The Augusta Commission discussion of the structure of the Augusta Land Bank at the regular meeting on Dec. 5 got heated at times, but no action taken as two motions failed.
District 10 Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle questioned Augusta Land Bank Director Shawn Edwards on the structure of the Land Bank Authority Board, which includes the Tax Commissioner, Tax Assessor, city administrator and the director of the Planning and Zoning Department, and three at-large members.
Edwards clarified that, when the Land Bank assumes a property deed, they can sell it and keep the proceeds so that the Land Bank can be fully self-funded. However, the Land Bank still receives funding from the city of Augusta each year, as well.
For example, the Housing and Community Development Authority gave the Land Bank the $1.3 million of federal funding to assume the deed on the Weed School and now the property is, in essence, owned by the Augusta Land Bank, not the city, per se; so the Land Bank can sell the property off at any time and can keep whatever money is made on a future land deal.
The conversation then turned to oversight and finance and Edwards attempted to sidestep the questions and indicated that he is a victim of a malicious press.
Guilfoyle asked Edwards if what had been written about his spending in The Augusta Press was true. An article on Nov. 27 detailed that, over a five-month span of time, between May and October of this year, Edwards spent $7,927.46 of public money on food and beverages.
Edwards’ response to the question of whether the newspaper article was true was, “What part?” Guilfoyle followed up by asking Edwards, “what part is not true?”
“I never went to Jamaica,” Edwards said.
District Five Commissioner Bobby Williams, interrupted before Guilfoyle could ask any further questions.
Bank records for the Augusta Land Bank show that on Sept. 20, a charge from Delta Airlines for $2,813 for a ticket or tickets to Kingston, Jamaica. The credit card statement did not specify who flew, but the charge was paid for by the Land Bank.
Williams interrupted at that point, refusing to allow Guilfoyle to speak.
“Where are you going with all of this?” Williams asked. “It looks like you are just badgering the guy.”
Williams and District One Commissioner Jordan Johnson then took turns hurling barbs at The Augusta Press.
“Somebody writes something in a newspaper or newsletter, and the commission goes dad-blamed haywire,” Williams said.
Johnson chimed in, stating that columnists for the newspaper called the Black commissioners “members of a gang.”
It is The Augusta Press columnist and former Augusta Commissioner John Clarke that coined the moniker “gang of five,” and he says race had absolutely nothing to do with the term.
“Of course, I am not accusing them of being in a street gang, and the term “gang of five” is just my attempt to be clever, I guess. Sylvia Cooper is well known for her names, like calling former Mayor Bob Young “Mayor Boob” and Deke Copenhaver “the Boy King,” and she called everyone a turkey from time to time,” Clarke said.
District Seven Commissioner Sean Frantom tried to get the discussion back on track by stating that, in his mind, it is a conflict of interest to have city employees voting on separate boards.
“They can certainly sit as ex-officio members like we sometimes do, but I don’t think city employees should be voting on boards and authorities,” Frantom said.
Guilfoyle made a motion to task Edwards to come back to the commission in 30 days with a presentation of how other land banks are structured, but that motion failed 5 to 4 with District Four Commissioner Alvin Mason out.
A substitute motion by Williams to effectively table the discussion also failed by the same margin.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
