HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-12-2002 Joint Called Meeting
JOINT CALLED MEETING THE BOATHOUSE COMMUNITY CENTER
September 12, 2002
Augusta Richmond County Commission, Augusta Richmond County Legislative
Delegation and Augusta Richmond County Coliseum Authority convened at 3:00 p.m.,
Thursday, September 12, 2002, the Honorable Bob Young, Mayor, presiding.
PRESENT: Hons. Hankerson, Boyles, Kuhlke, Colclough, Shepard, Beard,
Williams and Bridges, members of Augusta Richmond County Commission; Connell,
Burmeister, DeLoach and Howard, members of Augusta Richmond County Legislative
Delegation and Maddox, Scott, Holden, Harper, Reed, Usry, Cox, Clark, McDaniel,
Rogers, members of Augusta Richmond County Coliseum Authority.
ABSENT: Hons. Mays and Cheek, members of Augusta Richmond County
Commission; Cheeks, Walker and Allen, members of Augusta Richmond County
Legislative Delegation.
Mr. Mayor: What I’d like to do to start the meeting, if we could just around the
table and let’s introduce ourselves [inaudible].
Ms. Roberts: I’m Linda Roberts, the Assistant General Manager of the Augusta
Civic Center.
Ms. Speaker: [inaudible] Coliseum Authority.
Mr. Holden: Billy Holden. I’m on the Coliseum Authority.
Mr. Harper: Bernard Harper, Coliseum Authority.
Mr. Reed: Fred Reed. I’m a member of the Coliseum Authority.
Mr. Maddox: Bill Maddox. I’m a member of the Coliseum Authority.
Ms. Usry: Carolyn Usry. Coliseum Authority.
Mr. Cox: Willard Cox. Coliseum Authority.
Mr. Kuhlke: Bill Kuhlke. County Commission.
Mr. Bridges: Ulmer Bridges. County Commission.
The Clerk: Lena Bonner. Clerk of Commission.
Mr. Scott: Joe Scott. [inaudible] Coliseum Authority.
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Mr. Mayor: Bob Young, Mayor.
Mr. Howard: Henry Howard. State Representative.
Mr. Connell: Jack Connell. Present member and chairman of the Delegation.
Mr. Beard: Lee Beard. Commissioner.
Mr. Hankerson: Bobby Hankerson. Commissioner.
Mr. DeLoach: George DeLoach. State Representative.
Mr. Boyles: Tommy Boyles. Commissioner.
Ms. Clark: Belle Saxon Clark. Coliseum Authority.
Ms. McDaniel: Mildred McDaniel. Coliseum Authority.
Ms. Rogers: Annie Rogers. Coliseum Authority.
Ms. Burmeister: Sue Burmeister. State Legislator.
Mr. Kolb: George Kolb. Administrator.
Mr. Wall: Jim Wall. Commission Attorney.
Mr. Shepard: Steve Shepard. County Commission.
Mr. Mayor: I want to thank each one of you for coming today. We have called
this meeting -- the Commission asked that this meeting be called as a result of some
discussion on the Commission floor about the Coliseum Authority and one item on the
agenda as far as discussion [inaudible]. There are a number of schools of thought about
what should be done about the Coliseum Authority and perhaps for some of us this is an
opportunity for [inaudible] appropriate course of action. Some of us, I can only speak for
myself, and I’m sure others have their opinion, but the Coliseum Authority has become
an embarrassment to this community. It’s costing us business and a drain on the taxes of
this community because of the subsidy that’s required there, and in fact the Coliseum
Authority may have outlived its usefulness as the Coliseum’s governing authority, and
now there is no need for that now that we have one unified governing body. I would
personally like to hear today from the Authority what your plans are, what your goals are,
what your vision is over there, how you’re going to develop a working relationship and
convince me that you can be good stewards of the money that you have over there.
[inaudible]
Mr. Colclough: [inaudible] Can you folks work together? Can y’all bring this
organization back [inaudible] the Coliseum can become an operational facility? That’s
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the question I have for y’all. If you can and y’all [inaudible] go on and start meeting
again.
Mr. Maddox: I think we can work together and work together good but there
need to be a couple of changes made. I would like to see us have a meeting this coming
Tuesday, elect a new chairman and approve the budget which we need to do real quick. I
think one of the things that has happened, I resigned in about the middle of July because I
had both my eyes operated on, they turned out fine. Immediately after I resigned, about a
couple of days later -- Mr. Scott, we’ve talked about it -- he put out an order abolishing
all committees. The search committee as well as nominating committee, which was
supposed to report back in a couple of weeks and we’d have new officers. That was not
done. He abolished that, he abolished the search committee. A couple of days after that,
he put out some order -- I still don’t know why he did it -- saying that all board members
had to come in the front door. Now if I’d been appointed by the Legislature or the
Commission, I ought to be able to come in any door I want to when I go down there. But
that’s beside the point. That’s just something minor. Then we had our first meeting with
Mr. Scott, and he can answer for himself -- he didn’t put the new business or old business
on the agenda. There was a motion made to put old business and new business on the
agenda, and he objected to it and tried to rule it out of order. Finally we did vote on it but
wouldn’t nothing come up after we put it on there. And after that, a couple of days later,
maybe a week or two later, Mr. Scott sent a letter to the Methodists stating in that letter
that we had never voted to give them any money back and that one man could not give
the money back. Well, one man could not give them money back, but that full board,
including Mr. Scott himself, had voted to give them money back. And when he sent that
letter to them, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, cause a couple of days later
we got word from them that they would not come back. And the reason was they said
when they got that they knew there was no hope of working nothing out. I don’t know
why Mr. Scott sent the letter out, cause he didn’t get the Authority’s permission, but he
sent out that letter out and that cost us $2.5 million. And we want to work with Mr.
