Catering May Crater Augusta Finances

TEE Catering Delivers Sweets To Whom?

Thursday, November 8, 2012
Augusta, GA
By Al Gray

Part 2 of Reviewing Augusta’s Tee Center Contracts

When Augusta’s Trade, Exhibition, and Event (TEE) Center was officially presented as a concept for approval in August 2007, what stood as the partnership agreement was an unsigned, undated document entitled  "Term Sheet." between the city and Marriott Hotel Franchisee Augusta Riverfront LLC. Under that agreement, Augusta was not in the catering business and was not slated to furnish $1.4 million in kitchen equipment, or if it was, that detail was not spelled out for the Augusta City Commission.

Much has been written on this blog about the saga of the Tee Center Kitchen Equipment and that tale is not one to be retold now.

What is now germane is  that the Augusta Commission has been presented with a raft of contract and legal documents to be approved and executed that clearly should have been in place by late 2009, having been repeatedly promised as being “finalized” by City Administrator Fred Russell in the last half of that year. Now the Commission is being asked to whisk these complicated deals through in an expedited fashion lest Tee Center events face cancellation.

After the Management Agreement, the Tee Center Catering Agreement has the greatest impact upon TEE Center operations, as Augusta Riverfront LLC is already the Manager of Augusta’s Conference Center and Caterer for events there. Augusta is paid no share of catering from its Conference Center under previous deals.

The following represents a summary of the primary Catering Agreement issues compiled from a review of the contract documents. This list has been provided to Commissioners and has become the basis of discussion and attempts toward a speedy resolution of major issues. The approach was to review the agreements in PDF form,  write comments, apply sticky notes that Adobe Acrobat provides to annotate documents, and then to provide a summary from the compiled sticky notes.

Solutions were designed to be the product of meeting participants and were not suggested in the summary.

The author is not a licensed attorney, auditor, or public accountant. This analysis was provided from a multidisciplinary perspective in the manner that accountants, attorneys, administrators, owners, policy makers, and media might find useful in trying to decipher the pitfalls and dangers in the agreements.

 Primary Issues

1. Since most of the language in the Catering Agreement mirrors the language of the previously-reviewed and annotated Management Agreement, this document will only be annotated with comments and questions unique to this agreement.
2. Phantom legal documents (see “ Conference Center Management Agreement dated____, 2012”) should not be referenced.
3. ARLLC (Augusta Riverfront LLC) is both Conference Center operator and Caterer with a captive LLC (TEE Center Manager Augusta Convention Center Management LLC) between them. Isn’t this just a fiction to eliminate a conflict of interest as alluded to in the Catering Agreement?
4. Controls over inventories of food and beverage (to prevent co-mingling of Augusta, Hotel and Conference Center purchases) being in place before contract execution should be mandatory.
5. If Kitchen doesn’t serve Hotels (as has been publicly stated by the Marriott General Manager), can’t that reference be taken out? 
6. Cross over events into the Conference Center will deprive the Tee Center of catering revenues, while the agreements relieve the Conference Center of costs.

As with the Management Agreement, time will tell how many of the above issues are addressed, handled, and rectified.

 -AG

The author, Al M. Gray is 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. He is a frequent contributor to CityStink.net.

Special Report: A Commission Deceived

Charlie Brown Placekicking with a Luciferian Administrator?

Tuesday, September 25, 2012 Augusta, GA
By Lori Davis

*Editor's Note: Click on blue underlined text to see the documents referenced in this report*

Most of us came up reading and watching Charlie Brown’s cartoon adventures with his pals. The most infuriating sequence of strips were when Lucy enticed poor Charlie Brown to kick a football while she acted as holder.  At the last instant, without fail, Lucy would snatch the ball up and away, leaving poor Charlie kicking nothing and ending up on his butt. Lucy had to invent more and more ways to get Charlie Brown to participate in her charade, generally involving ever-more grand enticements, promises, and fantasies.

The Augusta Commission is Charlie Brown and Fred Russell is Richmond County’s Lucy.  By now there are 10 bruised and broken tailbones showing up in Commission Chambers. By now it hurts so bad, none of them can stand to laugh. 

