Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 10A
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, August 19,2001
FUNDS from 1A
The Duluth-based engi
neering firm is currently act
ing as consultant to the county
in selecting a company to
design, build and operate a
proposed new wastewater
treatment facility in the Big
Creek basin.
Grant Hayes, president and
part owner of Hayes, James
and Associates, confirmed last
week in an interview that, in
addition to making the dona
tion, he attended an Aug. 9
fundraiser for Taylor at the
Ridge Restaurant in
Cumming.
“We were just there on
invitation. We had no knowl
edge of it being a fundraiser,”
Hayes said. “We attended out
of respect and appreciation of
the good job that Eddie is
doing for the county.”
An invitation to the
fundraiser dated July 11 and
signed by Taylor asked for
SI,OOO donations to help pay
off the commissioner’s cam
paign debt. In winning elec
tion last year, Taylor raised
$112,000, more than any other
candidate for county commis
sion, but $50,000 of that was
in the form of two personal
loans from the candidate to his
campaign.
The invitation states: “On
Aug. 9, 2001, at 6 p.m. at the
Ridge Restaurant in
Cumming, Commission
Chairman John Kieffer is join
ing me to host a small event
for dedicated community lead
ers such as you. We will have
a dinner and John and I will
speak about the issues Forsyth
County faces in the coming
months. We are also very
interested in hearing about
your concerns about our com
munity and answering any
questions you may have.
“I hope that you will be
able to contribute SI,OOO to
my campaign. Through this
small, exclusive roundtable
dinner with dedicated leaders
such as you, I will be able to
put to rest my remaining cam
paign debt.”
Hayes said he does not
remember receiving a written
invitation.
“Our invitation might have
been word of mouth,” he said.
Taylor did not respond to
several messages left at his
office over the past 10 days
for comment about the
fundraising effort.
Kieffer said this week that
he attended Taylor’s fundrais
er, but only as an invited
guest, adding he had nothing
to do with raising funds for
him.
“I was invited as a guest
and had nothing to do with
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who was invited,” he said. “If
I had it to do all over again,
certainly I would have
changed some things.”
Records also indicate two
other potentially controversial
contributions to Taylor’s cam
paign. Just two weeks before
he voted to spend $14.2 mil
lion of taxpayer money to pur
chase the 277-acre tract of
land in Big Creek basin, he
received SSOO from Chuck
Perry and SSOO more from a
Perry-owned company, The
Atlanta Company.
Perry is the local business
man who earned in excess of
SIOO,OOO when he brokered
the sale of that property to the
county as the site for the
wastewater treatment facility.
An amendment to the code
of ethics approved by the
board of commissioners late
last year requires commission
ers to publicly state in an open
meeting if they have received
contributions from companies
or individuals submitting bids
or proposals for county work
or contracts.
The amendment states: "...
The county official(s) must
publicly announce, in an open
meeting prior to casting any
vote concerning the bid or
proposal that he/she (they)
have received a contribution
from an applicant and the
amount received...”
On Jan. 22, Taylor, Kieffer,
District 4 Commissioner
Marcie Kreager and District 2
Commissioner A.J. Pritchett
voted in a closed meeting to
buy the land in the Big Creek
basin. District 3 Commiss
ioner Michael Bennett cast the
lone “no” vote.
The board publicly ann
ounced the purchase of the
land at a subsequent meeting
and later conducted a public
hearing on the issue. Taylor
did not disclose the contribu
tions from Perry or his compa
ny at any of the open meet
ings. Neither did Kreager or
Pritchett, who also received
contributions from a Perry
owned company, Pine Street
Partners. They both received
$250 from the company.
Records also indicate other
questionable contributions to
the commissioners’ cam
paigns.
Kreager and Pritchett each
received S2OO campaign con
tributions from Waterscape
Utility LLC. On April 30, both
voted in favor of awarding a
$3.1 million contract to
Waterscape to provide sewer
capacity to the county. Neither
commissioner disclosed those
contributions in the open
meeting preceding the vote.
Kreager said she was not
aware of having violated the
code of ethics.
“I would never have done
anything I thought was a vio
lation or a conflict of interest,”
Kreager said. “If anyone has a
question about it, I will give it
back.”
Kieffer also said he does
not consider the Waterscape
Utility donations to his board
colleagues violations of the
code.
“That’s something that was
not to his [the owner of
Waterscape Utility] benefit,”
Kieffer said. “I see it as a ben
efit to the county because we
were able to acquire sewer
capacity at below market
value.”
The board has scheduled
an Aug. 27 public hearing
about changing the Code of
Ethics Ordinance. The hearing
will be at 7 p.m. in the County
Administration Building on
Main Street in Cumming.
“I think all these issues
should be clarified at that time
because they all differ from
what the state requires,”
Kieffer said Friday.
Even though both he and
Bennett voted last year in
favor of the amendment that
requires public disclosure in
open meetings, Kieffer said
the amendment was a “vindic
tive” action on the part of out
going commission chairman
Bill Jenkins and former com
missioner Julian Bowen.
“The Forsyth County ordi
nance was written in a vindic
tive manner by Bill and Julian
knowing they would never
have to live by them. As a
result, we’re seeing issues
being portrayed as violations
that are not,” Kieffer said.
The following is a list of
campaign contributions as
reported by the candidates
since Jan. 1, 1999. Because
Taylor, Kreager and Pritchett
had campaigns in 2000, their
reports indicate the most
activity. Kieffer and Bennett
will be up for re-election in
2002. In some cases, the list
includes donors’ occupations
as listed on the disclosure
forms:
District 1
Commission
Chairman John
Kieffer:
Bill Mixon Highwoods
Realty ($1,000)
Paramount Grading Co.