Scott. But we want to be part of the time. We don’t want to be somebody that’s left out
in left field. Now I understand, and I can’t prove it, that there have been put out that
certain board members could not get information from down there. I know Ms. Usry
called down and tried to get some information and they wouldn’t give it to her. Three
days later, she got it from Mr. Scott. Well, if I’m going to be appointed on the board, I
ought to be able to get any information I need down there, and if I don’t, then take me off
and I’ll resign any time Mr. Scott wants to resign or whatever he wants me to do. I want
to work with Mr. Scott and I think we can. Then he put a little article in The Focus that I
ought to resign because we lost $600,000. What Mr. Scott forgot to say, he’s been on the
Authority 12 years, and we’ve always lost $600,000. The first year I went on with Mr.
Scott there, we lost $900,000. And for the last ten years, we’ve lost at least $700,000 to
$800,000. So I guess I speak for some of them here. They asked me to be the spokesman
and I’m just telling you some of the facts. But we’re willing to meet Tuesday morning
and get the whole thing out there if Mr. Scott is willing to.
Mr. Reed: As far as outliving usefulness, I think the Authority still has good
usefulness, but I think there are members there that have been there since the beginning,
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and even beyond what the law calls for, two terms. The law calls for two terms and then
you sit until you are replaced, which you know as well as I do the intent is to give time
for someone else to come in, not to sit there for the next ten years. We’ve got members
that are well beyond their second term, and they need to be replaced. I don’t care who
they are.
Mr. Beard: I think Mr. Scott needs to respond.
Mr. Mayor: You want to say something?
Mr. Scott: As to the statements by Mr. Maddox -- as to the statements that Chief
Maddox made regarding entrance to the building, I’ll cover that first, there was a
complaint by employees about people walking in off the street, and sleeping in rooms
down there, so rather than have a lot of people coming in the building, I did put a notice
out asking everybody but service people to use the front entrance. It did not specify a
board member. It specified those people who didn’t have any business coming into the
building like that, because it’s a safety hazard for the people working in there. As to
another impression I think he had about the agenda. We put agendas the morning of the
board meeting. That’s been the policy. I think it’s another issue about how long one has
been on the Authority. I didn’t ask to be on here, and I won’t ask to be taken off. When
the time comes for me to be taken off, they will take me off. Okay? Whether these
members come to meetings or not has nothing to do with me. It’s a democratic process.
One man, one vote. If you want to change things, you come there, you vote, you form
coalitions, and you get things done. That’s what we’re doing. We’ve done many things
there without many of you. But we had, if all of you were there, what all the things we
could have done. More than what we’re doing now down there. Because it shouldn’t
have anything with whether you come to a meeting. The democratic process. I mean we
had Christman, Crickenberry, B.J. Blackwood and others on there. They came. They
didn’t agree with everything. But they waited until they got the numbers on their side
and they voted to get things done. That’s the democratic process. That’s all I can say. If
I missed answering one of your questions, if you’ll restate it I’ll try to answer it.
Mr. Mayor: Let me see if I can get some clarification on something that was
brought up, and that’s expired terms. Are there terms that have gone beyond the two
term limit? Are there replacements that need to be made, and is there some reason why
those cannot be made in a timely manner? Are there vacancies that need to be filled?
Are these Commission vacancies or Delegation vacancies?
Mr. Howard: Normally in the Delegation, we respect the other person who
appoints the person to the Authority and not interfere with that position [inaudible].
There are some positions that are not filled because [inaudible] and some that are overdue
[inaudible]. And may I ask one question? Have any of the Authority members seen the
bylaws?
Mr. Scott: Bylaws of?
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Mr. Howard: Bylaws of the Authority.
Mr. Scott: Yes, sir.
Mr. Howard: Joe has.
Mr. Scott: Everybody has.
Mr. Howard: Everybody has?
Mr. Scott: Yes, sir.
Ms. Usry: I don’t have a copy of it.
Mr. Maddox: I don’t have a copy of it.
Mr. Mayor: Henry, you said individual members of the Delegation appoint the
members of the Coliseum Authority and it’s not a collaborative effort from the
Delegation?
Mr. Howard: We have [inaudible] person going on, but if I select John Doe to go
on there, then the rest of the Delegation would agree or disagree with me. [inaudible] up
to me to decide if I want to take them off.
Mr. Mayor: I see.
