His campaign literature says he supports a crackdown on delinquent taxpayers, but according to records on file with the county and U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Mr. Ross owed back taxes and incurred sizable debts in the early 1990s. He filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in December 1992, $121,214 in debt.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy is sometimes called "straight" bankruptcy because it cancels most debts. In exchange, filers might have to surrender some of their property, which Mr. Ross did.
He said the bankruptcy came at a difficult time in his life and has no bearing on his character.
"When something like that happens, there are choices," Mr. Ross said. "You either decide to stay down or get back up, and make sure you'll never go there again."
He said he has successfully run his nursery - Green Thumb Garden Center on Central Avenue - for three years.
According to bankruptcy records, Mr. Ross had accrued $47,729 in credit card debt, medical bills and bills for merchandise from various nurseries and greenhouses. He owed $62,754 on his Pillar Lane home before the bank foreclosed on it.
He also was delinquent on $7,614 in state and federal income taxes, all of which were paid off by 1994, property records show.
He said he believes his past financial troubles only make him a stronger candidate.
"What it shows is that I have the character quality of perseverance, a refusal to allow this to cause me to quit," he said. "It was a humiliating experience, and I had to dig hard to get where I am today. It is exactly what Augusta needs, someone who has had to persevere ... someone who understands where we are now and what it will take to get us where we need to go."
Richmond County court records show that an additional seven judgments for debts and state taxes have been paid, five of them late last year or early this year.
Mr. Walker expressed surprise when asked about the judgments during an interview Thursday, but he was prevented from discussing them by his spokesmen. They said Mr. Walker should have been provided, in advance, a list of the debts The Augusta Chronicle had compiled from public records so they could have time to decide how to respond.
Mr. Walker said the unpaid bills and judgments came from his business.
"We went through some hard times," he said, referring to his business Heritage, a clothing line.
"We had a manufacturer who didn't deliver on time. The goods were four months late to 13 department stores in 25 states, and that's when we were up and running good."
Mr. Walker, who describes himself as an entrepreneur and businessman, owes Bankers First $2,282.51 plus interest on a 1994 judgment granted through Richmond County Magistrate Court.
According to court documents, Duck Head Apparel Co. was awarded a $2,091.90 judgment, plus interest, attorneys' fees and court costs, against Mr. Walker, doing business as Heritage, in 1995.
Spokesman John Kirincich said Duck Head accepted $600 to settle the debt in Nov. 2001.
Mr. Walker paid a $256.52 judgment for delinquent state and county taxes in 1992 and another for $5.23 owed for 1993 county taxes in 1998.
Five other judgments were paid in November and December 2001 and January and February of this year:
A 1995 judgment of $4,763 obtained by Nationsbank NA and $286 interest, paid in December.
A $2,248.72 judgment against Mr. Walker's wife, Wren, and Parjazney, a business the Walkers ran in the 1990s, remains unpaid.
In 1997, NationsBank South NA foreclosed on property Mr. Walker owned on Wrightsboro Road when he defaulted on a $32,400 note.
Alberta Anderson Incumbent state Rep. Alberta Anderson, D-Waynesboro, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in November 2001 on debts totaling $98,225, court records show. She was elected in 1996 to represent a district that includes parts of Burke and Richmond counties.
In the bankruptcy, she lost her Waynesboro, Ga., home and is still living with family.
She said her financial troubles began after her work contract was not renewed in summer 2001 and the General Assembly convened for a special legislative session in August to redistrict the state. As the session wore on, she said, she began to fall behind in her payments.
"I was so far behind, and trying to find a job until I was losing everything," Ms. Anderson said. "My family tried to help me as much as they could, until I said, 'Let me talk to a lawyer.' It was the only route I could take."
Her elective office pays $1,350 a month before taxes and deductions and gives her a monthly take-home income of $853.17, according to bankruptcy court records.
Shortly after the General Assembly's 2002 session began, Ms. Anderson received a job offer and announced that she would resign from office. It was unknown at the time that she was filing for bankruptcy.