($500)
District 2 Commiss
ioner A.J. Pritchett:
Pecos Inc. ($2,000)
Roderick and Lynn
Allmond, tractor sales
($1,000)
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Manchester Farms LLC,
architect, ($1,000)
Anna M. Pearson, consult
ant, ($1,000)
Eugene Pearson, retired,
($1,000)
Jill and Eugene Pearson,
property manager, ($1,000)
David F. Pritchett ($1,397
in-kind contribution)
David F. Pritchett ($740.46
self loan)
George E. Butler 11, attor
ney, ($500)
Leon Campbell, office
manager, ($500)
John and Sandy Pearson,
business manager, ($500)
A.J. Wickliffe ($500)
Mark Alex
Williamson,urban retail prop
erties, ($500)
David F. Pritchett ($633.10
self loan)
William R. Jones,retired,
($300)
Pine Street Partners ($250)
Albert J. Decusati, attor
ney, ($250)
Linda M. Miller ($250)
David J. Willyard, abate
ment technology, ($250)
John F. Kieffer, commis
sioner ($250)
The Peachtree Group,
property developer, ($250)
Anthony and Eileen
Parker, engineer, ($250)
Christopher A. Bruckner,
engineer, ($200)
Christopher A. Bruckner,
engineer, ($200)
Joseph P. McNamara chi
ropractor, ($200)
James C. Deckle, writer,
($200)
Waterscape Utilities LLC,
engineer, ($200)
The Boone Group, man
agement services, ($200)
Water Service Corporation,
water management service
($200)
Allyson Hendrix, home
maker, ($200)
Brett and Amanda Hensley,
developer, ($200)
Chantal Jacques-Bagwell,
homemaker, ($200)
Steve and Kay Kaye
accountant, ($150)
Kids Gear ($145 in-kind
contribution)
The Printing Center, print
er, ($120.38 in-kind contribu
tion)
Water Services
Corporation ($200)
Christopher A. Bruckner,
engineer, ($199.58)
McNamara Chiropractic
Clinic, chiropractor, ($101)
McNamara Chiropractic
Clinic, chiropractor, ($100)
Angela Broussard, home-
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Christopher A. Bruckner,
engineer, ($56.62)
Angela Broussard, home
maker, (SSO)
Christopher A. Bruckner,
engineer, (SSO)
Buffalo’s Case, restaurant,
($29.95 in-kind)
Carrol’s Hallmark, card
shop, ($16.80 in-kind)
Chick-fil-A, restaurant,
($27.82)
District 3
Commissioner
Michael Bennett:
Highwoods Realty Ltd
Partnership, real estate,
($500).
District 4
Commissioner
Marcie Kreager:
Pecos Inc., ($2,000)
Highwoods Realty LLC,
real estate, ($1,000)
Hornet Properties ($1,000)
Lipscomb, Johnson
Sleister & Dailey Attorneys
($1,000)
Victory Night Election
Strategies ($ 1,000 in-kind
contribution)
J.D. Brooks,
developer/contractor, ($1,000)
Piedmont Development
($750)
Mike Evans, builder ($500)
John Heard, architect,
($500)
Hilton Hobby, surveyor,
($500)
Mike Barnett, retired,
($500)
Gerald and Sue Blackburn,
business owner, ($500)
H. Ford Gravitt, business
owner ($500)
Greater Atlanta
Homebuilders Assoc. ($500)
Ridge Associates,
investors, ($500)
Ridge Associates,
investors, ($500)
Lewis Crowe Electric
($500)
Diane Suddeth ($500)
Ricky Bryan, business
owner Bryan Properties,
($500)
FSL Corporation, develop
ers ($500)
Forsyth Partners LLC,
developers/investors, ($500)
Technology Park, office
park, ($500)
Dewey White, general con
tractor, ($500)
Frank Betz, architect
($500)
Dewey White, general con
tractor, ($500)
Janet and Jim Otwell, auto
mobile dealership owner,
($400)
Leßoy Cole & Stephens
LLC, accountants, ($300)
Stanley McCalla, attorney,
($300)
Union Hill Property
Management ($250)
CMC Trucking, trucking
company ($250)
Robert A. Crawford, devel
oper ($250)
Robert Claiborne Crim, Jr.,
developer ($250)
Bill Jones, retired, ($250)
John and Beth Kieffer,
builder ($250)
Clint Day, developer,
($250)
Michael Hirschman, engi
neer/inventor, ($250)
Gale Yarborough, Realtor,
($250)
John Rountree, developer,
($250)
Leon Jones Feed & Grain
($250)
W. and K. Hobbs, business
owner, ($250)
Gerald and Sue Blackbum,
business owner ($250)
Pine Street Partners,
Charles Perry ($250)
Bobby Thomas ($200)
Mark T. Whitmire, con
tractor, ($200)
Don C. Woods, developer,
($200)
Dr. Melissa Thomas, den
tist, ($200)
Seth Thomas, business
owner, ($200)
Dean and Jackie Pruitt,
owner Forsyth Fast Lube,
($200)
Brett and Amanda Hensley,
civil engineer, ($200)
John Mashburn ($200)
Waterscape Utilities LLC
($200)
Ann and Paul Drew, retired
($150)
Jan Bramblett, bank
administrative assistant,
($101)
Katherine Jackson, retired
homemaker, ($101)
Self Loans ($23,200)
District 5
Commissioner
Eddie Taylor:
Last Minute Development
Inc. ($2,000)
Oaktree Enterprises
($2,000)
Marloy Inc. ($2,000)
See FUNDS, Page 11A