Short Sheeted via Term Sheet

Public Thrown for Loss in (nearly)Free Falcons Stadium?

By Al Gray

Georgia Dome to be Torn Down for new Falcons Stadium

About two months ago, a “term sheet” was signed by the Georgia World Congress Center and the Atlanta Falcons to build a new retractable-roofed stadium for their pro football team. After the travails that followed the notorious Augusta Tee Center Term Sheet, the mere mention of that phrase was enough to raise eyebrows.

The thought came to mind “What if……?” What if it was a one-sided deal against the public? What if the consultants’ reports were not analyzed? What if the cost to the taxpayer was a whole lot greater than advertised? What if the legalese meant huge opportunities for cost-shifts to the public? What if media was silent because of the team owner’s position on the board of the Atlanta newspaper’s parent company?

The deal was too huge and the possibilities too big to ignore, so this author performed a month long investigation on the reported stadium costs versus what the documents showed. The report that came from this effort is the inaugural article in agraynation.com, the multimedia blog born out of the Augusta Project, that work being a year-long series of investigations and articles that appeared in City Stink and the Augusta reform Facebook pages. 

The Falcons say they are paying $700 million of the $1.2 billion cost.

Are they really? Or is this another prank of being short sheeted via term sheet? Will the weary public think it is turning in to a warm comfy bed, only to find all openings denied?

The full report, found here, compiles figures from consultant reports, the term sheet, and the financing. It suggests that the Falcons may only be paying $50 million or less.

Most of the cost is all ours.

There is a big rush to get this deal approved ASAP.

Stay tuned.

Guest Column: Lee Anderson Hardly a Leader

Friday, August 24, 2012
Augusta, GA
By Jeffery Sexton

My attention was drawn to this comment from Lawton Sack, Chairman of GA-GOP’s 12th District:

• Rep. Lee Anderson was elected as our Republican nominee for GA-12 on Tuesday night. There already seems to be an air of defeat permeating this race against Barrow. Some people are publicly and privately saying that Lee cannot beat Barrow. I have had some tell me that they will be voting for Barrow instead of Lee. I believe strongly and sincerely that Lee can win this election, and I cannot and will not give up without a fight. I have lived under Barrow for almost 8 years, and I am tired of his duplicity and his non-leadership. Barrow is not the right answer for GA-12. I kindly ask that each of you, our Republican leaders and activists in GA-12, to please not add any fuel to the pessimism. If you choose not to support our nominee, that is your right and prerogative. I simply ask that you please not make the battle more difficult for those that choose to fight on.–Lawton Sack, GA-12 GAGOP Chair

Now, as y’all probably know, I’ve spent a good amount of time over the past four years – since Anderson was first elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 2008 – watching the Georgia General Assembly quite closely. And honestly, Anderson’s name was never a factor in my conversations with fairly high ranking sources in the Assembly, no matter the issue. But I decided to use the power of LEGIS to do some research into Rep Anderson’s “leadership”, and here’s what I found:

Per his biography page, as of the 2011-2012 session of the Assembly, Rep Anderson’s highest ranking position is as the third ranking official (Secretary) of the Intragovernmental Affairs committee. He has no other leadership positions in the Assembly – meaning Speaker Ralston and the other genuine leaders in the Ga House of Representatives don’t consider the man a leader at all, else he would be given more prominent positions, particularly given the turnover of the last couple of years.

But let’s also look at his legislative record, shall we?

Rep Anderson has had his name attached to 40 bills in the 2009-2010 session, his Freshman term. Of those bills:

• 15 were statewide House legislation
• 2 were local legislation dealing with the City of Harlem and Columbia County
• 2 were Senate bills that he was the House sponsor of (SB 6 and SB 456)
• 16 were various commendation resolutions
• 2 were resolutions supporting development of Ga’s energy resourcese
• 1 was a resolution honorting China Day at the Capitol
• 1 was a resolution recognizing Burn Week
• 1 was a resolution creating the House Study Committee on Property Law Modernization and Standardization

Of those 40 pieces of legislation, Rep Anderson himself introduced just 1/4 of them – 7 bills (HB 196, HB 440, HB 453, HB 630, HB 723, HB 975, and HB 1253) and 3 commending resolutions (HR 1656, HR 1766, HR 1940).

Of the 7 bills Rep Anderson introduced himself, 4 (HB 440, HB 453, HB 630, HB 723) became law – though half of those were the 2 pieces of local legislation he had introduced. Of the rest of the House bills that Rep Anderson co-sponsored, only 4 became law: HB 93, HB 156, HB 529, HB 1206. Of these four, Anderson was the primary co-sponsor on half of them.

