Robert Cooks talks about his excitement on being the new executive director of the Augusta Neighborhood Improvement Corp. JENNIFER BRUNO/STAFF

Director has blight battle plan

Web posted June 25, 2000

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By Justin Martin
Staff Writer

Robert Cooks is an anxious man.

He is anxious to start his new job as executive director of the Augusta Neighborhood Improvement Corp., anxious to get to work and prove he's worth every penny of his $115,000 a year salary, anxious to make a difference.

But his first official day on the job isn't until next month.

So he has to wait.

He doesn't like to wait.

He wants to get started today. Right now. This instant.

He wants to start rebuilding, rehabilitating, renewing the pockets of blighted neighborhoods that clutter this city's landscape. He wants to get to work now.

On Tuesday morning, sitting in a conference room in the agency's downtown offices, which will soon be his, Mr. Cooks confessed he hasn't been able to sleep for weeks. He's too excited; his mind keeps spinning through all the possibilities, all the opportunity to do something good in Augusta, and the chance to make a difference.

That's who he says he is: someone who very much wants to make a difference.

``Yeah, my mother told me when I was younger I used to ask how all those buildings got there,'' he said with a sort of sheepish smile. ``And now, I'm kind of in the business of real estate development and finance. I figure, well, here's an opportunity for me to do that. I could be in a bank somewhere, I could be a loan officer, grinding out loans. But here, you get to make a real difference: You're not just making money for somebody else .ƒ.ƒ. You can feel responsible for making change.''

That's part of the reason why Augusta Mayor Bob Young and others created the Augusta Neighborhood Improvement Corp. last fall: They want to see change. They want to see a difference, so they charged the nonprofit agency with the duty of reviving the city's sagging economy and rebuilding its homes.

``It's great to see that person who moves into that house or that apartment and they say, `You know what, without this opportunity I never would've gotten this' or, `I lived in this ramshackle house, and now we've traded houses and now we have a house that my grand kids can live in,'' Mr. Cooks said. ``Those are the things that drive this business. And if you forget about the people, you forget about the business, and that's the difference.''

He is always looking for new ways to make a difference.

Mr. Cooks doesn't read trade magazines; he studies them the way a student studies a textbook. He spends hours on the computer, roving the Internet in search of different ways to do things. He is always trying to find that successful program in Chicago or New York or Baltimore, then see if he can mold that program and make it fit, make it work into whatever project he's got going.

``This industry is a 24 hour a day job, seven days a week,'' he said. ``If you're not actually meeting with someone, you're thinking about a better way to do something.''

He sees the faith (all $30 million of it) the state of Georgia has put in the Augusta Neighborhood Improvement Corp. and already knows it is not enough: it is going to take more than just money to make a difference, he said.

``You could have all the money in the world, if nobody believes in it .ƒ.ƒ. it's not going to work,'' he says.

MR. COOKS PUT himself through college by playing outside linebacker - ``free safety, really'' - for Delaware State University.

He was not the star quarterback or the flashy running back and he was not going to the pros, but he played a position he described as hard, thankless and painful because it provided him an education. And he had fun doing it.

``If you don't have fun, it's not worth it,'' he says of his football life.

He could've been talking about his new job.

``This industry is a thankless industry,'' Mr. Cooks said. ``Once you get it done, people forget about it. All they worry about is the dollar. But to be able to affect an economy .ƒ.ƒ.''

Profile Name: Robert A. Cooks Age: 33 Title: New executive director of Augusta Neighborhood Improvement Corp. Starts: July 17 Experience: Director of lending and equity, Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership (1995-present); Multifamily development loan officer, Georgia Housing and Finance Authority (1993-1995); housing finance rehabilitation specialist, Georgia Housing Authority (1992-94) Education: Delaware State University, bachelor of science in marketing, business administration; Federal Reserve of San Francisco's National Community Development Lending School; Neighborhood Reinvestment Training Institute; National Development Council Housing Finance Development certified Personal: Married to Sara Cooks, two children: Brandon, 11, and Dallas, 18 months

His voice trails off for a moment. Rebuilding the Laney-Walker neighborhood, reinvigorating the local economy is a daunting task.