Monday, the proposed contracts for the infamous TEE Center come to the Commission for consideration and approval. If they try to kick those footballs through the uprights immediately, they will find all of the incompetence, yes even deception, which Fred Russell has been up to. The damage will be that Richmond County will lose $tens of millions over time on this boondoggle, with $millions added  that were hidden in one-sided contracts that Lucy Fred “negotiated.”

Why do I write so bluntly? Is it that I think that Fred Russell intentionally misled the entire commission?
Yes and here is why.

These contracts were promised to be nearly complete THREE YEARS ago! Here are Russell’s exact words from the July 7, 2009 commission meeting. “Land acquisition is almost finalized.  The operating contract is almost finalized……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” Three years and two months later the final agreements are just coming  before the commission.

What did Fred Russell do with these agreements in all of this time? He allowed $50 million of Tee Center and Parking decks to be erected on land the city didn’t own. This was unbelievable incompetence and it may have been worse. It put the city in a difficult and now perhaps impossible negotiating position.
I submitted several Georgia Open Records Act Requests trying to get to the bottom of the Tee Center kitchen kettle of waste, including one dated July 2, 2012 and another dated August 3, 2012. A stunning string of misstatements by the administrator and irregularities surround the $1.4 million that Augusta paid for kitchen equipment.

When asked for the action of the commission that changed the PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT with Augusta Riverfront LLC, all the city could show was approval of the change order  with RW Allen LLC to purchase the equipment.

When the draft Tee Center agreements were obtained in March by Commissioner Guilfoyle, there were references to the kitchen space in the building, but not the equipment. The existing Conference Center agreements, recorded in the clerk of court office and the August 7, 2007 preliminary agreement approved by the commission, both say Riverfront LLC pays for the equipment. WHERE IS OUR MONEY?

The motion to approve purchase of the kitchen equipment presented by the Administrator stated  “There is no financial impact to the overall project cost. “ Beyond whether these costs belong to Riverfront LLC, not Augusta, which would make Fred’s claim ridiculous, there was only $700,000 in the project estimate for food service equipment, not $1.4 million.

Project contracts require the architect to review and approve all change orders, but the architect, TVS Design pointedly noted that it was cut out of its required approval of the change order, writing: “We understand that Change Order Number 01 was reviewed and executed on a process solely between the Owner and Contractor.”

The RW Allen contract requires that combined overhead and profit of the general contractor and the subcontractor on a change order not exceed a combined 22%. The pricing available to Augusta doesn’t permit verification that this maximum hasn’t been exceeded.

Commissioners need to be wary of the Russell move that now looms. These partners under the original Tee Center Deal of August 2007 are getting a $2 million annual subsidy courtesy of the Augusta taxpayer.  There is the matter of depreciation on $50 million of new buildings. There is the matter of the Augusta Convention And Visitor’s Bureau budget of millions of dollars largely dedicated to promoting their hotels. There is the $350,000 cash outlay every year from the Hotel bed/transportation tax. There is relief from property taxes. Rival hoteliers must pay these costs and get none of the benefit. All of this isn’t enough?

Summary for Commissioners

Did Fred tell you that Riverfront was obligated to pay for kitchen equipment ?  Did he tell you he was giving away $1.4 million of Augusta’s money if Riverfront didn’t pay its share?

Why did Fred tell you that the kitchen equipment did not raise the overall project costs when Riverfront was responsible and the cost was double the amount in the April estimate? (I got that included in the response to my first GORA.)

Why was the architect cut out of the approval process for the kitchen equipment change order? Did Fred tell you about that?

How can Augusta verify that it didn’t pay more than the RW Allen contract allows for the kitchen equipment when the details to do so are missing?

I note that these things are on top of Fred telling the Commission that the land under the Reynolds Street Parking deck was going to be purchased.
Why is Fred Russell bound and determined to snatch away the last pig’s skin of real value to Augusta and convey it to Riverfront LLC?  Is this why $50 million in buildings have been completed with no contracts between the partners in place?

Fred has been up to no good. He has either deceived or misled 10 commissioners throughout the Tee Center ordeal .It is a debacle for Augusta that he will leave as his legacy. Unless something changes, Augustans can spend the next decades shunning and lampooning these commissioners for letting an Administrator run amok, squandering millions of dollars.

Someday soon, accountability must return to Augusta and to America.  We citizens must force the issue!***
LD**

*Cost Recovery specialist Al Gray provided assistance with this report

ParkingGate: Leave it to Fred!