Mr. Connell: We have six members presently from the House and two from the
Senate, which gives us eight votes. It would take five of those eight to be successful in
making an appointment. We’ve had several of those situations where we’ve been able to
receive four votes but not able to receive five. But we have two vacancies now, and we
need to still work with the entire Delegation. As of January 1, the House will got from
six to five, and the Senate will still have two. So we’ll have seven votes at that time. We
have eight at the present time. It takes now five. It will take four at that time.
Mr. Mayor: So you have two vacancies and then you have how many terms that
have expired and people are still serving?
Mr. Connell: You have at least one that has --
Mr. Mayor: So you have three positions you’re actually need to fill?
Mr. Connell: Technically we have three positions.
Mr. Mayor: What progress is the Delegation making in filling those vacancies?
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Mr. Connell: The Delegation has received requests. One of those, we’ve had
four out of five. Still needed one vote. We have at least one appointment from the
Delegation that is now, I believe, for one member that [inaudible] there since 1998. That
probably needs to be filled also.
Mr. Mayor: Jack, is this a priority to get this done?
Mr. Connell: It’s a priority getting five out of the eight. That’s where the
difficulty can occur.
Mr. Beard:
Mr. Mayor, I think at this point the direction we should move in at
this time is that Chief Maddox has indicated that he -- I don’t know if he was talking for
the entire group -- but they are willing to meet on Tuesday, and if they meet as a group,
and whatever they decide -- I think they know the urgency of the [inaudible] of the
Authority and the Coliseum itself must go on. There are things that cannot be done
unless they meet. I think the proper thing here [inaudible] see if any member of the
Coliseum Authority cannot work or meet on Tuesday with this group. And if that is the
case where they can meet, I think we ought to give them that opportunity to do so. So
, I’m going to make a motion that we
since we called the meeting, the Commissioners
give them, the Authority, the opportunity to meet on Tuesday and work out their
differences in their body, selecting a chairman, committee, appointing committees,
or whatever there is to be done, they ought to get together Tuesday and do this.
And
if we have any objections to that, I think the Coliseum Authority members now ought to
speak to that. But that is the motion that I’m putting forward.
Mr. Mayor: Can a motion be a recommendation? We can’t tell them to meet.
Mr. Beard: The motion is that we recommend that they meet on Tuesday. They
have agreed to meet.
Mr. Scott: I think every member here is willing to meet Tuesday and we get out
business straightened out if everybody is willing to come. I know most of the people are
here.
Mr. Mayor: Before there is more discussion, is there a second?
Mr. Colclough: I’ll second it.
Mr. Mayor: It would seem to me that if we’re going to move ahead with the
motion and recommend that these folks meet Tuesday, we ought to move ahead with a
parallel motion to encourage the Legislative Delegation to get these three positions filled.
Mr. Scott: [inaudible] discussion.
Mr. Mayor: We are having discussion.
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Mr. Kuhlke: So moved.
Mr. Scott: The [inaudible] legislation states that officers are elected in April. I
have no problem with having a meeting, but I do want to discuss this. Three-and-a-half
years, four years Chief Bill Maddox was the chairperson, he’s never called for an election
of officers. We have other things more important to resolve than election of officers. I
have no problem with it. The other thing is that [inaudible], I’m the only one left after
Chief Maddox resigned. When he resigned from the position, I had left the building. He
didn’t have respect enough to tell me that he was going to resign. Somebody ran out in
the parking lot and told me that he had resigned. There was nobody else to take this
position, so I took it and tried to run with it. They did not cooperate with me, nor would
they cooperate -- I have three agendas when we called meetings and they did not come to
one of the meetings. I had everything on there that they wanted us to discuss. They did
not come to one of these meetings to elect officers, to deal with the Stallions, to deal with
the North Georgia Methodists, to deal with the agreements we have with the Lynx, the
deal we’re trying to have for open house, the deal we’re trying to have with a retreat.
None of these things. We put these things on the table. They never did come to the
meetings. I’m here to extend the olive branch. If you want to work with us, come to the
meetings and we’ll work with you. That’s all I can say.
Mr. Maddox: Let me respond to that, please.
Mr. Mayor: Let’s try to limit our discussion to the motions on the floor and the
recommendation from the Commission that the Coliseum Authority board have a meeting
on Tuesday. And these other differences about who said what and who did what and who
didn’t do what, that’s really not material to the motion that’s on the floor.
Mr. Scott: I think the Chief should have told [inaudible].
Mr. Mayor: Mr. Scott [inaudible].
Mr. Scott: [inaudible]
Mr. Mayor: You can say as much as you want to, but right now we’re discussing
the motion on the floor. We’re having a discussion on the motion, call the question on
the motion. Yes, Mr. Hankerson?
Mr. Hankerson: For clarification, we’re voting on the meeting but not addressing
what Chief Maddox has said about electing of officers? Are the members here coming
with the expectation of just meeting and doing what?
Mr. Speaker: [inaudible]
Mr. Hankerson: I mean is this official about April? I mean is that legal?
Mr. Scott: Once a year.
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Mr. Hankerson: And elect officers.
Mr. Mayor: The annual election.
Mr. Scott: It’s an annual election.
