The Richmond County municipal building. PATRICK J. KROHN/STAFF

Grand jury report reaction is negative

Web posted September 18, 1999

 Click here to read the grand jury's report

By Sylvia Cooper and Sandy Hodson
Staff Writers

Augusta Mayor Bob Young calls the Richmond County Grand Jury report that blasts the city's hiring, purchasing, planning and free-spending policies ``unfair and unspecific.''

He is not alone in his disdain for the report, released Friday by the outgoing grand jury:

Mayor Pro Tem Lee Beard calls it a ``disservice to the city and community,'' misinformed, inappropriate and driven by somebody out to embarrass the commission.

Commissioner Ulmer Bridges says it's too general and paints everybody with the same brush.

Commissioner Stephen Shepard said the grand jury's final statement that their findings should be a ``citizens alert'' aren't necessary because there's a commission election in eight weeks, and all the issues raised can be addressed then.

What part of thegrand jury's report concerns you the most? How city contracts are awarded (30%) = 14 Hiring unfit personnel (43%) = 20 Lack of long-term planning (17%) = 8 Using tax money for grants (9%) = 4 TOTAL 46

Commissioners Henry Brigham, Jerry Brigham, Willie Mays, J.B. Powell and Freddie Handy did not return repeated phone messages seeking their input Friday. Commissioner Richard Colclough has been in the hospital with a blood clot in his leg, officials said.

Unlike his fellow commissioners, Bill Kuhlke had a more favorable opinion of the report. He says he'll try to get the commission to vote to invite the next grand jury to further investigate the issues raised by the latest grand jury.

Mr. Young said because of the grand jury's status it has an obligation to give the commission specific information and recommendations about the areas it targets in the report.

For example, when the grand jury criticizes the city's employment policies it should identify departments, employees and the tasks they're doing or not doing so corrections can be made, he said.

``I don't know who they're talking about,'' Mr. Young said. ``And that's the way I characterize this whole report. I mean, I appreciate the fact the grand jury wants to come in and look at what we do. And that's good. ... But I think it's a disservice to us and it's very unfair to paint with this broad brush and not give us specific information that we can act on.

``I mean, they've cast aspersions on everyone who works for this city government as perhaps not being qualified for the jobs that they're being paid to do,'' he added. ``That's not right.''

The grand jury said too many county employees were hired with poor job skills and deliver marginal performances.

In some cases, that has been documented. For example, when the county garages were privatized in 1995, the company that took over was required to keep many unqualified employees, some of whom are still on the payroll, said Fleet Manager Harry Siddall.

A recent move to rewrite the bids to allow the company that gets the contract to trim the dead wood met with some resistance in the finance committee. It will be up for a vote before the full commission on Tuesday.

Mr. Young especially took issue with the grand jury's statement that ``Misappropriation of funds exist.''

``That is really alarming to have a statement like that in a grand jury presentment with no information at all about what funds are being misappropriated and in what way they are allegedly being misappropriated,'' he said.

``If indeed there is something wrong here, certainly this specific information should be turned over to the district attorney for criminal investigation if people are stealing money.''

District Attorney Danny Craig was involved in a death penalty trial Friday and did not return several messages.

The biggest surprise in the report for Mr. Young is that the city's water problems were treated in a footnote, he said.

Part of the report criticized a commissioner for doing business with the company vying for the multimillion contract to take over the city's sewer plant.

Mayor Pro Tem Lee Beard's family owned sports-talk radio station WRDW-AM, but has since sold the business.

The report said its questions about why Colorado-based Operations Management International would be advertising on a radio station in Augusta and how much they paid for the ads were not satisfactorily answered.

Mr. Beard said grand jury Forewoman Margaret Dunstan just wrote what she wanted to in the report.

``I told her I had no interest in that station,'' he said. ``And she went on and put it in there anyway. And she asked for additional information. Hell, I gave it to her, and she didn't mention it in there that I'd given it to her.''

As for the grand jury's statement concerning misappropriation of funds, Mr. Beard said it was inappropriate for the grand jury to make such statements unless they've seen an auditor's report or visited the finance department.

``And I don't know whether they visited them or not, but I think to make a pointed statement like that you ought to have some facts to back that up before you imply that funds are missing,'' he said.

Mr. Beard said somebody is driving the grand jury investigation, but he did not say whom.

``Somebody's driving it, but whoever it is I think they're doing a disservice to the government and the citizens because I think that most things as I've seen them have been about as aboveboard as anything I could see,'' he said.

Commissioner Ulmer Bridges, chairman of the commission's finance committee, said he was most concerned about the grand jury's statement that funds are being misappropriated.

``I want that identified,'' he said. ``I want to know where that's at and who misappropriated the funds. Where are they at, where should they have gone -- and I don't know how to go about gathering that information.

``Obviously the grand jury did an investigation and are able to identify them or they wouldn't have made that charge.''

Mr. Bridges also questioned the statement: ``The practice of commissioners or their businesses having the potential to do business with persons bidding for county contracts should be absolutely forbidden.''

``How can you forbid businesses that have the potential for doing business with contractors?'' he asked.

Mr. Kuhlke said he would like to see the commission invite the grand jury to continue the investigation into purchasing, utilities, and the landfill.

``I would like to see them concentrate on those three areas in their next term,'' he said. ``I don't know what they're talking about in some of this presentation, but I do know that they left enough things hanging, a few things I'd like to know more about myself.

``Give the public a report. And give us a report because if there are things happening that we don't know about, and we find out about them, then it's our responsibility to make some changes.

Meanwhile, Mr. Shepard said the citizens alert is coming in the form of an election, and the grand jurors and citizens can certainly participate in that.

Mr. Shepard said he would probably have more specific comments to make at Tuesday's Commission meeting but wanted to check his sources before he makes a ``counter presentment.''

REACH

Sylvia Cooper at (706) 823-3228 or

sylviaco@augustachronicle.com.

REACH

Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or

shodson@augustachronicle.com