Fred Russell: "What? Me worry? I Have it all taken care of"

Nov. 11, 2011
Dustin Goads
For now, awarding the management contract  of the new Reynolds street parking deck has been delayed. At a finance committee meeting this past Monday (Nov 7th), commissioners voted 4-0 to send it back to Fred Russell for renegotions with the interim operator, The Augusta Marriott, which is a subsidiary of Augusta Riverfront, LLC. That is the same group headed by Paul S. Simon who also heads up 933 Broad Investment Co LLC, which is the principal land owner where the new deck now sits, meaning they own the ground floor of the new deck and the 150 spaces that occupy the first level. You can read more about this  in The Augusta Chronicle: Augusta Chronicle: Russell to re-examine downtown parking deck deal

The act of sending this back to Russell, who is mostly to blame for the confusion in the first place is odd for many reasons, but mostly it shows a commission that has no idea how to proceed on how to solve the pickle the city finds itself in over ParkingGate. Remember it was Fred Russell who told commissioners back on Dec 9, 2009 when the TEE Center and Parking deck were approved, that Augusta Riverfront LLC (or their subsidiary) had AGREED to donate the land for the new deck. Russell reiterated this several times when commissioners asked repeatedly for clarification: see--> Dec. 9, 2009 Commission Meeting Minutes

But it turns out the land was never donated. Russell and general counsel says the deal was changed to allow for tax free bonds for construction of the deck. But Russell forgot to inform commissioners that the deal had changed and the land would not be donated. Russell also negotiated a very lopsided management contract with The Marriott over the deck. In the deal Russell negotiated, the city would pay the Marriott (owned by Augusta Riverfront LLC) a yearly fee of $25,000 to manage the new Reynolds street deck, and the Marriott would also get a sweet-heart lease deal where they would pay the city $50,000 a year for hundreds of city owned spaces in the deck adjacent to the Marriott. That would give the Marriott all revenue generated from those spaces.. which could be $400,000 a year. Not a bad deal for $50,000... well actually the Marriott would only pay the city a net fee of $25,000 once you factor in their contract to manage the Reynolds street deck, of which 933 Broad Investment Co LLC ( also a subsidiary of Augusta Riverfront LLC ) would own the ground level containing 150 parking spaces.

Russell says this was the best deal he could come up with. But another company, AMPCO System Parking submitted a lower bid with terms much more favorable to the city. But Russell ignored that bid in favor of the  Marriott because he assumed it was already agreed to award the contract to the Marriott. Russell also ignored findings from a 2009 parking study that showed that a surface parking lot option could accommodate the lost spaces from construction of the TEE center that would only cost $1 million instead of over $12 million the city spent on the new parking deck. Most commissioners have stated that they never saw the findings in that parking study. Russell says he knew about it but didn't think it was important because once again he just assumed commissioners had agreed to build a deck and award the management contract to the Marriott.

Fred Russell may not bear all of the responsibility for the parking deck fiasco (The city's general counsel and attorney Jim Plunkett were also heavily involved in the negotiations), but it's safe to say that Russell failed miserably in his duties to keep commissioners updated on the negotiations and that the deal over donation of the land had changed. That was a big change. Fred Russell also failed to make commissioners aware of cheaper alternatives. It all makes one wonder who's interest Fred Russell was looking out for. It sure doesn't seem to be that of the city.

So this all makes the observer wonder why commissioners would have confidence in Russell to come back with a better deal for the city? Remember it was just a few short months ago when Russell's head was on the chopping block over raises he gave out to department heads and other high level administrative employees when just about everyone else were getting pay cuts and furloughs, including sheriff's deputies. This was also during a period when Russell was telling commissioners that the city was over $7 million in the hole. Many commissioners, city employees, and taxpayers were outraged. Ultimately, Russell kept is job, not so much out of confidence, but because commissioners didn't feel they had a back-up plan to replace Russell.