Mr. Beard: We need clarification from one of the attorneys as to what can take
place there. Jim?
Mr. Wall: Ziva is the attorney for the Coliseum Authority. I think she’s the one
that needs to advise the Coliseum Authority.
Ms. Bruckner: [inaudible]
Mr. Speaker: We can’t hear you down here.
Ms. Bruckner: With all due respect, I don’t think that this group can tell the
Authority that they have to meet Tuesday. It’s a recommendation and [inaudible]. I
think that they can have a called meeting and do anything they [inaudible], including
electing officers or anything else. If [inaudible] agenda [inaudible] done, but beyond
that, I don’t think [inaudible].
Mr. Beard: Well, you know, they are an authority so my motion was to the extent
basically that they have a meeting and get together. And I’m aware that we cannot
dictate to them. Whatever happens in their meeting will just happen. I go along with
that. You know, that they meet, they should take care of the business of the Coliseum,
whatever that may be, and whatever their forum would let them be.
Mr. Hankerson: And that’s the reason I was asking. Just meeting and nothing
taking place, from what I’m hearing now that could just end up being back and forth
about who is in charge and these sort of things, but if you’re going to meet with agenda
and take care of those things, then that’s good.
Mr. Mayor: [inaudible] Chief Maddox said that he was requesting there be a
meeting Tuesday to elect a chairman and set a budget. So he already has two items he
wants to put on the agenda for the Tuesday meeting.
Mr. Hankerson: That was my question, that that motion was made, that those
things going to be accepted, that that’s what they are meeting for. If not, then they’re not
going to get anywhere. And if they don’t get anywhere, then I think we need to discuss
[inaudible].
Mr. Maddox: I think the majority of the members here today is willing to put that
on the agenda. If you want them to raise their hand, they can raise their hand. I think
you’ll find out the majority of them is willing to do it.
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Mr. Reed: Mr. Chairman, I wanted to speak to Mr. Scott’s comments about the
democratic process. Let’s have a meeting Tuesday and let the democratic process work.
Mr. Mayor: Mr. Williams?
Mr. Williams: Yes, Mr. Mayor, I apologize for showing up a little bit late
[inaudible] I heard a few comments and I know we’ve been having some problems in
trying to get to the bottom of things and get it resolved. But the active chairman or the
new chairman, and I heard that Chief Maddox resigned. If the chairman in the position
now was elected or the chairman was appointed, until there is another chairman and until
there is a vote out of this chairman, a vote in of another chairman, I think we need to be
looking at the chairman who is in the position right now to call this meeting. That
should be the authority figure, such as yourself, Mr. Mayor, who operates, who sits in the
chairman position in the Commission. Chief Maddox had been the chairman for some
four years, I think, and if I’m missing something, somebody needs to help me out.
Mr. Maddox: Let me straighten you out on one thing.
Mr. Mayor: The motion, we’ve got a motion on the floor [inaudible] the motion.
Mr. Maddox: Well, can you discuss it? Can you discuss it?
Mr. Mayor: We can discuss the motion, and that is to recommend that the
Coliseum Authority have a meeting Tuesday.
Mr. Maddox: I thought we had settled that. It’s up to the Coliseum Authority to
decide whether they want to have a meeting or not.
Mr. Mayor: We [inaudible].
Mr. Maddox: You can ask, but you can’t order us to do it.
Mr. Mayor: We can entertain a motion to recommend that you meet.
Mr. Maddox: Okay.
Mr. Mayor: That was the motion recommending a meeting. You don’t have to
have one or you can meet six times.
Mr. Speaker: [inaudible]
Mr. Speaker: [inaudible]
Mr. Williams: I was trying to get some clarification. I may be on the left field.
I’ve been there before. That’s no [inaudible]. But I was trying to get some clarification
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on this motion, as well if we going to have a meeting or invite them or ask them to meet.
Then if they got a chairman in place, should we not realize or recognize that chairman in
that position now until the democratic process works and elect another chairman? Now I
know both these gentlemen.
Mr. Mayor: Well, if the motion passes, our request will be sent over to the
chairman, the acting chairman of the Authority, and that is [inaudible].
Ms. Usry: Doesn’t the bylaws state that if the majority of members want a
meeting that we can call a meeting? Isn’t that the proper procedure?
Mr. Mayor: That’s an issue for the Coliseum Authority. I think you Attorney can
answer that. Do you know the answer, Joe? Go ahead.
Mr. Scott: [inaudible] he called me to ask me to have a meeting. [inaudible]
called me and asked me to [inaudible]?
Mr. Reed: Monday.
Mr. Scott: Not one --
Mr. Reed: You called my house Monday. I returned the call. You never called
me back.
Mr. Scott: You’ve never asked me to call a meeting [inaudible]. I told her that I
did not feel comfortable that you all [inaudible] and therefore I would not call one.
Okay? You never asked me. If you had asked me the last time on the day that y’all met,
if you had asked me to have a meeting, I would have a meeting. You’ve never asked me
to have a meeting.
Mr. Maddox: Mr. Scott, we had a meeting the first time and sent out notices and
you got a copy and you did not return to our meeting. That’s what started this boycott
business. You did not come and you talked to certain members not to come, and
therefore that’s what got out here. We don’t need to talk about that. We need to set us a
meeting and go.
