Fresh Loaf

Total amount lobbyists spent wining, dining and wooing state lawmakers in May, June and July: $193,000

Number of days General Assembly was in session during those months: 0

Amount lobbyists for Georgia Power, and the natural gas and beverage industries spent on House Republicans’ annual retreat: $26,000

Number of lawmakers who went on a lobbyist-paid trip in July to visit Mount Wilson Observatory near Pasadena, Calif.: 4

Amount lobbyists spent to charter boats for lawmakers during a coastal conference in June: $528

Amount the Georgia Food Industry Association spent packing a state senator’s “hospitality suite”: $545

Amount lobbyists spent on one night of “entertainment” for the House Republican Women’s Caucus: $935

Amount Sierra Club lobbyists spent on lawmakers during the entire year: $0

Number of water-conservation bills that lawmakers approved this session: 0

Sources: Atlanta Unfiltered, State Ethics Commission, AJC

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You’d have to be a hopeless local politics wonk — or a reporter — to even have been aware that Borders was the subject of an ethics complaint. Now that it’s been dismissed, you can return to your state of blissful and well-earned ignorance. You’re welcome, however, to read on if you’re one of the aforementioned hopeless wonks.

Right off the bat, I should mention that Borders wasn’t accused of any of the typical charges against elected officials — missed document-filing deadlines, misappropriation of campaign funds, nepotism, coprophilia, etc. Instead, the allegation was that the Atlanta City Council President engaged in improper lobbying during the 2007 General Assembly on behalf of her then-employer, Cousins Properties.

If the complaint had been found valid, Borders could have been fined. But even worse would’ve been the embarrassment and distraction from her mayoral campaign. As it was, the accusation was dismissed because the only evidence of wrong-doing was circumstantial — although eyebrow-raising to many at the Gold Dome.

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Georgia’s newest Public Service Commissioner, Lauren McDonald — better known to his longtime fans and followers as “Bubba” — is already facing up to $25,000 in fines by the State Ethics Commission related to shoddy record-keeping during his losing 2002 campaign to keep his seat on the PSC.

Now, former AJC investigative editor Jim Walls reports on his Atlanta Unfiltered blog that McDonald may also have some problems with his filings during last year’s PSC race to regain his old seat, specifically a $15,000 campaign loan of uncertain origin.

What makes all of this more than usually ironic is that McDonald had been working behind the scenes to change the rules for how the PSC chairmanship is determined, presumably so Bubba could ascend to that position. Currently, the five commissioners take turns serving as chairman, based on a regular annual rotation.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Ethics complaints filed by a Sierra Club lobbyist for alleged improper influence-peddlin’ at the state Capitol for the controversial “private cities” bill require further investigation,  says Rick Thompson, executive director of the Georgia State Ethics Commission.

The complaints, filed by Gold Dome-fixture and eco-lobbyist Neill Herring, allege Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders, political consultant Derrick Dickey and two developer brothers from Dublin, Ga. lobbied without registering for “infrastructure development districts” — a mechanism that would’ve allowed developers to issue tax-free bonds to pay for sewers, roads and schools on their properties. The districts are legal in 17 other states. (You may have seen television advertisements for one, Florida’s “The Villages.”) Opponents of the concept call them “private cities” and say they are catalysts for sprawl. The legislation passed the General Assembly but failed a statewide referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot. (CL weighed in on the issue prior to the General Election.)

Thompson says commission staff needs to gather additional information to investigate Herring’s complaints.

The commission sifted through a laundry list of ethical complaints at its hearing yesterday against state representatives, lobbyists and Mayor Shirley Franklin. (According to the AJC’s Jim Galloway, the mayor’s agreed to pay a fine for “paperwork violations” and “failing to fully explain some of her campaign expenditures.”) Thompson says complaints filed by ethics watchdog George Anderson against Fulton County Superior Judge T. Jackson Bedford for not adequately completing campaign finance disclosures were dismissed by the commission because Bedford corrected the error.

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It’s one thing for a public agency to argue in support of a cause, says a honest-government watchdog group. It’s another to contribute cash, however.