She changed her mind a few days later and decided to accept the job after the Legislature adjourned. She says that she believes she made the right decision and that she now feels able to juggle the responsibilities of her elected office and her private-sector jobs.
Ms. Anderson's unsecured debt - debt with no collateral attached to it - totaled about $39,967, nearly $36,000 of which was credit-card debt.
She also owed $46,225 on her Waynesboro home before losing it and more than $2,600 on her 1996 Ford Taurus, which she was able to keep.
"I was jobless and homeless," said Ms. Anderson. "I really feel good about taking a bad situation and seeing it turn into something good. I didn't want to lose the home, but I knew I couldn't hold on."
Henry L. Howard State Rep. Henry L. Howard has 29 judgments dating to 1990, which he has paid over the years. They include state and federal tax liens and liens for unpaid Richmond County property taxes on his Pate Avenue residence and property at Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Mr. Howard owes $1,949 in state and county taxes on the Martin Luther Kingproperty and $457 on the Pate Avenue property.
He did not return a telephone message seeking comment.
Ed McIntyre Richmond County property records indicate that mayoral candidate Ed McIntyre has been late in paying state and county taxes on several Augusta properties he owns.
One Perkins Road property, of which he was a co-owner, had two liens placed against it - one in June 1992 and another in April 1993. Unpaid state and county taxes totaled $6,714. Both debts were paid in December 1993, tax records show.
Mr. McIntyre was late paying county property taxes on property at 1248 Holly St. in 1991, 1992, 1995 and 1997; 1708 Meadow St. in 1997; 10th Street in 1992, 1993 and 1997; and 3920 Grape Ave. in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1997.
Also, taxes on 1137 14th St. were delinquent from 1991 through 1993 and in 1995-1997.
The Edgewood Drive home he now lives in had several liens placed against it in 1995 and 1996 for unpaid state and county taxes. A $615 lien in March 1995 was paid off a month later; a $174 lien in March 1996 was paid off two months later; and a $79 lien in May 1996 was paid off a month later.
"I'm a human being. I have my difficulties just like everybody else, but I do pay my taxes," he said. "They may be delinquent, but you'll never check a record that will say I haven't paid them."
In 2000, a home Mr. McIntyre owns in the Bethlehem district had a lien placed against it by the city's Department of License and Inspection for unpaid cleanup charges.
City code requires that landowners keep property free of trash and clear of overgrown vegetation. Anyone found violating the ordinances risks being taken to court or fined for the cost of cleanup.
If those costs aren't paid, the department can place a lien for the amount against the owner's property. In February 2000, Mr. McIntyre had a $302 judgment placed on property in his name at 1248 Holley St. The lien still has not been paid off, according to property records, but Mr. McIntyre said he pays the cleanup charges with his property taxes.
"Sometimes I can't find anyone to cut the grass, so I just let the city do it," Mr. McIntyre said.
Robin Williams Mayoral candidate and former state Rep. Robin Williams has had a number of liens against his properties since 1990, one of which was filed last year. All have been paid off.
"Like anybody out there, I've had my share of problems," Mr. Williams said, "but I always take care of them. I pay my debts, and I think the record shows it."
In 1990, Mr. Williams defaulted on a Veterans Administration loan for a townhome in Goshen Plantation. An $11,423 judgment, which included $597 in interest, was issued against him, U.S. District Court and county tax records show. The debt was paid in March 1997.
Mr. Williams let a family assume the VA loan without making them assume liability. He said the family abandoned the house, leaving him liable for the debt.
"I sold the house, but you don't lose the responsibility," he said. "It came back, and settling the debt was $11,000 difference. They've stopped that now. Now, if you sell it, you also get rid of the liability."
The state also issued a judgment against him Sept. 10, 1996, for $585 in unpaid taxes, plus $182 in interest and penalties, on his home at 3322 Wheeler Road. The judgment was settled five months later, according to property records.
