Correction: A earlier version of this story indicated Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office could pursue this matter if it chose to. That information was incorrect. Because no state funds were used, the attorney general’s office cannot become involved.
Many members of the Augusta Commission were shocked to learn of the highly secretive Weed School deal between a private developer, the Augusta Housing and Community Development Department and Augusta Land Bank.
In that deal, the Land Bank bought the Sand Hills property for $1.3 million when the property value was only assessed at $255,000.
However, the Weed School deal appears to be the tip of the iceberg as bank records obtained through an open records request show massive amounts of taxpayer’s money given to the Augusta Land Bank being spent on travel, entertainment and even grocery shopping.
Last year, the Augusta Commission granted the Land Bank Authority $1 million of American Rescue Plan funding to cut grass and maintain city-owned property managed by the Landbank.
Instead of maintaining the properties, the first thing the Land Bank Authority did was give Director Shawn Edwards a pay raise, according to government officials who wish not to be named.
Even with the raise, records show that Edwards has used his Augusta Land Bank credit card to fund extravagant expenses.
On a recent trip in May to a conference in Brooklyn, N.Y., Edwards dined at the Gage and Tollner restaurant, which touts itself as “the most famous restaurant in Brooklyn,” according to its website.
Founded in 1879, Gage and Tollner’s cheapest entree is around $50 or one can go with the “G&T Chilled Seafood Platter Royale,” that comes with Maine lobster, fluke crudo, oysters, clams, shrimp cocktail and 30 grams of Keluga caviar for $270, and that plate appears to be a starter course.
Edwards plopped down $700.68 for one meal at Gage and Tollner and followed it up the next day with a $180.89 visit to Avere Ristorante in Brooklyn.
Credit card statements show that Edwards is a regular at several well-known Augusta restaurants and bars including Twin Peaks, Midtown Tavern, Cafe 209, Whiskey Bar, Abel Brown, the Chef’s House, Fat Man’s Mill Cafe, Manuel’s Bread Cafe and Edgar’s Over Broad, where the bill for one seating on Oct. 6 ran up a $1,466.54 tab.
That same day, the bank statements show that Edwards also picked up the $1,039 bill at Tribeca Cocktail Lounge, a bar in downtown that offers hookah pipes and pool tables, but nothing foodwise other than hors d’oeuvres.
Over a five-month span of time, between May and October of this year, Edwards spent $7,927.46 on food and beverages and that is not counting the massive amount of food ordered during the Oct. 3 through 6 Augusta Land Bank Conference, which had an overall budget of around $70,000.
When it comes to travel, Edwards has been all over the place in the last four months, including Kingston, Jamaica.
Edwards has traveled to Brooklyn, Savannah, Charleston, S.C. Tampa, Fla., Cleveland, Ohio and Jamaica to the tune of $12,196.
Over that same time span, records show that purchases were made at Publix, Kroger, Costco, Best Buy and Walmart at a total of $2,731, although receipts were not provided in the open records requests, so it remains unclear what was actually purchased at those stores.
There are also several bank transfers made without any invoices or receipts in amounts between $10,000 and $20,000 each, and in the check register, the names of the beneficiaries of these wire transfers are redacted.
Those transfers amount to well over $50,000 and they are not properly accounted for.
Several handwritten checks found also raise questions. One check was written by Augusta Land Bank employee Lisa Williams to herself with the notation that the money was for “Shawn and Chris Tampa, Fla.,” referring to Edwards and Tax Commissioner Chris Johnson, who is also chairman of the Augusta Land Bank Authority.
Williams also signed a cash withdrawal slip for cash in the amount of $1,620 and while some of the information was redacted, the name “BIS Consulting, LLC” remained legible on the withdrawal slip. BIS Consulting, LLC is not a licensed corporation in Georgia, according to the Secretary of State’s database.
Despite several attempts to reach him, Edwards has not returned calls for comment and the official Augusta Land Bank website at augustaga.gov has been taken down and only displays an error message.
The Augusta Land Bank Authority is a separate, quasi-governmental agency, created by way of a state statute that allows municipalities to provide for a “shell” corporation to simply park acquired land legally; but Augusta’s Landbank set-up is interesting, in that it does not fall under the purview of the Augusta Commission at all.
The Augusta Land Bank was chartered to be a “holding tank” for land acquired through tax forfeitures, mainly and is not supposed to act as a real estate broker or developer.
The Augusta Commission funds the Augusta Land Bank Authority but has absolutely no oversight over what it does; and while the Augusta Commission is supposed to approve of all land purchases, records have proven that the Augusta Land Bank does what it wants and has found ways of circumventing the process, as an almost majority of commissioners and the mayor of Augusta have attested to.
Augusta commissioners do not nominate Augusta Land Bank Authority members and the governing body of Augusta has no recourse outside of requesting a Grand Jury be empaneled; but the local district attorney must make that call on the commission’s behalf.
The Augusta Land Bank Authority board consists of the elected or appointed members including the tax commissioner, tax assessor, city administrator, and director of the Planning and Zoning department, along with three at-large members chosen by the permanent board members.
The Augusta Commission does have an “ex-officio” representative on the authority, District Four Commissioner Al Mason; but Mason can only provide input, does not get a vote and has to watch the proceedings like any other member of the public.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