But commissioners may have to come up with a back-up plan for Russell soon. News is that Russell is a finalist for a county administrator position in Sarasota, FL: Augusta Chronicle: Russell named Finalist for Sarasota, FL Position. What's odd about this news is that it broke nearly a week BEFORE the finance committee voted on Nov 7th to task Russell with going back and renegotiating a better parking deal with Paul S Simon. Will the parking deal really be on Russell's priority list if he is in line for another job in The Sunshine State? In fact, Russell will be in Sarasota on Tuesday interviewing for the prospective job when a budget plan is presented to commissioners on how to plug a projected $6.3 million budget deficit. Deputy administrator Tameka Allen will present the proposal in lieu of Russell: Augusta Chronicle: Cuts eyed for $6.3 million budget hole.  Just when will Russell have the time to revisit the parking deck deal?

Fred Russell's golden parachute by "The Shadow"

                                                      ^^Click image above to enlarge^^
And let's also not forget that the commission tasked Fred Russell back in July of this year  to have negotiations with Ripken Baseball on developing a "creative financing" package for a new baseball stadium. So it seems like the commission has put a lot on the plate of this city administrator who has given them plenty of reasons to lack confidence in his abilities to deliver. And with Russell perhaps heading for the warm sandy beaches of Sarasota, FL, he probably has even less incentive now to deliver on a better parking deal. Plus, Paul S. Simon, with his company owning the ground floor, holds the leverage. And Simon has hinted that he doesn't intend to budge.

But what happened to the tough talk from commissioners  just a couple of weeks ago? When the news first broke in the media that the city didn't own the land where the deck now sits, mayor pro-tem Joe Bowles even used the "C" word when interviewed by WJBF's George Eskola. Bowles said then that the city needed to own that land and would not rule out "condemnation" proceedings if it got to that. But it seems as though Bowles has backed off that threat. Now the commission is sounding more like a puppy dog with its tail between its legs going back to Paul S Simon begging for a better deal. But what if Simon doesn't want to match the terms of AMPCO Parking Systems? Bowles had previously stated that as an ultimatum. But will Bowles and the other commissioners back that up... with, say, the threat of "condemnation"? At this point that seems to be the only card the city holds to negotiate a better deal. But as we first told, the possible inflation of the land values  by the city where the deck now sits could throw a wrench in that option.

This doesn't seem to be ending soon, and instead of issuing a tough ultimatum to Paul S Simon, commissioners are now sounding more mealy-mouthed and more tepid in their resolve. It seems as though the "C" word has completely disappeared from the rhetoric over the parking deck. And punting the problem back to Fred Russell, who was largely responsible for creating it in the first place, makes the commission look even more like a deer caught in the headlights over this. It seems that they have no game plan. What will they do if Fred Russell gets that job in Florida? The commissioners better be coming up with a back-up plan fast.

Related articles:   

•  Land Swaps, Bonds and Air Rights: The parking Deck Saga Continued, 
•  The Parking Deck of Wonders, 
•  The Ghost of David Fry
• Brad Owens: A Rebuttal to Austin Rhodes Over ParkingGate
• Where's Deke on ParkingGate?

***Do you have a story idea, a tip, or would you like to write for City Stink? Then please contact us at: CityStink@gmail.com ***

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Land Swaps, Bonds and Air Rights: The Parking Deck Saga Continued

The parking deck at 9th and Reynolds Streets

Oct. 30, 2011

Dustin Goads

Since City Stink first ran the story this past Wednesday on the Reynolds Street parking deck saga (The Paking Deck of Wonders), the proverbial fecal matter has hit the fan. Unfortunately many people in the media are still missing the big story and some have chosen to divert attention away from the main issues and  toward State Sen Bill Jackson, implying that City Stink was accusing him of wrong doing and "dragging his name through the mud."  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Sen. Jackson's name only came up because public property records show he was involved in a land swap with the city so that a small 0.07 acre parcel that he had owned with a  business associate for decades could be secured for the new parking deck at 9th  and Reynold's Street. The real issue that is being ignored is the inflated price the city ended up paying for that 0.07 parcel and its implications for 933 Broad Investment Co LLC (aka Augusta Riverfront, LLC), NOT that Sen. Jackson walked away with any huge pay-off or was somehow tipped off by someone to hit it big in land speculation. If you go back and read the article you will find that City Stink never made any such accusations.