Common Cause Georgia yesterday filed a complaint with the State Ethics Commission against several public agencies — including the Atlanta Housing Authority, Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District — that allege the groups contributed nearly $125,000 to Georgians for Community Redevelopment, a booster group that is campaigning in favor of Amendment 2 on the General Election Ballot.

A successful passage of Amendment 2 would allow school boards to participate in tax allocation districts, a somewhat controversial redevelopment mechanism that uses future increases in property taxes to pay off bonds sold to build infrastructure in blighted areas. TADs have been used throughout the state since 1985 — most notably at Atlantic Station. In February, however, the state Supreme Court ruled that the use of educational funds — in this case, the school’s portion of property taxes — for redevelopment purposes violated the state Constitution.

“Common Cause Georgia fully acknowledges the right of the development community to lobby for the passage of this constitutional amendment,” Bill Bozarth of Common Cause Georgia said in a statement. “That is free speech, and we take no issue with that. However, we do take issue with doing so in violation of the law. We are filing our complaint with the State Ethics Commission because we believe that Georgians for Community Development – a campaign committee organized for the purpose of gaining voter approval of Constitutional Amendment 2, has accepted contributions from several public agencies which are clearly prohibited by Georgia statute from contributing to this kind of political activity.”

The AJC has more on the story here.

After the jump, the full release from Common Cause and links to the recently filed complaints.

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OBJECTION George Anderson files his ethics complaint

Controversial Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford is the latest public official to get slapped with an ethics complaint by George Anderson, a government watchdog who’s always game for spelunking into the Open Records abyss.

On Friday, Anderson, the executive director of Ethics in Government Group, requested the State Ethics Commission and the Judicial Qualifications Commission investigate allegations against Bedford, the jurist who’s presided over such cases as the lawsuit about the Piedmont Park parking deck and the 2007 Terry Williams murder in Little Five Points. (My esteemed colleague Scott Henry touched upon the jurist’s Orwellian campaign slogan this morning. His opponent in the general election is Atlanta Magistrate Judge Keisha Lance Bottoms.)

Anderson alleges Bedford has misused “contempt of court” fines doled out to courtroom guests whose cell phones go off, speak out of turn, or conduct themselves in an unbecoming fashion. He wants the JQC to investigate whether the judge has misdirected fine payments to the Atlanta Santa Project, a charity Bedford founded and whose public service has been widely noted. Other allegations include not fully disclosing his campaign expenses and discussing pending cases outside the courtroom.

According to the minutes from a July 2008 NPU-F meeting that Bedford attended, he discussed the Terry Williams murder case. Members of the group who were interviewed by CL also said Bedford mentioned the case. (The judge was unavailable for comment on Friday.)

Now, here’s where this whole damn thing gets bizarre…

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders and a former member of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s staff have been named, along with a South Georgia construction firm, in state ethics complaints for unregistered lobbying at the Gold Dome.

Neill Herring, a longtime Sierra Club lobbyist, filed the complaints with the State Ethics Commission last week. (To view Herring’s statement of facts, click here.) The grievances center around alleged unregistered lobbying for SB 200 and SR 309, two pieces of legislation that dealt with the testy issue of  “infrastructure development districts.” The initiative passed both chambers in the General Assembly and was signed into law by Perdue in 2007.

Commonly called “private cities” by their critics, the districts allow developers to issue tax-exempt bonds and levy assessments on property owners to pay for roads, sewers, or even amenities like golf courses. The practice is legal and used in 17 other states. The districts often begin as greenfield projects in cash-strapped counties and offer developers an incentive to pursue a project. Environmentalists, however, say private cities are catalysts for sprawl and grant government powers to a private entity.  The Sierra Club has been at the front of the fight against the concept. Voters will be presented with a referendum on the general election ballot that asks whether such districts should be legal in Georgia.

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Kept their promise from yesterday. Perdue’s amended filing report now includes the 1.81 acres he purchased late last year in Butts County.

(Screenshot from Perdue’s disclosure, available here.)

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