Mr. Scott: Are you talking about this meeting?
Mr. Mayor: Let me call for order here, because we have not gotten the answer to
Ms. Usry’s question, and that is what the number of members it takes to call a meeting.
And maybe Ms. Bruckner can answer that.
Mr. Scott: Seven.
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Ms. Bruckner: I don’t believe that there are regulations that address that. I
believe that any number of individuals can call a meeting. Whether or not people attend,
I mean they vote with their feet as to whether they agree and have a quorum.
Mr. Mayor: Well, is there a certain number of --
Ms. Bruckner: There are no, there are no bylaws other than the [inaudible].
There is nothing there. One of the things that I recommended that we do quickly is create
bylaws, which the chairman agrees with. So right now I think that a meeting can be
called by anyone. Preferably [inaudible] but there is no requirement for any specific
number of individuals to support it.
Mr. Mayor: Okay. Thank you, Ms. Bruckner. There is discussion up here,
though, that there is apparently a set of bylaws that exists somewhere. Mr. Howard said
they were written [inaudible]?
Mr. Howard: That’s correct.
Mr. Maddox: Mr. Howard, are you talking about the Georgia bylaws when y’all
set it up? I’ve got a copy of those and they don’t say anything about a meeting. The only
thing they specify that you serve on the board until your successor is appointed. It also
says that the vice chairman has a vote on all committees and you would have an election
once a year to name new officers. When Mr. Scott said we didn’t, we’ve had election
every year since I’ve been chairman, and the attorney recommended, that’s what we was
trying to get it, she recommended and sent out something to Mr. Scott and all of us to
have a meeting and elect a chairman. She did that. I didn’t do that.
Mr. Speaker: [inaudible] call the meeting [inaudible].
Mr. Speaker: [inaudible]
Mr. Scott: [inaudible] specific ordinance [inaudible].
Mr. Maddox: Call a meeting Tuesday and give us a chance.
Mr. Colclough: That’s up to y’all [inaudible] elect [inaudible] officers. What I’m
asking, the question is are y’all going to have a meeting Tuesday, do whatever you guys
need to do to get that Coliseum running again?
Mr. Maddox: Yes.
Mr. Colclough: [inaudible] what I want to know, from my standpoint of view,
can you work together and are you willing to work together?
Mr. Maddox: Yes, sir.
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Mr. Scott: Yes.
Mr. Mayor: We have a motion on the floor. We’ll call the question on the
motion, and this is for the Commissioners to vote. Ms. Bonner, you want to record the
vote?
The Clerk: Yes, sir.
Mr. Mayor: What I’ll do is [inaudible]. All those in favor of the motion to
recommend that the Coliseum Authority meet please raise your hands so Ms. Bonner can
record your vote?
Motion carries 8-0.
Mr. Mayor: Please go ahead.
Mr. Howard: We made a law in the House that said any member that misses three
consecutive meetings without due cause would be removed from the Authority or board
of any kind. That’s a law that we put in in Atlanta. It passed the House, but it didn’t pass
the Senate. So I plan to put that Bill back in this year to make it official [inaudible].
Mr. Scott: [inaudible] Why can’t we all come and work together as a group rather
than having somebody having to tell us to come work and take care of the people’s
business? I had, these three meetings, I had election of officers down there. If you want
election of officers, I had ever [inaudible], the business that we needed to take care of, I
had all of it down there. I even told you to elect whoever you to elect. Why can’t you
extend the olive branch to me? I extended it to you all. Why can’t we all work together?
Mr. Maddox: We’ll come there Tuesday, and we’ll work together, Mr. Scott. I
give you my word. I think I speak for at least five or six members at this table. Is that
okay?
Mr. Scott: I don’t know if you speak for them.
Mr. Maddox: Will y’all raise y’all’s hands that agree to it?
Ms. Usry: Have a meeting Tuesday?
Mr. Maddox: Right.
Mr. Cox: I thought this meeting was about what’s the problem down there. It’s
obvious what the problem is. It didn’t take five minutes for the message to come before
us. We had two Commissioners sit down there and listen to everything they had to say,
and when they left, we voted -- I mean it was a breakdown down there. Of the
management. And I would say the same thing. If the situation had been reversed, if it
had been a white manager of the place and a black organization came down there, I
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would have voted, I would have voted to give the money back. So if Mr. Scott didn’t
understand to give the money back -- I made the motion to give the money back. Ms.
Ruben seconded the motion. Everybody voted for it. When the meeting was over with,
Mr. Scott, he decides, he takes over the chairmanship, he takes over, and he decides we
are going to give them [inaudible].
Mr. Mayor: The minutes of the meeting will reflect what action was taken and
the vote. Mr. Holden, go ahead.