Explaining the Land Swap Transaction
State Sen. Bill Jackson and a long time business associate, who is now deceased, had owned a 0.07 acre parcel at the corner of 9th and Reynold's Street since 1969. It just so happens it was right where the city of Augusta needed to build a new parking deck. Instead of an outright sale of the property to the city, an arrangement was set up called a  1031 Exchange. When you hear the term "Land Swap", this is what they are referring to. These are quite common in the business world, though not quite as common for municipal governments to be a party to. But it made good business sense for Sen Jackson to want to avoid paying capital gains on the outright sale of the property, since he says he was not particularly interested in selling. No one faults Sen Jackson for making a sound business decision. The 1031 allowed him to defer any capital gains. It also allowed for more purchasing power for the two parcels he wanted in the exchange, since capital gains would have gobbled up 15% of the profit from the sale.

However, the city didn't just swap out land with Sen Jackson that it already owned. The state Senator was interested in two small parcels at the corner of 13th street and Reynolds street adjacent to his Tile Center business. Those parcels were owned by K&W Investment Co. You can view the property records here: 1311 Reynolds St parcel and 35 13th St parcel. But the thing is, to acquire these two parcels, the city paid out $119,000. And that is the main point. Sen Jackson just got the land.. no money. The $119,000 was held in escrow by a 3rd party intermediary while the transactions were being finalized. Even though Sen Jackson didn't walk away with a big fat check in the deal, he did get a larger parcel that was of considerable more value to his business than the tiny 0.07 acre orphaned parcel he transferred to the city at 9th and Reynolds Streets.

 Now a particular talk radio personality was making it sound like the land swap was at the very best a "wash" for Jackson or that he may have even lost money on the deal. Not quite. Acquiring the crucial corner parcel at 13th St and Reynolds St gave Jackson increased visibility and access for his Tile Center business and thus increased the value of all of  his land there. So Jackson made quite a good deal for himself, not faulting him with that, any good businessman would do the same thing. The question here is, in all of this, did the taxpayers make a good deal?

How Augusta Riverfront, LLC is the MAIN Beneficiary of the Land Swap
As we have said before the main player in the parking deck, aside from the city of Augusta, is Augusta Riverfront, LLC. This is  the company who will manage not only the new parking deck, but the new TEE Center. They also own the Marriott hotel adjacent to the new TEE center. As we first told you, the land where the TEE center parking deck now sits is owned by a company called 933 Broad Investment Co, LLC, which we found is a shell company of Augusta Riverfront, LLC. This means that the company who wants to manage the parking deck (at a yearly fee of $25,000) actually owns the land where the deck sits, EXCEPT for that one 0.07 acre parcel involved in the land swap with State Sen Bill Jackson.

As we just told you, the city paid out $119,000 in that exchange. What that did was essentially inflate the land values where the parking deck sits, establishing a price point of $1.7 million per acre! And who owns most of that land? 933 Broad Investment Co LLC (aka Augusta Riverfront, LLC). So that puts them in a pretty sweet position over this deck. They already own the ground floor of the deck, which means they get the revenue generated from the spaces on the first level, and now they want a $25,000 contract to manage the rest of the deck. Many city leaders are crying foul and saying they were mislead and want ALL of the land where the deck sits under city ownership. But not so fast. Augusta Riverfront, LLC can now assert that their land is worth $1.7 million per acre if the city wants to buy them out. That could also be used as powerful leverage in negotiating a sweet heart management contract for managing the  new Reynolds's street deck and the one adjacent to the Marriott.

What Exactly Were Commissioners Told?
When several commissioners were told that the city did not own the land where they just built a $12 million parking deck, they were dumbfounded. It seems as though just about everyone on the commission was of the belief that Augusta Riverfront, LLC or its subsidiary had already donated their parcels of  land for the deck. But that never happened. Commission meeting minutes from 2009 clearly show that city administrator Fred Russell told commissioners on multiple occasions that Augusta Riverfront, LLC or its subsidiary had AGREED to donate the land to make way for the parking deck. You can view those commission meeting minutes here: Commission Meeting Minutes from 2009 Regarding Acquisition of Land for Parking Deck.

It makes sense that Augusta Riverfront, LLC would agree to donate the land for parking deck. They were getting a sweetheart deal on the TEE Center and the management contract to operate it with no risk to them. In fact they were getting a $350,000 per year subsidy from taxpayers to run the facility. And the hotels owned by Augusta Riverfront, LLC are adjacent to the TEE Center and thus will get exclusive access to the facility. And don't forget that the city forgave Augusta Riverfront, LLC of a $7.5 million UDAG loan that the city had acquired on their behalf back in the early 1990s for construction of the Radisson, now Marriott. So it is very plausible that commissioners would expect that Augusta Riverfront, LLC would "do the right thing" and donate the land for the parking deck.

