Commission standards under fire

Web posted September 18, 1999

By Sandy Hodson and Sylvia Cooper
Staff Writers

Calling for a ``citizens alert,'' outgoing Richmond County grand jurors slammed city leaders for what they perceived as wasting taxpayers' money and, in at least one aspect, inviting corruption.

At the conclusion of its term of duty, the grand jury reported its dismal opinion of personnel practices, the way the county buys goods and awards contracts, a lack of long-range planning, and the way county gives taxpayers' dollars away in the form of grants.

``Further, these findings should, and hopefully will, engender a renewed, or new, interest in how our county works and what our officials do. Their actions, or lack of, (affect) us, how we live, and how our monies are spent. Ultimately, it is up to us to hold them accountable,'' the grand jury report concludes.

Speculation has filtered through the community for the past few weeks since county commissioners and City Administrator Randy Oliver were twice summoned to appear before the grand jury.

In the report Friday, the grand jury issued a strongly worded critique and urged the incoming grand jury, whose members will report for duty Monday, to take up the cause and investigate the local government further.

``We did the report to give the information and the tools to the next grand jury to help them make their own decision,'' said grand juror Beth Troiano. ``I don't think the report left anything to the imagination.''

For one thing, more inquiry is needed into contracts, bids and purchasing because there is a lack of accountability and misappropriation of funds, according to the jury report.

``The practice of commissioners or their businesses doing business with, or having the potential to do business with, persons bidding for county contracts should be absolutely forbidden,'' the report states. ``At the very least, the practice gives the appearance of impropriety and, at worse, provides an opportunity for corruption. One example is the recently awarded OMI (Operations Management International) sewer contract.''

As The Augusta Chronicle reported in

April, the Denver-based OMI company advertised on sports-talk radio station WRDW-AM, Mayor Pro Tem Lee Beard's familyowned business, has since been sold. Also in April, commissioners voted 9-1 on Commissioner J.B. Powell's motion to pursue contract negotiations for the sewer operations with only one company, OMI. In July, the board voted 6-2 to award OMI a five-year contract, worth nearly $6 million in the first year.

``This grand jury suggests that this matter be further pursued by the next grand jury,'' the report states.

If the next grand jury decides to follow through on the recommendation, some evidence will be readily available. At the commissioners' second appearance before the grand jury, a court recorder was present to take down all testimony.

Friday's grand jury report also reflects the group's opinion that there is a lot of room for improvement in county personnel and a need to update and refine the policies and practices of hiring, disciplining and firing county employees.

``Too many county employees were hired with poor job skills and deliver marginal performances. The county currently provides training for employees who are unable to do their jobs merely to bring them up to par. Obviously taxpayer money is wasted in the ineffective and inefficient operation of county government,'' the report states.

Commissioner Freddie Handy's son Tony Martin was hired by the old Richmond County landscaping department and promoted after consolidation in 1996 into a job for which Barry Smith, director of the Trees and Landscape Department, said he was not qualified. City officials gave him a year to become qualified, and taxpayers paid for him to attend classes at Augusta Technical Institute.

Mr. Martin recently resigned in the aftermath of being reinstated by the personnel board, which overturned his firing by Mr. Oliver after Mr. Martin pleaded guilty to stealing azaleas from the department he supervised.

Commissioner Bill Kuhlke's subsequent effort to have the commission adopt an ordinance that would make stealing from the government a mandatory firing offense was blocked from consideration at last week's commission committee meeting. Mr. Kuhlke said he will try again Tuesday before the full commission.

The grand jury also perceived the county's lack of long-range planning as a waste of taxpayers' money, noting that nothing has been accomplished since the $90,000 space study was returned and that only 20 percent of the $167,000 efficiency study's recommendations have been implemented.

Paid consultants recommended the purchase and renovation of the old Davison's department store building on Broad Street and renovation of the municipal building and annex for courts, estimated to cost $40 million; or the purchase and renovation of the old Belk's store at Regency Mall and renovation of the municipal building and annex for courts at an estimated $40 million.

A previous grand jury, which had looked into the county's space needs, recommended last September that the city scrap both of those options and instead consider the purchase of the land surrounding the municipal building on Greene Street to build a secondary county building for judicial offices.

The efficiency study recommended eliminating positions, raising or adding service fees, consolidating or reorganizing departments, and upgrading inadequate computer facilities for a savings of $2.7 million a year.

``The bottom line, once again, is poorly spent tax dollars,'' the report states, referring to the county's inaction after the studies.

The grand jury called for close scrutiny of how and why the county awards grants to various organizations or groups.

``There often appears no rhyme or reason for the `sponsorships' other than, possibly, political tradeoffs,'' the report states.

Commissioners give money to various entities from their ``commission other'' account, which has $50,000 in it this year for use at their discretion. They also have a $243,211 travel account.

Special-purpose sales tax money is also used to support various cultural or artistic groups.

As a footnote to the last item, the grand jury reported it had unanswered questions about how the county landfill and the water works department operate and questions about the ``regularity or irregularity'' of the county's (fire and police) uniform contract.'' Uniform contracts are supposed to go to the lowest bidder that meets city specifications.

City officials said Friday that the report wasn't fair or specific enough for them to know what action the grand jurors urged and that the report paints all county employees and officials with the same disparaging brush.

By law, a grand jury in Georgia may make fair reports of its findings, even if such reports reflect negligence or incompetence by government officials. However, the law also says a grand jury has no right to charge misconduct or impugn an official's character in a civil grand jury report, such as that issued Friday by the Richmond County grand jury.

``In conclusion, this investigation and its findings should serve as a `CITIZENS ALERT' and be a reminder to the public that the citizenry has the right, responsibility and, indeed, obligation to call our officials to task,'' the report states.