He starts talking about a previous success:

``When I was in Atlanta, we did work around Turner Field, and I can remember when the neighborhood was 300 vacant lots, it was dilapidated housing, and now you have new homes, rehabs, townhouses, condos, something for everybody.''

He is 33 years old - young enough to be full of optimism and old enough to recognize how hard it will be to make real change.

``The tough part is when you actually start this engine: What happens to the folks who are there? With public and private dollars already in support, you can make sure the folks that are there are taken care of in some form or fashion.

``You can't help everybody, but you can sure enough try,'' he said. ``It's very tough.''

It's tough because the median household income in the United States is $39,000. That means the household income of every other person you pass on the street is less than $39,000.

That makes rebuilding a deteriorating neighborhood even more difficult: Most lending institutions refuse to finance a mortgage that exceeds 2´ times an applicant's household income.

``Put that into perspective: $6,000 for rent or mortgage payments a year: That's $500 bucks,'' Mr. Cooks said. `` So you have to sell a house for $50,000 (for people to afford it). With construction costs and land acquisition, you're already at $65,000. So how do I get housing sold at $50,000 and $40,000?''

He can't do it alone.

``That's the critical piece: public support,'' Mr. Cooks said. ``Not just state support, I'm talking local support: local business support, local financial institution support, local community support, people in general, black, white or indifferent. Low income, high income.''

In other words, the Augusta Neighborhood Improvement Corp. is going to need all the help it can get.

``It's tough. You hear all those buzz words: collaboration, partnership, working together, collective effort - all that has to happen.''

HE HAS WALKED and driven through the desolate sections of the Laney-Walker neighborhood and those sections that still have a pulse.

Parts of the neighborhood are as bad as he thought. Other parts are not as bad. There is a lot that needs to be torn down. He said he has seen worse.

``I know neighborhoods where you can go five blocks and see nothing.'' he said.

He said the Laney-Walker neighborhood has a lot of positives, a lot of rebuilding blocks already in place. He has noticed the great greenspace and the traffic patterns. He sees that the retail section from which he will expand the economic base is already in place.

When he looks at this neighborhood, Mr. Cooks sees opportunity.

``I mean I look at Laney-Walker and you know people have ignored it, it is a little pocket, and it is the closest neighborhood to the downtown. You would think that the motivation for this community would be there. But you know you've got sprawl, you got urban flight, white flight. I mean, let's be honest about what it is: Part of what's going to be necessary is to convince people this is a viable market.''

``Are we going to have to discount houses? I don't know. I haven't been here long enough to answer that question,'' he said. ``Are we going to have to be creative? Absolutely.

``Will we make a difference? Absolutely.''

THE RESUME OF Robert A. Cooks of Stone Mountain, Ga., glimmers with highlights that could make others question their own accomplishments. Since 1995, Mr. Cooks has served as director of lending and equity for the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership.

During that five-year span, Mr. Cooks reduced loan losses from 30 percent to less than 1 percent in 36 months time; created the Community Redevelopment Loan and Investment Fund Inc.; was selected by the U.S. Department of the Treasury as a reader for the year 2000 application round; and was elected to the board of directors of the National Association of state and Local Equity Funds.

He also managed to increase his agency's loan portfolio from $3.7 million to more than $8 million. The money is recycled into the community through grant and program-related investments.

As Bernie Silverstein, chairman of Augusta Neighborhood Improvement Corp. once said, Mr. Cooks makes money. That's why the board had no problem meeting his salary request.

Those who have worked with him say Mr. Cooks is very good at both finding capital and building relationships. One colleague, who asked not to be quoted, said ``He doesn't just have charisma, he oozes it.''

