Former state senator Charles Walker Sr. negotiated a deal with the Augusta Housing and Community Development Department, buying up commercial property worth $119,195 for a mere $32,000, and now people are beginning to wonder how it happened.
Some commissioners say they may have been misled by the transaction that occurred in November 2019. According to Georgia code, the transaction’s legality is dubious at best.
Sources who wish not to be identified say the “sleight of hand” that occurred with this transaction has become the “new normal” of the way the city operates.
At issue are two parcels located at 859 and 861 Laney Walker Boulevard located inside the Armstrong Galleria which was built in 1992.
City records show the land was acquired by the city in 2003, but the city records do not indicate how the city came into ownership or if any money changed hands at the time. All of the other parcels in the strip mall are privately owned.
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Normally, when a city divests itself of property, Georgia Code § 36-37-6 mandates that the municipality either conduct a public auction or use a licensed broker to conduct a sealed bid sale to the highest bidder.
Georgia law specifically bars cities from selling land by sealed bid at under the appraised value except in limited circumstances.
However, it seems that the city of Augusta has found a way around the law with the use of the Augusta Land Bank Authority.
The Land Bank Authority is a non-governmental non-profit agency that “works in conjunction with various city departments to facilitate the construction of affordable housing by non-profit community development organizations and private developers,” according to its website.
Records show that a memorandum of understanding between the Housing and Community Development Department and The Walker Group was signed in May 2019 with the future agreed upon sales price of $32,000 for the two buildings.
To complete the transaction, Hawthorne Welcher, director of the Housing and Community Development Department, was able to bypass Georgia code by having the land taken off the city’s rolls and moved over to the Land Bank.
“The commission approved this in legal session in November of 2019 for the sale price of $32,000,” Welcher said.
However, some commissioners don’t remember things quite the same way as Welcher claims.
“We were never told about an already agreed upon sale, it was presented to us that they were attempting to get a grocery store in the area,” District 10 Commissioner John Clarke said.
Clarke knows quite a bit about the law when it comes to selling city owned property.
Two years ago, Clarke was approached by a businessman who wanted to buy The Boathouse on the River property; however, despite the prospective buyer wanting to pay for the building “as-is” at full market rate, Clarke was overruled by the commission because of the Georgia code as it applies to sealed bids.
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District 8 Commissioner Brandon Garrett agrees with Clarke that Walker’s name was never mentioned in the November 2019 closed door meeting.
The reason the entire sale might not be legal is that the memorandum of understanding was between a government department and not the non-profit land bank. While the land bank may have some latitude in forming such agreements, the Augusta Housing and Community Development Department does not, according to state code.
The memorandum of understanding was not signed by anyone at the land bank, but it was signed by Mayor Hardie Davis Jr., Interim Administrator Jarvis Sims and Welcher.
Walker, who served 10 years in federal prison for fraud, has a long history of manipulating the system for personal gain.
According to an audit by the Office of the Inspector General, which was released in 1998, Walker had his property that housed BL’s Country Kitchen, located at 1117 Laney-Walker Boulevard, listed as a slum and received a $75,690 façade grant and a development loan of $83,000 which was later forgiven.
The audit states that Walker received $317,816 in today’s money, and he shuttered the business just a few years later.
Since the sale was finalized, the buildings Walker purchased on Laney Walker Boulevard have sat vacant for nearly three years.
Meanwhile, Walker claims he has big plans for the buildings but refuses to elaborate.
“We should be making an announcement soon,” Walker said.
Shawn Edwards, director of the Augusta Land Bank Authority, and current Tax Commissioner Chris and Land Bank Board Chairman Chris Johnson did not respond to calls for comment.
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