The Deal was Changed but Someone Forgot to Tell the Commissioners
December 7, 2009 was when the crucial vote was taken that approved the deal over the TEE Center and parking deck. The meeting minutes show that once again commissioners were told by Fred Russell that Augusta Riverfront, LLC had agreed to donate the land and that the city would only need to acquire two other parcels, one from a "private individual" (that was State Sen Bill Jackson) and WAGT (though none of the actual parking deck sits on the former WAGT parcel). Commissioners voted to approve the deal based on this information. But somewhere along the way things changed, but commissioners were never told. It also was revealed that a much cheaper option for surface parking instead of a costly deck was rejected by Fred Russell without the knowledge of commissioners. Commissioners were not even aware of a parking study that proposed the cheaper surface lot option. Chris Thomas of WDRW reports on this below:

So somewhere along the line the deal was changed  to where the city only acquired air rights above the ground floor of  the $12 million parking deck. But apparently commissioners were never told that the deal had changed. And was the parking deck even necessary in the first place? There is now a push among at least one Augusta Commissioner to clamp down on downtown parking to hopefully steer people to the new deck. So why was this deck needed? And who told the city it was absolutely necessary to build this deck?

Follow the Bonds, Follow the Money and Connect the Dots
The reason given now by city attorneys as to why the land was not donated by Augusta Riverfront, LLC is so that tax free bonds could be used for construction. But that begs the question: Why did the city need to purchase the 0.07 acre corner parcel from Sen Bill Jackson for the deck? If keeping the land under the control of Augusta Riverfront, LLC allowed for tax free bonds to be used for construction, then shouldn't they have purchased that land from Sen Jackson instead of the city to consolidate ownership? But as we previously told you, the lopsided land swap with the city valued that parcel at $119,000, which then inflated the surrounding land values (owned by Augusta Riverfront, LLC) to $1.7 million per acre. How convenient.

The other question that begs to be asked is why The DDA (Downtown Development Authority) was taken out of the process over the issuance of the bonds for the parking deck? The DDA is a governmental authority whose original purpose was issuing and servicing bonds for downtown parking decks.. but NOT this particular downtown parking deck. Why?
Brad Owens, the founder of Augusta Today and a former member of the DDA and a frequent critic brings up the following points regarding the bonds:

"FOLLOW THE MONEY!

The key here has been said a few times but folks have missed it. Let me put the two together here for everyone:

1.) City lawyers say the deal was changed so tax-free bonds could be used for construction.

2.) His (Mayor Copenhaver) comment was the bond attorneys would have never let matters stand if there were something wrong with the deal.

Now, here are a few bones that need to be dug up on this based on the excuse that has been given;

1.) WHO issued the bonds?

2.) WHO is servicing the bonds?

3.) WHICH attorney is handling this and what are the fees being charged?

4.) ARE these "double barrel" bonds?

5.) WHICH bank is holding the money for these deals?

6.) WHAT interest rate/fee/surcharge is being charged by the bank?

Incompetence or Collusion?
It appears that many mistakes were made in this process involving the parking deck by the city and each one of those mistakes were to the great benefit of Augusta Riverfront, LLC. So that begs yet another question: Was this just yet another case of incompetence by city officials, or was this collusion among some key people on the city payroll and Augusta Riverfront, LLC to orchestrate a very lop-sided deal that now leaves the taxpayers with a $12 million parking deck on land they don't even own? Also, was someone at the city involved with the inflation of the value of the land where the deck now sits to benefit Augusta Riverfront, LLC and to the detriment of the taxpayers? Why were commissioners told by Fred Russell on multiple occasions, that Augusta Riverfront, LLC had agreed to donate the land only for that to change without the commissioners being made aware of the change?

Why didn't the DDA issue the bonds, especially when financing parking decks is the original reason it was created by the state in the first place? Was this done in an effort to remove scrutiny and oversight from the bonds?

And why isn't Mayor Copenhaver more outraged over this whole sordid affair? He seems to be more mad at the messengers for exposing the meeting minutes that show that commissioners were mislead over ownership of the parking deck land. The mayor had this to say: "Why do some people always want to look back at matters? We should be looking ahead."

