with Augusta Riverfront, LLC with these revelations? And how will they deal with this latest Fred Russell screw-up? And what about that forensic audit that commissioners approved back in December to look into irregularities over the land deals involved in the TEE Center Parking Deck? Should that not be expanded to included the entire TEE Center and the Laney-Walker redevelopment? And why would commissioners trust Fred Russell to help choose the auditing firm to essentially investigate him? And can commissioners now truly trust Russell to negotiate a deal over a proposed downtown ballpark with Ripken Baseball in the best interest of the taxpayers? Maybe it’s time for commissioners to rescind that vote on tasking Fred Russell to develop a creative financing package for that ballpark. Can they really trust Russell with handling another multi-million dollar development after this?

Ok, commissioners, it’s up to you now. It’s time to stop dragging your feet on the forensic audit. And it’s time for you to honestly reevaluate the confidence you have placed in city administrator Fred Russell. Oh, and we’re still waiting to see some leadership from Mayor Deke Copenhaver on this issue. Time is running out and the public is watching.***

Stay Tuned. More is to come on this issue.

Breaking News! TEE Center Parking Deck Air Rights Gone With The Wind!

  By , ,

!!CityStink Exclusive!!

No Police Protection, Just a Liened Deck?

Originally posted on CityStink
January 26, 2012
Posted at 1:37pm
Augusta, GA

By Lori Davis

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.

Let me say right now I am not a real estate expert. I can only speak from years of owning, buying and selling homes. Every time I bought a house and financed it, there was a security deed recorded by the bank that had to be satisfied before I could sell it or at the time of the sale. My lawyers would get a cancellation of the security deed recorded so that the property liens would be ended. We all know and have been through this.I first raised my concerns about irregularities with the ownership of the land under the TEE Center and companion parking deck in an article that appeared in City Stink on January 11, 2012. See: TEE Center LLC Trap. At the time the local media paid little attention to my findings. Well, I think this new information may change that.

Why didn’t Augusta Richmond County worry about cancellation of a series of security deeds, security deed modifications, and financing statements filed against the land 933 Broad, LLC owns under the TEE Center deck? Why wasn’t this done before Augusta built a $12 million structure on top of this land it doesn’t own? (please see documents at the bottom of this story)

The very simple real estate indexes at the clerk of court’s office show no cancellation of these security deed filings. Where are the cancellations?

IF there were no cancellations, and all of this paperwork is still good, hasn’t our city-county government made one of the biggest errors any of us has ever seen? Whose parking deck is it now, anyway? If the TEE Center and deck management deal is for 15 years, is the deck that landowner’s at the end of just 15 years?

IF the landowner defaults on the loans, won’t Augusta lose its prized $12 million facility to the bank? There are no filings establishing any rights whatsoever of Augusta to this land, as far as I know and what previous media reports have told us.

IF the loans are still in place, how is the interest on the loans going to count against the Tee Center profit and losses that Augusta shares in?

IF the city had not established a value of more than $2.1 million an acre (based on land swap and hot dog operator buy-out costs) for Senator Jackson’s .07 acre corner, what would have claimed as the land value? The tax assessor’s value? If Augusta has to buy the land after the fact, what will it cost after this charade?

IF all the liens are there, why on earth would the commission want to rush approval of the TEE Center and deck deal before Bill Lockett and the 5 other commissioners’ forensic audit is done? Why the rush? I think we know now.

Can the other LLC, Augusta Riverfront, borrow against the parcel that it owns under the Tee Center itself? It doesn’t look like there are security deeds on it, but that side of the street is a huge complicated blizzard of paperwork. I get a headache looking at this stuff.

How did Fred Russell expect to get any rights at all without running into the deeds? I got it – we got air rights!

The people got air rights while somebody got a free $50 million facility? Over in Harrisburg bullets fill our air because Ronnie Strength’s budgets get slashed. If you think I am angry over this, you are right!

I am not a lawyer, but these are questions that demand answers and accountability.

Does anybody in Augusta’s administration have a clue? As of the writing of this story, City Administrator Fred Russell has confirmed that liens still do exist on the property where the deck is located. Wonder why he never informed the commissioners about this?

Fred has to go.***Stay Tuned to WJBF News 6 tonight for George Eskola’s report on this story

Below are some of the documents supporting this article (3 separate .pdfs total)
There are more documents that will be released in due time, so stay tuned.

933 Broad Plat

933 1st UCC

2010 933 UCC