Mr. Holden: He made a motion to give the money back. I asked the question and
anybody can go listen to the tape that wants to cause I listened to it, and I said what
money are you talking about? There’s a lot of money. I mean we gave them everything
we can give them back without taking money from the taxpayers. We paid the police, the
fireman, there was a lot of money out of pocket that we did give back. But I mean there’s
just so much that we can give back. I asked the question, what money are you talking
about? And Chief Maddox said we’re going to give them back what’s appropriate. Now
anybody can go listen to the tape that wants to listen to it. And I’ve listened to it. And
we never voted to give them all the money back. We voted to give them what’s
appropriate. Chief Maddox said we were going to appoint a committee. This is on the
tape. That’s exactly what Joe did. He appointed a committee. We went down there and
we made a recommendation. This recommendation has never been approved by the
Authority because we haven’t had enough people there to approve it. But we made a
recommendation to give them $38,000 back, which is more than fair. But anyway, that’s
the way the motion went down.
Mr. Mayor: Let me ask a question.
Mr. Holden: And it’s on tape, it’s on tape.
Mr. Mayor: Okay. The tape would be the best record of what was said and who
did what. But let me ask you this. Now the Authority has terminated Reggie Williams as
the manager; is that correct?
Mr. Scott: Yes.
Mr. Mayor: Is Mr. Williams still being paid by the Coliseum Authority?
Mr. Scott: [inaudible]
Mr. Mayor: He’s still getting a check?
Mr. Scott: Yes.
Mr. Mayor: Why is he being paid if he was fired?
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Mr. Scott: Because we have not had enough people, a quorum, to do any official
business and we have continued paying him. And plus the fact he has a year’s contract, a
year’s verbal contract with us.
Mr. Mayor: Verbal?
Mr. Speaker: Our attorney says the verbal contract doesn’t count.
Ms. Bruckner: I don’t think that that needs to be discussed right now in public.
Mr. Mayor: That’s public money over there, Ziva. I disagree with that. I think
the public has a right to now.
Ms. Bruckner: The problem is that may be possible pending litigation involving
that. I think this is not the forum. You are [inaudible] deal with [inaudible]. I think that
this is not the time and place to do that. I would personally convey information to you
[inaudible].
Mr. Mayor: If you would. I’d like to know how you fire somebody and then
keep paying them. Somebody might try to do that with the city.
Mr. Speaker: I’d like to know that, too.
Ms. Bruckner: [inaudible]
Mr. Scott: The day he was fired, the day he was fired, Chief Maddox agreed to
give him two months’ pay. And then we went back and he brought it back before the
Authority, and the Authority voted to give him that. And outside of that, that’s all the
Authority has ever voted to do. Chief Maddox agreed to do that at the very beginning.
Ms. Bruckner: My advice is that [inaudible] open meetings and [inaudible].
Mr. Mayor: Mr. Hankerson?
Mr. Hankerson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I would hope that when the Authority
meets Tuesday that they will have in mind the economy of this city, they have in mind
the employees. I talked to some employees down there and they don’t know whether
they are going to have a job the next day. And I hope that you meet and try to resolve the
matters. And I’m also happy that the Legislators are here, too, because the tone of the
meeting right now, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be too good Tuesday, but I hope I’m
incorrect about that, and I hope that we will measure Tuesday, the outcome of Tuesday,
what will be the future of how we handle the Authority. Because it’s time now for us to
stop holding the employees at hostage, and I hope that this meeting will be a resuscitation
for every Coliseum Authority member that what you were appointed for, and what you
raised your right hand for and said that you were willing to serve this City for the best of
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the City, and that if this doesn’t happen I would hope that we would take it very seriously
as elected officials and really do something about it. Thank you.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you. Mr. Kuhlke?
Mr. KuhlkeI’d like
: Mr. Mayor, you have requested this a little bit earlier, but
to make a motion that the Commission, through a resolution, ask the Delegation to
hastily fill the vacant seats on the Coliseum Authority.
Mr. Bridges: Second.
Mr. Mayor: Discussion on that motion? Yes, sir?