We could not disagree more with mayor Copenhaver. Public officials should be outraged over this. The mayor may want all of this to just go away but we will most certainly not just look the other way on this when millions of dollars in public money are involved and especially not when it appears the process may have been rigged from the very beginning. We would hope that mayor Copenhaver would share the concerns of the public over this.

You can be assured there is more to come on this parking deck scandal... so stay tuned.
**Update** The connection between 933 Broad Investment Co LLC and Augusta Riverfront LLC:
933 Broad Investment Co LLC
Augusta Riverfront LLC
IDENTICAL!

Related articles:

• The Parking Deck of Wonders,
•  The Ghost of David Fry, 
• Media Coverage Timeline of ParkingGate

***Do you have a story idea, a tip, or would you like to write for City Stink? Then please contact us at: CityStink@gmail.com ***

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Historical Revisionism in Downtown Augusta?

Oct. 9, 2011

By The Outsider

The Augusta Chronicle had a very interesting read in Sunday's online edition by  Carole Hawkins titled: Downtown Augusta seeks tipping point. It seems like we have  heard this many times before. That downtown Augusta, with all its potential, just needs that spark to get going. It needs that "tipping point." What may surprise people is that despite all of the rosy rhetoric over the last several years about how downtown is on the upswing,  the number of businesses in the downtown district has actually decreased by 27% over the last decade. So it seems things are going backwards. Downtown is taking one step forward and two steps back, or at the very best it is staying put in status quo.

So, just what is the magic bullet that is needed for downtown revitalization? A riverfront esplanade with an amphitheater? The Riverwalk is nice, although not well maintained, but since opening 25 years ago, it doesn't appear it was the tipping point for revitalizing downtown like it was hoped to do.  A condo tower with an upscale mall with an exterior painted a peachy pink color? Been there done that, didn't work either. A children's science museum in the failed mall portion of the pink condo building? Ditto. It closed too. A new history museum? Check. Still no tipping point, but it has a leaky roof.

Well how about a hotel with a convention center? Got that covered. Still no tipping point yet.. maybe the convention center just needed to be bigger. Parking deck? A new one just opened. But the one that opened in the late 1970s didn't exactly attract cars or revitalization, and neither did the one at the hotel-convention center that this new one replaced. Maybe this one will be different and  the new gigantic 40,000 sqft TEE center (eyes rolling) will be the magic bullet.. the tipping point... the catalyst! Well we will have to wait and see but it doesn't look promising with not one convention booked in its opening year and in 2013 only one convention has been booked, and it has been to town before and used the smaller facility.

 Well what about a fancy tourist attraction to capitalize on Augusta's connection to professional golf? A Georgia Golf Hall of Fame and botanical gardens, yeah, that's the ticket! Well the state of Georgia and Augusta invested over $18 million of your tax dollars in that fantastic idea. Tipping point? More like weed patch. Yep, all that money and years later and all the city has to show for it is an expensive brick wall and a "Garden of Weedin'."

 So what's next on the horizon? What's the next tipping point for downtown? Well mayor Deke just hates seeing that monument to failure formerly known as the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame just sitting there growing weeds producing no tax revenue. So he wants to build a city financed "multi-use" baseball park on the site. Yeah, that's the ticket, another taxpayer financed boondoggle. But hey, did anyone tell mayor Deke that a city owned ballpark won't generate any property taxes on that site either? Uh oh.

Some will argue that there WAS a tipping point downtown, and it happened when Main Street Augusta was essentially shut-down and The Downtown Development Authority took over as the primary guiding force and trustee of tax dollars for downtown revitalization. Some people say that was a very bad thing, and was a tipping point in the wrong direction. But it looks like some folks are trying to white-wash that history. In the Chronicle article. It is said that Main Street Augusta, the group responsible for First Friday, just "fizzled" out. Brad Owens, who was a downtown bar owner and very active in various downtown groups, says that is flat out incorrect.

The most interesting part of The Chronicle article came underneath in the comments section. Brad Owens posted a very informative comment (which surprisingly is still up on The Chronicle website). Brad gives us a great timeline of what actually happened regarding Main Street Augusta and The Downtown Alliance and how the DDA seized control. I have pasted his comment below:
********************************

OK, where do I begin?

