Commission shuts out public, again

It's an image I won't soon forget: Augusta Commissioner J.R. Hatney pulling WJBF-TV reporter George Eskola by his arm toward an exit door, both men leaning backward like kids playing tug of war.

I know Mr. Hatney did it playfully, but the image still says volumes about the commission's attitude toward open meetings lately.

I'd sum it up in two words -- "Get out."

Under the auspices of an Engineering Services committee meeting, nine commissioners and the mayor went into a secret meeting Monday -- the culmination of a troubling pattern this year with our elected leaders appearing less and less concerned about doing the public's business openly.

On Feb. 17, the commission was behind closed doors for nearly an hour after Commissioner Don Grantham asked for a legal session to talk about "personnel and real estate."

On Feb. 23, the Engineering Services committee booted reporters for about 25 minutes. City Attorney Chiquita Johnson told me it was to talk about "possible pending litigation," but Commissioner Jimmy Smith, the committee chairman, said later it was about personnel.

On March 3, the commission spent 23 minutes in open session then an hour and 13 minutes in secrecy, which Ms. Johnson said was for "receiving legal advice" and pending litigation.

When it was about to happen again Monday, a Metro Spirit reporter and I had the audacity to ask why -- specifically why. Ms. Johnson rattled off some Georgia code sections and said it was for "administrative proceedings," refusing to be any more specific. I raised my hand and asked if there was some lawsuit or real estate issue involved, and you'd have thought I'd said something derogatory about Mr. Smith's mother. It's funny how some people in power who are otherwise level-headed gentlemen can transform into snarling Mr. Hydes when their ability to conceal information is jeopardized.

And then there was Mr. Hatney, telling reporters that if they didn't leave he'd show them the way out, then doing his little show with the Channel 6 guy. When we finally did leave, the doors of the conference room stayed closed for 50 minutes.

I CALL IT MALARKEY: Later that day I filed an open records request with the City Clerk's office, asking for any documents related to the "administrative proceedings" talked about in the closed meeting.

On Tuesday some of the commissioners who wouldn't explain themselves in the open were apparently doing so anonymously. One news outlet reported that they had the legal session because they're considering suing a contractor. Some reported that it might have been "a legitimate contract issue."

Well, that can't be, because based upon the response to my request, no such contract exists.

Ms. Johnson replied, "There are no documents in the possession of Augusta that are responsive to your request under the Georgia Open Records Act."

I wrote back and told her what I'd heard about a contract, and said if that's the case, a contract would be an open record. Even if what I'd heard was wrong, I said, I didn't see how any matter arising on the commission could get to the point of requiring a legal session without generating paperwork.

Her response: "The privilege attached to the session belongs to the Commission and if they would like to waive it they must decide as a group to do so. Again, there are no documents that are responsive to your request."

So that means whatever commissioners were talking about Monday has weaved its way through our city government without ever generating a memo, a letter, an e-mail, a bill, a contractor or a note scribbled on a napkin. No way.

A MATTER OF MISTRUST: But I still can't say whether the closed meeting was legal, and that's because the way the commission is conducting itself, it's impossible to cross-check. They've set up a "trust me" system with vague reasons for closure that say just enough to pass legal muster.

Under Georgia law, governing bodies are allowed to shut the public out of meetings only under certain circumstances, mainly to avoid tipping off lawsuits or land purchases that could potentially cost taxpayer money.

The law requires affidavits attest to compliance and that specific reasons for closure be entered in meeting minutes, but Augusta's explanations on those -- "real estate," "personnel," "pending litigation" -- aren't very telling, and the affidavits are pretyped forms that let commissioners and the mayor put check marks beside generic categories.

So what if a board says "personnel," but it's really talking about the qualities it's looking for in a future hire, as the Economic Development Commission in Albany, Ga., did not long ago? What if they say "pending litigation," but it's really because they want to talk about some controversial subject matter that could conceivably lead to a lawsuit?

"You have to kind of basically trust them when they're going in," said Georgia Municipal Association Director of Communications Al Outland, whose organization recommends city councils specify a purpose when making motions to go into legal session, but doesn't provide clarity about it. "Legally, they can frame it broadly. Whether they're fulfilling the spirit of the law is another question."

MORE LIMELITE FALLOUT: The same day the commission brushed off reporters about open meetings, the issue of bars and Sunday alcohol sales reared its head, a repercussion of the last time they bucked the spirit of the law. Shawn Laws of The Original Tavern on Wheeler Road came asking for a license.

"After recent events with Sunday sales, he wants to apply as well," License and Inspection Director Rob Sherman told the Public Services Committee.

In January, Limelite Cafe on Agerton Lane asked for its Sunday license back even though an audit found only 23 percent of its sales were food -- well below the 50 percent minimum. The committee split 2-2, but before the issue went to the full commission, attorney Ben Allen convinced seven commissioners to sign a letter granting a probationary license in time for Super Bowl Sunday.

The precedent has already prompted the commission to give another probationary license to Finish Line Cafe on Wrightsboro Road, which had lost its Sunday privileges for having only 35 percent food sales.

Mr. Sherman said he had no sales audit on The Original Tavern to justify denying or granting a license, which caused Mr. Hatney -- who never votes on alcohol issues anyway -- to ask him why he'd bring it before the committee.

Jerry Brigham and Joe Jackson voted in favor of the license, but Corey Johnson was against it, so the tavern's request goes to the full commission with no recommendation.

HERE COMES SANTA DEKE: A pol-watch Web site has Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver eyeing higher offices, but he says no.

Politics1.com, or "Ron Gunzburger's Politics1.com, The Most Comprehensive Guide to U.S. Politics ... since 1997," has Mr. Copenhaver listed as a potential candidate to run against U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson in 2010, as well as against Mike Thurmond for Georgia Labor commissioner.

"I'm also considering becoming Santa and forming a multiplatinum rock band," Mr. Copenhaver wrote in an e-mail.

So where's the information coming from?

"I have absolutely no clue," the mayor wrote, "but certainly not from the source, which would be me!"