The state also filed suit to collect $12,315 in unpaid taxes from Mr. Williams in 1992. Those taxes, plus $3,426 in penalties and $2,210 in interest, were paid in October 1994. The debt stemmed from a family business he left in 1990, he has said.
In May 2001, a $2,641 judgment was issued against his Wheeler Road residence by First National Bank of Baldwin County. Mr. Williams said the debt remained from his 2000 House campaign, which he lost to Sue Burmeister. He said it was settled about three months later.
"After you get beat, it's hard to raise money," he said. "I just had to pay it off myself, and I did."
Charles Walker Sr. State Sen. Charles W. Walker Sr. has had multiple liens placed against his Augusta properties for unpaid taxes. All of those liens - which ranged from about $400 to $1,000 - were paid off within two years, Richmond County property records show.
Between November 1998 and December 2000, three liens were placed against property in Mr. Walker's name at 1402 12th St. The last of those liens was paid off in June. Mr. Walker said the property was sold and the people did not pay the mortgage. The property was repossessed, he said.
Mr. Walker's restaurant, B.L.'s Country Kitchen on Laney-Walker Boulevard, had four liens placed against it for unpaid taxes between 1994 and 1995. Two were for unpaid state and county taxes, and two were for unpaid personal property taxes. All were less than $515 and were paid by 1998.
Taxes on a Pine Street property in his name were late three times between 1992 and 1995. The property consisted of five lots, Mr. Walker said, and the tax board did not record that they were combined. So it continued to bill for separate lots, he said.
On Saturday, Mr. Kirincich, who is also a spokesman in the senior Mr. Walker's campaign, said the Pine Street property was part of B.L.'s property and that two lots were combined into one but that the tax office was still billing for the two lots. The lien was released by the tax office because it was in error, he said.
Records also show a lien in 1993 against Mr. Walker for $806 in state and county taxes for property on Coleman Avenue. That property was sold in April 1992, Mr. Walker said.
Mr. Kirincich said a lawyer was supposed to take care of the taxes in the property transfer and failed to do so.
A $555 judgment was granted in Richmond County against Mr. Walker and Joseph C. Jones in 2000 for state and county taxes on property in the 1100 block of 11th Street.
Republic Leasing was awarded a judgment for $2,941 against Mr. Walker in October 1996 for B.L.'s. Mr. Walker says the judgment was dismissed.
Mr. Kirincich said the lien was filed improperly. The county filed it against Mr. Walker when it should have been filed against the corporation, he said.
Otis A. Smith Records indicate that Otis A. Smith, a candidate for State House District 97, has a $240 judgment for unpaid Richmond County taxes for property on Railroad Street, but Mr. Smith said he has paid his taxes and prides himself on doing so. He said he would contact the tax office about the matter and call back. He did not.
Barry Gordon Irwin Ninth Congressional District hopeful Barry Gordon Irwin has had five garnishments against him since 1996 and almost two dozen liens for debts and taxes. They include liens for state and federal taxes and taxes on the Clarke County property where his law office is located. The Georgia Department of Labor also has liens against him for nonpayment of unemployment contributions.
A $16,714 lien for a debt to GTE Directories Services was paid in June 1997.
"I've paid off some to GTE, and I'm paying off some now to Bell South," he said.
Mr. Irwin acknowledges that he does not pay his bills and taxes on time.
"I'll be the first to admit, I owe people money as far as taxes," he said. "I don't claim to make a lot of money. ... I've been totally unsuccessful as a lawyer when it comes to making money."
He said he really tries to help people to the detriment of his income.
"I'm not out here to rip people off," he said. "A lot of people owe me money. I really try to help people. That's why I think I'll do better in this job than as a lawyer."
George L. DeLoach Incumbent state Rep. George DeLoach's property taxes on his Hephzibah funeral home were paid two days late in 2000, and 1991 taxes on the property alone were paid 12 days late in 1992.
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