For comparison purposes on the numbers above, there were nearly 6100 pieces of legislation introduced in that session, with 1527 of them being House Bills, 552 Senate Bills, 2340 House Resolutions, and the remainder of them Senate Resolutions.

In Rep Anderson’s sophomore term, the 2011-2012 session, here is the breakdown of his 55 total bills:

• 38 were commendation resolutions
• 7 were statewide House legislation
• 5 were local redistricting bills
• 1 was a local bill to provide term limits for the Columbia County Board of Commissioners
• 1 was a resolution supporting the modernization of the Federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (HR 381)
• 1 was a resolution urging the US Dept of Labor to repeal certain proposed policies (HR 1561)
• 1 was a resolution urging the US Dept of Community Affairs to adopt amendments to the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (HR 1948)
• 1 was a dedication resolution

Of these 55 pieces of legislation, Rep Anderson introduced just 2 of the bills (HB 1179 and HB 1180, both redistricting bills regarding Lincoln County) himself, though he introduced 34 of the commendation resolutions himself.

All of Rep Anderson’s redistricting bills became law, as did his bill term limiting Columbia County Commissioners and 5 (HB 198, HB 274, HB 280, HB 485, HB 928) of his 7 Statewide bills.

For comparison with the above numbers, there were 5423 total pieces of legislation introduced in the 2011-2012 session, with 1311 of them being House Bills, 2201 of them being House Resolutions, 540 were Senate Bills, and the remainder were Senate Resolutions.

Thus, as Rep Anderson’s record clearly shows, he is hardly a leader – he has not held any position of any real importance on any major committee, and while he has had a few bills passed, 2/3 (4 of 6) of the bills he had passed that he had introduced himself were local legislation of no statewide importance.

I’ll leave it to the reader to interpret the benefit/detriment of the bills that did get passed with his name on them for themselves.

For anyone who would like to look at exactly what I have looked at on their own, please feel free to go to LEGIS. To find Rep Anderson’s information, simply use the Session drop down box to search for either the 2009-2010 Regular Session or the 2011-2012 Regular Session, then for the Member drop down select “Anderson, Lee”. All of what I have now shown will come up for you to look at the legislation at your leisure.***

Jeffery Sexton*

Visit Jeffery Sexton's blog here--> JefferySexton.com

The Three Wise Counties (Video)

Saturday, August 11, 2012
Augusta, GA
From CityStink.net Reports

Three counties in the CSRA region wisely said NO to T-SPLOST on July 31st: Columbia County, Glascock County and Lincoln County. However, since they were outvoted by the rest of the region, they will still be subjected to this hideous new tax and new level of government bureacracy. To make matters worse, since the T-SPLOST was rejected by 75% of the state, including populous metro Atlanta, this will likely result in proceeds from the CSRA's gasoline tax being diverted to Atlanta. At least 3 local counties had the good judgement to see T-splost for what it was: a sham. Watch Al Gray's video commentary below:

Farmer Lee Anderson Grows Taxes

The Lee Tax Shift

Friday, August 3, 2012

Columbia County, GA

By Kurt Huttar

Last Tuesday, July 31, 2012, saw the completion of the biggest tax shift in CSRA and Georgia history with the passage of the 1% sales tax for transportation called T-Splost. Less than two months after Columbia County Representatives Lee Anderson and Ben Harbin voted for $tens of millions in new sales tax exemptions for Delta Airlines,  Delta, Georgia's  domineering airline, contributed $225,000 used to convince easily-swayed voters to vote themselves a 33% sales tax increase on food.

Perhaps Delta, once notorious for sending passengers on the last leg back to Augusta on buses, wants safer roads on which to transport shafted customers upon whom it foisted an $8 billion tax increase.

Anderson, now a candidate for the 12^th Congressional District seat now held by Democrat John Barrow, voted to cut Delta's sales taxes but voted for these sales tax increases on us in the middle class. Here we find Lee dining with George Bowen, the lobbyist who greased through the fuel tax exemption for Delta and Georgia Power.

Worse is the behavior of Georgia Power Company, who gave $395,000 to deluge us with pro T-Splost propaganda after the same legislation saved them $hundreds of millions. It is noted that said cost savings supposedly are given back to consumers via fuel adjustments to their rates, but how many citizens trust those calculations? This also came after Lee Anderson voted in 2009 for Georgia Power's advance billing of $1 billion in profits, hidden as "construction costs." We got double digit rate increases from that, too.