Mr. Harper: I agree with Mr. Kuhlke on filling the vacancies [inaudible] sense of
urgency. But also, Mr. Mayor, you asked the question about the Coliseum Authority,
[inaudible], our reason being, for being down there as members, the Coliseum Authority
[inaudible]. The Coliseum Authority [inaudible] major business in this town. [inaudible]
this is just a prime example. [inaudible] and it just doesn’t stay here in Augusta. You
have promoters, you have other people that [inaudible] they see what’s going on in
Augusta, they hear what’s going on, so they won’t bring their shows here, they won’t
bring their conventions here. [inaudible] I’m very [inaudible] turning it around, but the
civic center has to be run like a business, and just like a business you need a CEO. And
you have to go out here and form partnerships and coalitions just like Mr. Scott said and
work together. We’ve got to work together with the conventions group, that books
conventions for us, and we’ve got to put our best foot forward to make sure the building
is properly maintained, is properly cleaned, we’ve got the right personnel in the right
positions, so we move this thing forward. Now I am not going to sit here and say
anything negative about the Coliseum Authority. Yeah, we’ve had our problems in the
past, and just like any other meeting or any other group, you have people that don’t get
along. Sometimes they got along, sometimes they don’t get along. But I’m not going to
sit down here as a member of the Coliseum Authority [inaudible] and tell you the
Coliseum Authority is a losing proposition. It’s a losing proposition if the media portrays
it that way, it’s a losing proposition if members or non-members or Commission
members think that way, but to me, from a business point of view -- and I’m in the
hospitality business, I deal with people. Perception is everything in my business. That
building has the potential to [inaudible] major business in this town. Like I said,
[inaudible] I don’t have a problem showing up for the meeting as long as we are going to
get some things done. And I’m not going to sit here and [inaudible] should we have
elections, should we not have elections? Because sooner or later my name is going to
pop up as one of the people in the center of this thing about chairmanship. Now three
months ago I was approached by Mr. Scott in the Good Government meeting would I
consider becoming the chairman. I said I’d think about it. A month later, a month-and-a
half later I was approached by some other members asking me would I consider
becoming the chairman. I [inaudible] consensus from both sides. So I would said I
would strongly consider it now. It didn’t materialize. The meeting was boycotted to
prevent that from happening. And then that was our first [inaudible] boycott to prevent
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that from happened. Then it just went downhill from that. I don’t care who the chairman
is down there [inaudible]. But [inaudible] I don’t care it is [inaudible]. But if you’re
going to sit down there and keep the gridlock on it, don’t understand what’s going on
down at the Coliseum -- and I’m talking about the budget. We’ve got a budget that needs
to be approved, we’ve got some other pressing business that needs to be approved
[inaudible] Methodist [inaudible] lost cause. My perception on the Methodists is we need
the right people to negotiate with them. [inaudible] As far as the Stallions, that’s past
tense. Okay. I’m not getting into his contract, I don’t believe he was going to deal with
us from the first part because he was losing money for the few years he’s been down
there. Now some things could have been done to appease him, but we couldn’t give
away the store. But business is business, and bottom line the Coliseum is business. And
that’s all I’m hearing about, the business to get the Coliseum to move forward. If you
want to go down there Tuesday and have a meeting, it’s fine with me. My name is
Bernard Harper, and I will be the first one down there. [inaudible] and stop all this petty
infighting, nickel-and-diming the Coliseum Authority away. And do we need a new
building? Probably 20 years ago. That building is old. It need work. I’ve always stated
the building needs three things: leadership, common sense and money. Now if we can
get those things working for us, hey, we got a serious piece of property down there that
can bring big bucks into this city. The Methodists are just a prime example. Look at the
economic impact, look what just went out the window. $2.5 million is a lot of money.
Imagine what we could have done if we bring double the conventions we bring in there,
okay, plus the shows and entertainment. We’d be doing pretty good. Maybe we can stop
the bleeding of losing money every month, every year. That’s all I got to say. So
anybody that can answers the questions all they want, but I’m basically here, like I said.
I’m not going to talk negatively about the Coliseum Authority. I’m a member and I’m
proud to be a member. I just hope we can sit together and get everything done.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Mr. Harper. Mr. Boyles?
Mr. Boyles: Mr. Mayor, since we have a motion on the floor concerning
appointments, let me ask a couple of questions about appointments while we’ve got the
Delegation here. Each of the eight single member Districts appoint one person. We’re
there basically for two four-year terms. Our appointments will end, as I just appointed or
re-appointed Mr. Cox, and Rev. Hankerson just appointed Ms. Rogers. Our Super
District Commissioners don’t have appointments. District 9 and 10 do not have
appointments. The Legislative Delegation can have appointments that can last almost
unlimited, as long as you want to leave a person -- I think Mr. Howard just said that as
long as you want to leave a person in place you can. It just seems to me like there is a
little issue of fairness there somewhere that if our eight appointments can expire when
our terms do, and Mr. Beard just appointed one in his District whose term had expired,
and it’s our prerogative, I think, to appoint someone, and we do it on gentleman’s basis,
but I’m just concerned about the only board that I know of, that I’ve seen the
appointment list to, where our Super Districts 9 and 10 don’t have any appointments.
And I think there is -- the Delegation controls 1/3 of the membership because four out of
12 are appointed by the Delegation. And while we’re talking about trying to go ahead
and get the Delegation to go ahead and reappoint or appoint their members, then could
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you at least look at the possibility of changing whatever you may need to do to try to get
our Super District appointments also?
Mr. Mayor: Yes, and give the Mayor one, too, while we’re at it. Go ahead.
Mr. Connell: I believe that we passed a Resolution in the House and Senate. I
believe the [inaudible] eight to ten, which would give the eight regular and the Super
Districts one appointment each. So it would make ten there, and our two would make 12.
I think that’s the current [inaudible] we have now.
Mr. Boyles: But as it is, there are four members appointed as of now by the
Delegation; am I correct? So we have not put into effect, or y’all have not put into effect
the two Super Districts?
Mr. Beard: I think Jim can answer your question.
Mr. Connell: You want to clarify that, Jim?
Mr. Wall: When the Coliseum Authority was created, of course we had the city
and the county. So the city was given four appointments, the county was given four
appointments, and the Legislative Delegation had four appointments. With
consolidation, the Commission made the decision, there was a committee appointed, to
look at how the Commission was going to fill its appointed seats on various commissions
and things such as the Coliseum Authority. It was through that process that the
Commission internally decided that the eight seats -- four from the city, four from the
county -- would be filled by the eight Commissioners representing single Districts.
