The recent legal battle over access to public records at Augusta's purchasing department has cost taxpayers more than $50,000 in attorney fees.
And it's not over yet.
The Association for Fair Government, later joined by The Augusta Chronicle , petitioned the Richmond County Superior Court, asking for an order to open the public records maintained in the Augusta procurement department. The association also challenged the accuracy of commission record documents posted on the city's Web page.
At a hearing last week, attorneys on both sides said they were working to settle the issues.
One controversy that remains open is a countersuit filed on behalf of the city's commission clerk against the Association for Fair Government. And the association's motion to strike private attorney Benjamin Allen from the case also is a matter of contention.
At Judge Carl C. Brown Jr.'s request, the attorneys brought their bills to last week's hearing.
The total so far is $50,535 in legal fees over the issue of public inspection of public documents.
On behalf of the association, attorney Robert Mullins has fees of $26,883; on behalf of the city, Steve Shepard's firm has fees of $15,787; and on behalf of Lena Bonner, Mr. Allen has fees of $7,865.
The Chronicle will pay its own attorney fees.
Though Mr. Allen has already submitted his bill in the court case, the commissioners today are expected to vote to hire Mr. Allen to represent Ms. Bonner.
According to city documents, the law allows a government employee to hire private counsel if the employee's interest may be different from the government's.
According to court documents filed in the lawsuit, the papers filed by Mr. Allen mirror those filed by the city's attorneys.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.
Comments
By the attorneys doing their job, they're padding their own pockets. It looks like a win/win situation for them. I'm sure the judge (an attorney) will make a wise decision that will keep the ball rolling. Everyone but the taxpayer will profit initially. The records need a little sunshine, so the fight (and expense) will continue. I feel the AC will eventually prevail, which we appreciate, and then the attorneys will be in for a heyday. (the cosmic circle will continue)
If the city would abide by state law and not think they are above
the law this suit would not have happen.
Thank you nonumber. What's the city hiding by keeping public records out of the eye of the public? Richmond County taxpayers - you should be complaining heavily to your government. These are YOUR records and should be available for public viewing. It's not the attorneys costing you money as much as it is your government costing you money by allowing this situation to continue.
There goes my raise....
dumb dumber & dumb again
Fred Russell, you're the City Administrator. Deke Copenhaver, you're the Mayor. Fix this !! This is public money, and the records should be transparently public. If this continues, it means that somebody must have nude pictures of somebody's sister. This is the only reason that I can come up with, to continue to allow secrecy of public Purchasing records. Someone is protecting someone. You're wasting tax dollars, and you need all that you can get, since your tax base continues to decline.
Augusta's government should abide by the law. Why doesn't Mayor Copenhaver and Fred Russell get involved and require that department to reveal "our" records!!
Who is Lena Bonner and why is there no explanation of her involvement in this story? The only thing I see about her is that her attorney has a bill. Can anyone shed some light on her and why she is important since Sandy Hodson only thought to mention her name and her attorney's fee, but not say what she has to do with the rest of the story?
It is time for the City of Augusta to follow the Georgia Open Records Act and allow all citizens access to public information without having to jump through hoops and without costing an arm and a leg. For the city to direct all inquiries to Shepard's law firm (which is their current procedure) is shameful and wasteful, and it intimidates honest inquiry.
If these people are fighting to disobey the law they should pay their OWN legal fees. If it's that important to keep public records secret to them maybe there's a chance they can be paying legal fees for themselves to stay out of jail...
So....if the city is willing to spend $50,000 in taxpayers' money trying to keep the taxpayers from seeing how the rest of their money is spent, what are they trying to hide?
Last I heard, the freedom if information act still existed unless something went wrong and they re-wrote the laws.
Sandy Hodson only goes for sensationalism. Her stories rarely rely on facts. She's the ugly girl that didn't get a date to the prom.
The city will lose this one as they are NOT above the law. Shameful waste of tax payers money.
Hi Justus. Some bunches mentioned in the article above are the Association for Fair Government, the Augusta Chronicle, the Richmond County Superior Court, the city procurement department, attorneys on both sides, attorney Ben Allen, judge Carl Brown, attorney Robert Mullins, attorney Steve Shepard, and clerk of commission Lena Bonner. That certainly is a pathetic bunch.
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