Yes, we voters are now going to have to pay Lee's 14% T-Splost sales tax increase on those double-digit, advance-profit charges on our power bills.

Here, the Georgia Gang, including former Augusta Chronicle opinion editor, Phil Kent, questioned the rush by Lee Anderson and others to pass the bill.

Lee could not be dissuaded by pleas of "Read the BILL, Lee!"

Anderson, a hay farmer, also voted for a $500 million a year hospital bed tax. How did he make a “No Tax Increase” Pledge with Grover Norguist's Amercans for Tax Reform and vote for these tax increases? Can we believe his promises?

It was most frustrating for us in Columbia County to only be able to put up a few score “VOTE NO” signs, then go home to find pro-T-Splost mailers in the mailbox.

I had to  drive by scads of “Vote Yes” signs illegally placed in medians and rights of way, like this one: 

I had to listen to broadcast appeals funded by these corporations who just got sales tax cuts. 

Finally, I got a batch of signs from Augusta County Commissioner Joe Bowles, who courageously fought adoption of this terrible tax. 

On August 21, we have chance to just say 'No!” once again. This time it is a vote against legislators stupidly subordinating our Columbia County votes to those of ignorant and corrupt Augustans. This time it is a vote mindful that this dastardly T-Splost tax begins to be collected January 1.

Just say no to Lee Anderson for Congress.

Lobbyists love him. The middle class groans under the burdens their orgies of money and excess we are left with.

Isn't it time the people won one?***
KH

Related Stories:

• Anderson Off His Wagon in the 12th District
• My Lesson From Lee Anderson: Never Give Money to a Politician

Al Gray: Vote NO to T-SPLOST (Video)

Thursday, July 19, 2012
Augusta, GA
From CityStink.net Reports


In his latest video, Al Gray, of ArrowFlinger Reports and a CityStink.net contibutor, explains why it is so important for Georgia voters to defeat T-SPLOST on the July 31st General Primary ballot.



Related Stories:

• Don & Ron's $87.6 Million Pot of Gold
• 15 Reasons to Detest T-SPLOST and Punish its Promoters
• Al Gray Warns Rural County Leaders Over 'Shameful' T-Splost
• Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics and T-SPLOST
• Why T-SPLOST Must Be Defeated (Video)

Off His Wagon in the 12th District

No Lee Way

Monday, July 16, 2012

Augusta, GA

By Al Gray

Lee Anderson’s Legislative Rap Sheet - Will the Legislature’s war on Middle Class Georgians Blow Up in His Face?

Lee’s Electric Rate Increase

Look on your Georgia Power Bill. Is it high enough to suit you? Now look on the billing details. On there you will see a little item called “Nuclear Construction Cost Recovery.” This comes to 5.1% of the Current Service amount. On a monthly bill of $300 this special rate increase comes to about $15.  The Bill that created this cost to us that was passed in 2009 was so hideously bad, that consumer advocate Clark Howard spoke out strongly against it, twice. Lee Anderson, now candidate for the 12^th District Congressional seat threw our interests to the wind and voted for it. What is worse is that we got another 1.7% hike this spring and have yet another coming next year! With incomes down-to-flat over the last 5 years Georgians are hurting from energy costs already.

Shocking Households across Georgia

Admittedly, politicians and the public in the Augusta area were all for the jobs that this Plant Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant expansion would bring, but before Lee and the others made that vote, it came out that more than half of the increase was for advance profits for Georgia Power and its parent Southern Company. The excess was over $1 billion! The project will produce 800 permanent jobs, which is great, but the extra rate increase for the advance profits is more than $1.2 million per job! Knowing that Lee was about to make a huge mistake that was going to cost us all required a phone call. Hearing the message left made no doubt about the wise position, but Lee voted for this huge rate increase anyway.

The bill got rammed through despite our calls, Clark Howard’s appeals, and media questions. House member Lee listened to 70 Georgia Power lobbyists instead.  " House members were in such a hurry that they broke with tradition and left hundreds of House bills waiting while they OK’d a Senate bill", it was written.

Lee Loves Rascal Politicians

If you love incumbent, established politicians and like what they have done to this state, by all means vote for Lee Anderson. Anderson actually boasts about having lined up the political establishment throughout the district early and embraces them fully. Lee Anderson is the politicians’ politician and is the only career politician in the 12^th District race. Got that?

