Not only are Mayor Hardie Davis’s finances confusing, but the report on them is just as confusing because it’s not an audit. Based on the auditor’s statements, he didn’t do an audit. As a matter of fact, it was so confusing that the auditor who didn’t perform an audit had to write an email to explain what the report is after trying to explain it during a presentation at Tuesday’s Augusta Commission meeting. He even included definitions in the report to try to explain what he did do, except the only definition he didn’t include was whether the mayor purchased things with your hard-earned tax dollars that he shouldn’t have bought, but maybe that’s for another agency to figure out.
John E. Snider, CPA with Serotta, Maddox & Evans Co. emailed city Clerk Lena Bonner the day after the meeting with a clarification concerning the word “audit,” asking her to forward his message to commissioners.
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“After making my presentation yesterday I continue to be genuinely concerned about the continued confusion over the definition of the word “audit,” he wrote. “I believe that the commissioners, and the public at large, may misunderstand what an audit is and therefore significantly misunderstand the services that are provided to the City by our firm and by Mauldin Jenkins.”
Snider included definitions of an Audit, an Internal Audit and a Forensic Audit with hyperlinks leading to the source material.
Tuesday, during the presentation of whatever it was (not an audit), Snider spent a lot of time talking about a Benford’s analysis, but I can almost assure you the only one who knew what he was talking about was him. What did Benford’s analysis have to do with the price of haircuts, makeup and head shots in Georgia?
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I’m sure they could do another report and use another fancy accounting system to figure out nothing, at least nothing anybody would understand, but what I’d like to suggest to you is that we look at these receipts Hardie has or doesn’t have, depending on who you’re listening to and apply them to a test that has proven its worth throughout the ages. This test has saved millions of lives and either saved or ruined the lives of thousands of politicians. The test that’s been written about, studied and performed throughout the world. And most importantly, it’s a test that each and every one of us could perform, and that everybody can understand. It’s called the “smell test.”
Wiktionary even has a definition for it:
“An informal method for determining whether something is authentic , credible, or ethical, by using one’s common sense.”
Let’s try it. Here are some of the things Hardie used your money for:
– A $5,500 PayPal payment to Petula Burks a month before she became the chief of staff in his office. Davis said it was for recruiting work she’d done for him.
How does this smell to you?
– $24,969 to LC Studios in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for video production services between December and March this year, an amount that exceeds the $10,000 threshold allowed by the city’s procurement policy. The charges did not go through standard city procurement procedures, which require any charges over $5,000 to be sent out for competitive bids.
They also did not adhere to the local vendor preference policy and smacked of a conflict of interest. Chief of Staff Burks has prior relationships with the owners of LC Studios. LC Studios’ owner Cameus Chicoye is listed as an assistant vice president for a business Burks started while in Florida.
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How does this smell to you?
– $606 to Sweet Plans LLC, also known as Styling Purpose fashion consultants, in Pembroke Pines, Fla.
How does this smell to you?
– $476.25 to pay HelloChrisMakeup
How does this smell to you?
– $2,279.17 to Chism Strategies LLC, whose website says “helps elect Democrats and advance progressive causes.”
How does this smell to you?
– $605.45 to Honey Baked Ham
How does this smell to you?
– $3,075 to A J Shorter Photography. But where are the photographs?
How does this smell to you?
– $995.55 for luxury services to chauffeur model Eva Marcille from Atlanta to Augusta and back to appear in Davis’ Move with the Mayor video.
How does this smell to you?
– $5,000 “donation” Hardie made to Reed for Hope for Marcille’s visit to Augusta for his Move With the Mayor video.
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How does this smell to you?
– A $500 charge to Davis’ city issued credit card for a resume by Resume Professionals in California, but city records show no evidence that a resume or any other document was ever produced. Davis refuses to provide any evidence of said resume in response to The Augusta Press’s Open Records request.
How does this smell to you?