First, this is a 100% fact; "The number of downtown businesses dropped 27 percent over the past decade..."

Numbers don't lie and the DDA can try to spin it any way they choose, but a net loss is a net loss. Period.

Second, Augusta's Main Street program did not "fizzle" it was destroyed by the DDA itself. I challenge this statement for being non-factual, "Its board disbanded, and programs such as Saturday Market and First Friday were picked up by the Downtown Development Authority, according to Woodard..."

That is a misleading statement at best, 100% fabrication at worst.

Hal Hood was forced to resign and the vote by the Main Street Board to dissolve was not taken in accordance with the by-laws. The DDA wanted to keep the funding that was sent to Main Street thorugh the DDA by the county (please note the DDA didn't see a reduction in it's stipend it gets from the RC tax payer after MSA "disbanded").

Also, the only reason the DDA even has a budget is because of Main Street. After the city and county became one, Randy Oliver said the Main Street program could not receive direct funding form the city, so they merged the DDA and Main Street programs to have an "Executive Directors" position.

The money Main Street was getting was supposed to just pass through the DDA not be controlled by them.

Main Street was a business assoc of sorts for downtown, and have non-profit status. The DDA got to keep the non-profit status even after they got rid of Main Street.

It was a dirty deal form the begining, and just after they got rid of Main Street, the Downtown Augusta Alliance (DA2) showed up on the scene.

Also, the Enterprise Fund used to get the Sat Market off the ground was coordianted by several folks (me included) with then commissioner Tommy Boyles, Janie Peel was in the middle of it too.

First Friday was dumped by the DDA and the GAAC picked it up after a HUGE fight. The Chairman of the DDA along with Maggie decided, without a vote, to defund the event.

I am sick and tired of the story not being told right and folks taking credit for the hard work of others.

Hal Hood worked hard to get it right, he was sabotaged by certain DDA members and Mian Street folks in cahoots with those DDA folks.

I am sure this will probably get removed, because no one wants to hear the truth and the newspaper folks are too lazy to get at the truth.

I am tired of all the spin, downtown is not booming, it is not what it could be and certain folks have made sure that it stays down and the ball stays in their court.

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2006/10/12/met_100167.shtml

As you can see, I have FOUGHT to keep the funds going to these events while certain folks wanted it sent to their own pet projects.

Facts are stubborn things.

Brad Owens

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The problem is that people seem to have a short memory when it comes to all of the big taxpayer funded boondoggles that were intended to be the "tipping points" for downtown. When one looks deeper at the white elephants enumerated above, the name Augusta Tomorrow usually comes up. Despite their less than glowing track record, city leaders still seem  look to Augusta Tomorrow for more great ideas. Their ideas, tend to always focus on heavy taxpayer spending on big ticket status projects like the failures from years past. The master plan for downtown was commissioned by Augusta Tomorrow. They have somehow managed to appoint themselves as the master planners for downtown. Who is Augusta Tomorrow? They are a Who's Who? of civic business and government big wigs. You don't see a lot small business people in the ranks of Augusta Tomorrow , who would probably be the ones with the best insight on how to revitalize downtown (The membership fee alone is $6,000 for an individual). Instead you have the usual suspects: bankers, utilities officials, GHSU officials, a hodge podge of high society club types, government officials, and even the city administrator, Fred Russell. Also you will see a lot of Augusta Tomorrow in the ranks of the DDA. So could the DDA be a government funded proxy for Augusta Tomorrow?

Could it also  be that the vision that Augusta Tomorrow has for downtown is a bit outdated and isn't inline with the vision of those small business people who have actually been the primary investors into downtown over the last 15 years?  And should taxpayers be worried that when city leaders are seeking yet another "tipping point" for downtown, that really that is code for "lets build a publicly financed ballpark downtown!"

Will the real problems and past failures of downtown continue to get ignored in search of the "Next Big Thing?" City Stink will have more coming on the proposed ballpark and will cut through the spin and propaganda and give you the real facts on the true economic impact a minor league ballpark.

Until then, here is the second part in The Chronicle's series in the struggle to revitalize downtown Augusta: Empty Buildings Downtown Remain Impediment to Growth.

***Do you have a story idea, a tip, or would you like to write for City Stink? Then please contact us at: CityStink@gmail.com ***
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