Lee Likes Nancy Pelosi’s Style – Pass Bills You Haven’t Read

We can kill two birds with one stone with Lee’s tax reform vote. First, he cannot have known what he voted on, is not inquisitive enough to research issues, and he leans upon lobbyists to ‘inform’ him. When tax reform came up during the 2011 legislative session, this writer called Lee to ask if he knew what was in the bill and was promptly directed to call an agricultural businessman directly interested and involved in getting a whole new section of agricultural exemptions from sales tax written in.  Second, the legislation was rushed through during the closing days of the 2012 session without adequate estimates of the revenue losses, despite clear notice that the electricity exemption would cost Augusta Richmond county with its heavy manufacturing, Burke County with Plants Vogtle and Wilson and Effingham county with the Georgia Pacific complex and Plant McIntosh. Early in the session this costly “tax reform” had been squelched because of the heavy revenue losses to certain counties. In the Savannah Daily News it was reported: "Local governments would also lose money on an energy sales tax moratorium for industry. To replace that revenue the state has promised to return a share of its take each year, guaranteeing at least $1 billion to local governments. " This will be like all of the other of the legislature’s “guarantees” –every one of which have disappeared – won’t it? Where will these counties find another equivalent source of revenue? They won’t.

Clueless about Money

Neither Lee nor anybody else in the House has a clue about where the money will come from or how much was lost! Amy Henderson, of the Georgia Municipal Association said at the time "This is happening so quickly that there's not really time to look at it and say what is the impact going to be?" Did Lee Anderson read the bill that the experts in local government couldn’t?  What do you think?

Vanishing Point – Running from Ethics

Then there is the matter of corruption amongst all of those incumbent politicians who support Lee. Georgia has the most corrupt government out of the 50 states. Where was and Lee on ethics reform in Georgia? Anderson pledged support for ethics legislation but later cut and ran after lobbyists warned that he would lose campaign donations. Cronyism above ethics – there’s your farm boy.

No Lee Way from his T-Splost Vote

Finally, consider that Lee Anderson is proud of his vote for T-Splost, the biggest tax increase in Georgia history, a vote that Americans for Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist says violates the “No Tax Increase Pledge” that Lee signed. Representative Anderson tries to wiggle out of the vote, saying he voted to give the people the choice. The part giving voters a choice is 3 paragraphs out of the 29 page bill  he voted for. The rest is the death of home rule, a 14% tax increase, extortion against the voters, and a whole new unfunded social planning agency. Lee Anderson would like to disavow this vote. He should not be allowed that privilege.

This is a CONSERVATIVE?

The worst thing that could happen to Lee Anderson is to win the 12^th District congressional seat. The worst thing that could happen to those who wish to reform Augusta and bring the region back to a place of honor and respect would be an Anderson win. Alas, such an outcome is hardly improbable. 

Politics is a disease that afflicts some men to the point of their ruin. Lee Anderson is one of those men.

Friends need to do an intervention here and adopt this motto – “Restore a man to his decency and honor – Send Lee Anderson back to farming.”

We will all be better for it.***
A.G.

Augusta Elections Date Change a Dirty Trick?

Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012
Augusta, GA
CityStink.net Commentary

UPDATE:  After the GA Senate defeated a bill earlier on Tuesday that included moving Augusta's local elections to the July 31st, primary, the GA House resurrected the effort later that night by amending Senate Bill 92 to include the elections date change. The vote came at 10pm. So what's going on here?

******

We first told you about an effort to move all non-partisan elections in Augusta from the November general election ballot to the July general primary ballot back on December 5, 2011 (See New Elections Law Could Save The Cabal here). GA House Bill 158 was passed into law by the Georgia General Assembly in the 2011 session. It shifted all county and consolidated  non-partisan elections from the general election to the mid-summer general primary ballot and would go in effect for the 2012 election season. However, an official opinion from the state Attorney General  said that Augusta was exempt from this law because it was considered a municipality under its charter.

But that still wouldn't stop proponents insisting on moving Augusta's local races to July. Just yesterday, the Georgia House passed a bill sponsored by Barbara Sims (R-Augusta) that would force Augusta to move its non-partisan races from the November general election ballot to the July primary ballot. The bill passed along party lines 95-58. Local Democrats vow to fight it.

Proponents of the bill say it is all about saving money for costly run-off elections. They contend that non-partisan races often result in run-offs and it's better to lump those with the primary run-offs in the summer instead of create new run-offs in early December. But the bill does not guarantee that there won't be anymore general election run-offs. Georgia law requires any candidate to receive 50% plus one vote to win an election outright. That's only 100% certain in a two-candidate race. Any race that has a third-party or Independent candidate can result in a run-off. A Libertarian forced a run-off in the 1992 Senate campaign that resulted in Republican Paul Coverdell unseating incumbent Democrat Wyche Fowler. Will the Republicans in the Georgia General Assembly try to now ban Libertarians, other third parties, and independents from running on general election ballots in the name of avoiding costly general election run-offs?

