City Core: Will city call on old bond bedfellows?

If the pending $184.7 million special purpose local option sales tax package passes in June, City Administrator Fred Russell wants his bosses on the Augusta Commission to float a $52.5 million general obligation bond to raise some of the money faster.

The commission authorized him to negotiate with Atlanta law firm Kilpatrick Stockton to be bond counsel, but who will serve as local counsel hasn't been decided.

It would be the city's first bond issuance since commissioners changed the paradigm of their legal representation last year, pushing aside former City Attorney Steve Shepard's firm and making in-house City Attorney Chiquita Johnson their go-to adviser.

Ms. Johnson did not return numerous phone calls seeking explanation on the city's bond plans.

But when it comes to bonds, it seems Mr. Shepard's still the man.

There's talk his firm will get the work again this time, which would make sense since his firm has handled every bond issuance since 2004.

The main logic behind the lawyer switch was that the 1995 consolidation law required it. Another big argument, pushed by such commissioners as Betty Beard , J.R. Hatney and Calvin Holland , was that it would save money. Ms. Beard also wasn't happy with Mr. Shepard, a former commissioner, earning a cut when the city issued debt.

The Shepard firm earned $400,000 off a $160 million water and sewer bond in 2004 and got $126,000 for a $19.6 million airport bond in 2005, but the cut has since been negotiated down.

It was $44,000 for a $44 million general obligation bond in 2006 and $100,000 off a $177 million utilities bond in 2007.

The thinking among some commissioners has been that Augusta should follow the lead of cities where in-house attorneys work on bonds and earn nothing more than their salaries.

But Augusta isn't at that point yet, Mr. Hatney said. The law department is still growing, and work like that still has to be farmed out.

"No one attorney can do everything," he said.

NO SAVINGS YET, BUT JUST WAIT: The goal might have been to save money, but since the transition away from the Shepard firm started in early 2007 -- beginning with the ill-fated employment of Eugene Jessup -- the city's total legal fees have been going up, according to information obtained from the Finance Department through an open records request.

Including the cost of operating the in-house Law Department and fees charged by outside firms for work done for all city departments, the totals were $1.4 million in 2005 and $1.6 million in 2006.

The totals rose to $1.9 million in 2007 and nearly $2 million in 2008, according to the data.

In 2008, the cost of the in-house legal department was about $748,000, and fees for outside attorneys totaled $1.1 million.

Mr. Hatney said the costs likely went up in 2007 and 2008 because the city was paying for both an in-house legal department and work by the Shepard firm. There will be far less of that this year, he said.

"It will save money if they let it work like it's supposed to," he said. "Eventually, all these entities of Augusta should be using the law department."

Commissioner Jerry Brigham said he's not so sure about the model.

"This was supposed to be a cost reduction move," he said, "but I didn't think it was."

HONOR THY SELF: This week is School Board Appreciation Week in Georgia.

We got a news release about it last week from Richmond County schools spokesman Louis Svehla , saying the theme for the week is "School boards: The voice and vision for public schools."

At first I thought this was a plug by Mr. Svehla, whose employer, public relations firm Voss & Associates, is hoping the board will renew its $120,000-a-year contract later this year.

Then I saw a news release template on the Georgia School Boards Association's Web site, which is word-for-word identical to Mr. Svehla's release, only with blanks to fill in.

Example: "The (blank) school board members in (SCHOOL DISTRICT NAME) are in the spotlight March 9-13 ... Board decisions affect some (#) students, (#) employees, (#) schools and an annual operating budget of ($)."

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: The sample news release also has a box a few paragraphs down that says, "INSERT A QUOTE HERE FROM YOUR SUPERINTENDENT. HERE IS A SUGGESTION."

Superintendent Dana Bedden's resulting quote is the same as the suggested one, verbatim.

"Board members here truly represent their neighbors as the voice for public schools," both the template and Dr. Bed- den's quote say. "This year, in particular, they are facing tremendous challenges because of the economy and funding cutbacks ..."

You'd think if anyone has Dr. Bedden's ear to ask him just how great the school board is, it would be Mr. Svehla.

WE DON'T NEED NO THOUGHT CONTROL ... WE CAN'T AFFORD IT: After The Chronicle ran a news article and an editorial about renewing the Voss PR contract, and after I posted a blog earlier this week criticizing the idea considering the school district's financial situation, company President David Voss responded on our opinion page Thursday, saying we don't understand what the company does.

I'll concede that some of the services he describes sound worthy, particularly the stuff about crisis management.

But with the school board dusting off its layoff policy, I just don't see how these things could be a priority right now.

Here's when I might buy into it: When teachers have all the classroom supplies they need without paying out of pocket; when parents aren't hit up to send in box tops and sell magazine subscriptions, cookie dough and chocolates to raise funds; and when the school board rolls back the millage, which is currently maxed out.

PUT AWAY YOUR OPEN RECORDS REQUESTS: Want to find out what Augusta's city workers earn from the comfort of your computer?

A database with the annual salaries of Augusta-Richmond County employees -- from elected officials to office assistants, from department heads to maintenance workers -- went live Friday on the Chronicle 's Web site.

The information was obtained from the city in January, and we'll be updating it every six months or so.

The database is at augustachronicle.com/metro.

Reach Johnny Edwards at (706) 823-3225 or johnny.edwards@augustachronicle.com.