Prior to working for the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Mr. Cooks worked at the Georgia Housing and Finance Authority as a multifamily development loan officer. He also spent a few years as a housing finance rehabilitation specialist for the Georgia Housing and Finance Authority.

``If you want something done, you go to him,'' said Ed Deck, a certified public accountant with the Atlanta firm of Habif, Arogetti & Wynne. ``He's always ready to roll up his sleeves and go to work.''

Mr. Deck first met Mr. Cooks about six years ago. His firm worked closely with the Georgia Housing and Finance Authority. ``He's really energetic, he will bring a lot of energy, a lot of determination and he'll work hard to get done what he wants to get done.''

Jim Sibley, president of the Westminster Group, laughed when an ANIC board member asked if Mr. Cooks had any weaknesses. ``I honestly couldn't think of any,'' he said. ``I wanted to give those guys from Augusta a balanced assessment of Robert, but I couldn't think of any weaknesses. They're getting a great guy.''

THROUGHOUT HIS professional and personal life, Mr. Cooks has followed his own code, something he calls ``MEL''.

MEL stands for Mission, Ethics, Legal. Anytime Mr. Cooks makes a decision in life, he asks himself these three questions: Is it part of my life's mission? Is it ethical? Is it legal?

``If it doesn't meet those three tests, you can't do it. If it meets MEL you can always do it,'' Mr. Cooks said. ``You can never fail because you can't make a mistake. You can't make a mistake that's going to punish you. You can make a bad decision, but MEL will keep you from making a mistake.''

MR. COOKS MET his wife, Sara, at college. He was the football player; she was Miss Delaware State.

When they started dating, Mrs. Cooks said she knew Mr. Cooks was going to be a success.

``He was very persistent; whatever he decided he wanted, he went after and got,'' she said. ``You could just tell there was nothing he couldn't accomplish.''

Mrs. Cooks said her husband does spend a lot of time on the computer. He wants to know everything, she says. ``He really likes to have all the information and he likes to get it firsthand. He likes to be as informed as he can. He doesn't like second-hand information,'' she said.

When describing ``Rob,''Mrs. Cooks chooses words like honest, sincere and hard working.

She says he loves movies - one of his favorites is The Matrix.He loves to cook - ``barbecue, stews, you name it,'' she said. ``He and my mother trade recipes!'' And he loves to draw - ``Rob's very creative.''

He also loves sports. His 11-year-old son, Brandon is taking after him, playing football, basketball, baseball, even golf.

``He shot a 46 the other day,'' Mr. Cooks said, scratching his head in mock disbelief. ``I guess I need to practice before I bring him out on the course again.''

Mrs. Cooks, who has a master's degree and is a schoolteacher, says it was a pleasant surprise to know ahead of time what kind of father Mr. Cooks would be. Their daughter, Dallas, was born 18 months ago.

``He's great with her,'' she said.

WHEN MR. COOKS looks out across the core of downtown Augusta, he sees a commuter city. A lot of people may work on Broad Street, Greene Street or Telfair Street, but they live north of the Augusta-Richmond County line. ``Is that a negative? No. Is that a choice? Yes,'' Mr. Cooks said. ``The land values, the good schools, the grocery stores, the dry cleaners, the restaurants, the public services .ƒ.ƒ. If all that were in place (downtown) everybody would be living downtown.''

So he knows it is a daunting task, a hard, painful, thankless job. But he is excited. He is ready, and he wants to get to work.

Many times, industry experts say public/private economic development ventures either have great public support and very limited funds or tremendous private support and little public support.

But the Augusta Neighborhood Improvement Corp. has $30 million to spend over the next three years.

``That's the amazing part,'' Mr. Cooks said. ``The opportunity to start off with capital and not have to raise it. It's the best of all worlds.

``I look at Laney-Walker, and I say, `Wow! This is an opportunity. This is a real opportunity to make a difference.''

Reach Justin Martin at (706) 823-3552.