If Republicans were really serious about saving taxpayers from extra run-off elections then they would instead pass a bill instituting Instant Run-offs. Also, known as preferential voting, voters rank their preferences of candidates on the ballot. This way if their 1st choice is knocked out in the first round, then their second or third choice will be counted in an instant run-off. This method has been used for many years in Australia and is employed in several US jurisdictions from Maine to Minnesota, and to parts of California. If avoiding costly run-offs is the goal, then IRV (Instant Run-off Voting) is the way to go.

But let's be honest, this is not about reducing run-off elections in Georgia. This is a blatant attempt to suppress black voter turnout for these local races in an effort to help the ruling establishment cling on to power in places like Augusta-Richmond County, which has become increasingly majority African-American over the past decade. With a majority African-American population approaching 60% in Richmond County, it seems inevitable that this majority will take the reigns of power in local government sooner or later. Well this effort to move the local elections to July seems to be an attempt by Republicans to push that inevitability to later.

It's not surprising that an Augusta politician would be the sponsor of this bill. It's been no big secret that the ruling establishment in Augusta has been in panic mode over the likelihood that blacks will soon take control over most areas of local government. There has even been a concerted effort to beg Sheriff Ronnie Strength to run for one more term because they think he is the only one capable of withstanding a challenge from a strong black candidate. With new redistricting maps, the racial balance on the  Augusta commission could  easily flip, especially with a large surge of black voters showing up in November to cast a vote for President Barack Obama. And that seems to explain why this change is to go in effect for this election year instead of delaying it to the 2014 election season. Could this change also be insurance for candidates like Matt Aitken, if he decides to run again?

Having such a major change in the elections date for local races in the same calendar year will also put extra burdens on candidates. They will have to scramble to qualify and then raise money for an election nearly four months earlier. And a mid-summer low turnout election will likely drastically change campaign strategy and the dynamics of the race. It also makes it very difficult for candidates to enter the race if they don't know exactly what date the election will be held on.

There is a very good possibility that the Department of Justice could throw out this legislation on the basis that it violates the Voting Rights Act in diluting minority voting strength. The motivation behind this move seems obvious enough. So after all is said and done, this could all be thrown out and the date for local elections remains in November. But until there is official word, there will be uncertainty for candidates and voters, and that's not a good thing.

Some people justify the elections change even acknowledging that it is likely motivated by suppressing black turn-out by saying that Democrats gerry-mandered districts and used dirty tricks to maintain power for years. But do two wrongs make a right? Even Augusta afternoon radio talk-show host Austin Rhodes said that the motivation behind this was obvious; that it was about suppressing black voter turnout. He told listeners that this did amount to a dirty trick, and that just because Democrats used similar tactics in the past did not make it right now because Republicans are in control. He said that Republicans should be better than that and take the "higher road."

The fact is there are many large cities that have switched to majority black rule, and they did not fall apart into chaos. Power shifted towards a black majority in Atlanta in the 1970s.. and the city actually experienced its greatest economic booms since that time. Corruption can come in all shades and Atlanta has had its fair share, but then so has Augusta.

This unfounded terror coming from the white  political and business establishment in Augusta over an inevitable majority black rule is a manifestation of  a deep-rooted racism that has continued to hold this community back for decades. And with this last ditch effort to cling onto power through dirty tricks, it's rearing its ugly head again and undoing years of what seemed like progress in race relations in Augusta. The people pushing this move need to be concerned about what kind of statement this is making to the outside world about Augusta and the state of Georgia. They are doing more damage by keeping the politics of racial division and mistrust alive than any imagined harm they see coming from inevitable majority black rule.***
CS
Related Stories:

• Mayor Deke Plays Both Sides Over Redistricting
• New Elections Law Could Save The Cabal
• Sen. Hardie Davis Jr Takes Aim at The Cabal

***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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Augusta's Contract With Heery International Contains More Surprises

Hear Ye, Heery is Here

More Overpriced Payees for the City?

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

The execution was horrible.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

State Rep. Winfred Dukes

 Who knew Augusta had another state representative in the Georgia House?

Mysterious bodies abound in Augusta's contracts. So far there are two in the Heery contract.

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

Much more.***

A.G.

Related Stories:
"Galloping" Away With Taxpayers' Money

**View Heery Document Below

Heery