– $413 credit card charges for hair and makeup for staff before being photographed in October. But where are the photographs?
How does this smell to you?
At Least We Knew Where He Was Coming From
While his last term ended in December, after listening to former Augusta Commissioner Marion Williams for the 16 years he was on the board I can only imagine what he would have to say about the Serotta, Maddocks & Evans Co. report.
“It either is or it ain’t,” I can hear him saying. “It can’t be is and ain’t at the same time. It’s like being pregnant. You can’t be a little bit pregnant. You’re either pregnant or you’re not. And I think we need to get a committee in here to see if it is or it ain’t. And if it takes us four days, four weeks or four years, we’re going to find out if it is or it ain’t. This ain’t an audit. It’s a fraudit!
“Ms. Bonner, put it back on the agenda for the next meeting.
“They had the GBI investigate me about my son-in-law buying land across from where I was trying to get the city to build a dragstrip. They investigated me and investigated me and after a year, they couldn’t find nothin.’ And the city didn’t get a dragstrip which would have brought people and money to Augusta.
“When Sean Frantom got his job with Top Golf, I said I couldn’t say he’d done anything wrong. But had that been me, this entire city would be up in arms.
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Other people can do things, and nobody says a word, but it either is or it ain’t with this audit. Is it an audit? Or is it a fraudit?
“It’s like when we fired Janice Jackson and Andrew MacKenzie two years ago. I know we didn’t actually fire them. We said they resigned, but was it a firing or a resignation? It’s like the difference between an audit and a fraudit, but nobody cared. We gave them a year’s severance and broke our own rules. We had a signed contract for six-months’ severance with Janice and Andrew, but Sias went out there, and the next thing I know they’re talking 12 months.
“It’s like with the tax appraiser’s board. The same people keep getting reappointed year after year, some for decades because they get paid $625 a month for going to a meeting or two a month.
“It just bothers me that we act like we don’t know what’s going on. Is it an appointment, or is it an anointment? Is it an audit, or is it a fraudit? I’m not letting this go.”
He Doesn’t Know How Good He’s Got It
I read where Augusta Mayoral candidate Brian Marcus said he’s staying in the race despite being taken to jail and charged with felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer after a recent altercation at a local gas station.
Of course, nothing that happened was Marcus’s fault, according to him. He wrongly accused the station attendant of choosing the wrong grade of gasoline and demanded a refund. They got into an argument, and he boasted that his family is in the mob.
When the police arrived, things went downhill, especially when he punched the deputy in the head twice, refused to lie on the ground and ended up getting tased five or six times.
Later, he told Augusta Chronicle news reporter Susan McCord, “It’s a mess here in Augusta, a big mess.”
If you think it’s bad now, Marcus, wait until you get elected.
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Semantics
It’s hard to wrap my head around the word “rollback.”
City officials say it’s what the state requires taxing authorities to do when the total of all the taxable property in the county for that year will bring in more money than the year before using last year’s mill rates. That is unless they want to announce a tax increase and hold three public hearings.
Why can’t they just say a tax rate “decrease?” Maybe they don’t want to get everybody excited. But everybody knows what a decrease is. And everybody wants one. But Richmond County taxpayers won’t get one this year unless their property was reassessed at a lower value than last year. Those whose property was reassessed at a higher value will get a tax increase.
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This year, the total of all the taxable property in Richmond County (tax digest) will bring in more tax money using last year’s tax rate, but a million fewer dollars than they budgeted for. So, Augusta commissioners had to choose a “rollback” or a tax increase. And except for commissioner Sean Frantom, the thought of losing $1 million dollars and having to cut back didn’t sit well. They were pleased with City Administrator Odie Donald’s assessment of the situation after they voted to keep the mill rates the same.
“It is definitely not a technical tax increase in keeping your millage rate the same,” Donald said.
Then why does the state make you announce a tax increase in the newspaper and hold three public hearings?
Sylvia Cooper is a Columnist with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com.
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