Despite numerous requests, the Augusta Fire Department will not provide the toxicology results from Lieutenant Gregory Hartshorne after he ran over and dragged a dead body at a crime scene on May 13th.
Imagine the holy inferno that would have been raised had it been a Gold Cross employee that had had the same accident. The driver would have been terminated, blood tests ordered, hair samples removed and criminal charges at least proposed by the District Attorney.
Instead, the Augusta Fire Department has put up a smoke screen to shield their guy. Hartshorne’s was arrested in March in Harlem for a domestic incident with his estranged wife. To date, the Fire Department has not issued any statement about Hartshorne’s status or employment after the arrest and subsequent dragging incident.
The initial incident report stated that no toxicology test had been ordered but after three open records requests, numerous emails with the Fire Department Public Information Officer and personal calls to Chief Antonio Burden, it was determined that a toxicology report was ordered as per City of Augusta policy.
How did Hartshorne perform on the toxicology test? Nobody knows or at least they are not saying.
Burden is aware of the media requests but claims he isn’t sure he can release the report or not citing potential HIPPA violations. However, all Burden has to do is answer if Hartshorne passed the test in a manner compliant with City of Augusta policies. If Hartshorne passed, great, we can move on. If he did not pass, then Burden should give him the axe.
The Fire Departments refusal to answer basic questions about one of its officers is going to result in a five-alarm fire PR crisis. All that is being requested is some basic transparency. If Burden doesn’t know the regulations on what he can or can’t provide under the Open Records Act or HIPPA, we have a great lawyer that can educate him for free.
Sammie Sias and the toe sucker should be cell mates
All of the CSRA watched in horror this week as former elementary school P.E. teacher Caurey Verlon Rollins was arrested again after being released on a $38,700 bond after being accused of eight counts of child molestation.
If District Attorney Jared Williams is opposed to bond, you know the guy needs to stay locked up. Why Superior Court Judge Amanda Heath granted bond against Williams’ recommendation is beyond understanding.
I am not an expert on the judicial system and often don’t understand rulings that judges make, but this is one that really proves that the justice system needs reform.
According to a news story from Susan McCord, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a response to Sias’ motion for a new trial. The response makes very strong arguments on why a new trial should not be granted. Sias has been out on bond just as the foot licker previously was.
I had always hoped that former Mayor Hardie Davis and Sias would be able to share a cell. Davis could then truly be his brother’s keeper. But the foot licker will fill that temporary vacancy nicely for now.
Mullins leaves a wake of destruction in his wake no matter where he is.
Joe “Mudflap” Mullins, as he is often dubbed in Flagler County, just won’t go away. Mullins is the best or worst example, depending on how you look at it, of how privilege and wealth can ruin a child.
Mullins comes from a wealthy prominent family with many local ties. His shenanigans stemming from his life of privilege and excess have forever stained the name in Augusta.
Two weeks ago, I wrote a story about how Mullins accused a member of the Augusta National of trading rounds of golf for large charitable donations. Mullins as the defendant and Ian Jack of Golf Travel, LLC the plaintiff, both made the same accusations in depositions in the $2.5 million lawsuit. The article has been one of the most trending so far this year and shows that anytime Mullins is involved, there is likely to be news coverage.
The Columbia County Superior Court is set to rule on a lender’s motion to seize control of the Clara Point Apartments in Columbia County through a receivership. This will prevent Mullins from being involved in the day-to-day operations and how the money is spent.
An odd side note to the story it that Columbia County agreed to reduce Mullins assessed value from $1.6 million to $1 million in the middle of a real estate boom that saw similar multi-family properties nearly double in value. During the same timeframe Mullins was soliciting offers on the property north of $5.8 million.
New regulations are forever. There is no short-term law.
It went largely missed by other media, but Augusta seems to be considering regulating short-term rental housing. The Augusta-Richmond County Commission has plenty of problems it needs to solve but this isn’t one of them.
Local government needs to get back to basics. The essential services required by government are public safety, fire/EMT, transportation and utilities. I am sure there is something I missed here, but these are the core issues that government needs to address. Augusta has so many boards, commission and services that are not needed. It is past time to start looking at shrinking our government and its reach rather than expanding it.
Real estate in Augusta is in a precarious spot as it is. Housing is not affordable for many and homelessness is on the rise. Short term rentals provide a unique niche solution for many problems related to housing. If Augusta begins to regulate it and to tax it, all that will result is problems.
If there are legitimate issues with a property being used as short-term-rental, handle that through code enforcement. Deal with the specific property, tenant or landlord issues without creating a new regulation. Don’t try and create a property “type” issue.
Freedom still exists in this country to a degree. The right to purchase a rental property and lease it as an investment is a freedom many Americans share. Telling an investor who bought a rental house that it will now be regulated because of a few squeaky wheel complainers is immoral. Creating the ordinance to raise new taxes for other government programs is flat out unamerican.
The sad thing is that if Augusta pursues a short-term rental ordinance, the only ones who will suffer are the renters. Augusta’s leadership can’t seem to understand that every time a fee is levied, or a regulation is added that cost the property owner money, that cost is passed through to the renter. On one hand, commissioners complain about landlords raising rents, but they refuse to listen that their policies are what’s causing the problem. Liberal thinking commissioners who prefer to tax and spend make a lot of noise about helping the little guy, but at the same time enact policies that crush them through increased housing/rental costs.
Even if a new ordinance is created, the challenge will be enforcement, as Augusta struggles to barely enforce its existing ordinances. Perhaps a short-term-rental ordinance could be added to the list of useless, unenforced symbolic ordinances such as the non-discrimination and tiny-home ordinances both of which will never be used.