Mr. Boyles: Single-member Districts?
Mr. Wall: That was an internal decision that the Commission made.
Mr. Reed: I just wanted to clarify, from the Delegation’s point of view, they’re
saying that their appointments last until they decide to change them out? Is that what
they’re saying? Even though the law says two terms and until they’re reappointed, but is
that the intent of the law to leave them there for 15 or 20 years? I don’t think that was the
intent of the law.
Mr. Connell: The original [inaudible] provided that the Delegation would have
two appointments on the Authority. You have ten members appointed from the council,
Commission. We would have two. Total of 12.
Mr. Reed: Right. But your two can sit forever; is that what you’re saying? There
is no term limit on theirs?
Mr. Connell: They are appointed for four years like the [inaudible] Mr. Wall.
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Mr. Reed: So they still serve two terms and until they’re reappointed which --
basically, just like us? So if someone is expired after their second term, they need to be
replaced?
Mr. Connell: I think what we could do is we can reappoint one member for an
additional four-year term. As far as I know, that would be the limit.
Mr. Wall: They serve until their successor is appointed.
Mr. Reed: That’s the wording of the law, but what’s the intent of the law? Not to
serve for 20 years?
Ms. Bruckner: No, the intent is four years per -- I mean two four-year terms.
Mr. Wall: Right. Clearly that’s the intent.
Mr. Reed: The intent and wording are two different things.
Ms. Bruckner: The wording [inaudible] situation where you have [inaudible]
members [inaudible]. It’s the [inaudible].
Mr. Reed: So you’ve got someone that’s been there for 12 years, it’s time to
reappoint.
Mr. Mayor: We have a motion on the floor from Commissioner Kuhlke
requesting the Delegation fill the vacancies. Any further on that? I’ll ask the
Commissioners who are in favor of that, please raise your hand.
Motion carries 8-0.
Mr. Mayor: Is there anything further? Mr. Beard?
Mr. Beard: I move we adjourn.
Mr. Mayor: Motion to adjourn.
Mr. Colclough: Second.
Mr. Mayor: It’s been seconded. Discussion?
Ms. Usry: Can I ask that Ms. Roberts notify the news media that we will have a
meeting at 9 o’clock Tuesday morning. Is that agreeable with the other members of the
board?
Mr. Maddox: Yes.
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Mr. Cox: Yes.
Mr. Mayor: Mr. Shepard?
Mr. Shepard: Mr. Mayor, I hope that this doesn’t have to be part of a motion or
anything, but that we understand that we [inaudible] green business here, that the
economic development aspects of this business is critical to this city, that’s why the
attention of the Commission has been focused on this and the attention of the Mayor’s
office. And I think that if you don’t have a mission statement, that you ought to include
in part of a mission statement of the Coliseum the promotion of the tourism, the
meetings, business, the convention business, and if you don’t have that in there already, I
think you should. I see people here that I’ve served with on the Convention & Visitors
Bureau board, on other boards, and the economic ripple effect of this is just -- is
potentially staggering. And maybe that’s stating the obvious, but I think this record
should not close today without those remarks being put in it. And my friend Mr.
Williams and I sometimes go to First Friday, and I was sort of surprised -- I shouldn’t say
sort of surprised -- I was shocked to see what I thought was a viable restaurant business
closed that used to trade on the teams, their logos and with authority, by the way, from
the Coliseum, the Lynx and the Stallions. And when I went to First Friday last week, that
business was shuttered up. It’s not open any longer. And the case can be made that
that’s not the only reason that it’s shuttered up, but I do remember that he had -- and this
is the Sports bar -- that he had invested strongly in trading off of the fans that came down
th
to the Coliseum to those particular sports. And if you go by the corner of Ellis and 11
today, you’ll see that business closed up. So I just -- whether that case is ripe or now, my
point is I hope that when you get back together, that you’ll be about the business of
economic development, and particularly the business of meetings and conventions.
Mr. Mayor: Thank you, Mr. Shepard. We have a motion on the floor to adjourn.
Mr. Beard: Mr. Mayor, just one clarification.
Mr. Mayor: Yes, sir.
Mr. Beard: I notice that one member -- the person who should notify the media, I
guess, is still in charge, would be Mr. Scott.
Mr. Mayor: We’ll notify -- we’ll send a formal letter to Mr. Scott, your motion,
and then it will be up to them to call the meeting.
Mr. Beard: Right. We just want to clarify that.
Mr. Mayor: Okay. Any other business? All in favor of adjourning, raise your
hands. Thank y’all for coming.
[MEETING ADJOURNED]
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Lena J. Bonner
Clerk of Commission
CERTIFICATION:
I, Lena J. Bonner, Clerk of Commission, hereby certify that the above is a true and
correct copy of the minutes of the Joint Meeting of Augusta Richmond County
Commission, Augusta Richmond County Legislative Delegation and Augusta Richmond
County Coliseum Authority held on September 12, 2002.
Clerk of Commission
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