What happens if your guy McCain, who you raise a boatload of cash for, is going to lose the big one? How 'bout you go after an island? Maybe one that's actually a state park, owned by the public, so technically it's not for sale? And while you're at it, get a sweetheart 25-year "public/private partnership" deal that's negotiated without that nosey "John Q. Public" screwing everything up.
If you're Mercer Reynolds, congratulations! Scratch GA Gov. Sonny Perdue's back, wait until everyone's distracted by your guy's big loss (bummer, dude) and get your consolation prize- Jekyll Island, GA. And hope no one pays attention.
Especially a pesky Senator.
And a few newspaper reporters who ask for, of all damn things, email and correspondance records.
And the citizens who actually own Jekyll Island.
I wrote a lot about the previous attempt by Mercer Reynold's development company, Linger Longer Communities (LLC), to build a massive development on Jekyll Island State Park. According to statutes governing the island, only about 35% of it may be developed. The park is managed by an Authority appointed by Governor Perdue, who has managed to craft a group that thinks $900,000 condos is the way to go (the board used to have one member that had issue with some of the blatantly questionable dealings of the JIA but Perdue got rid of him).
Last year, LLC was awarded a contract after proposing a 63-acre development on the island. The public outcry was fierce- not only was the plan too large, the entire thing reeked of state and national political connections.
A July report confirms that the same players at Jekyll are investing in the presidential election. A recently released list of Republican bundlers – those collecting large donations for John McCain -- included 3 Georgians. One is Alec Poitevint, the state party chairman. The others have been active in the quest to expand development on Jekyll Island:
Steve Croy, member of the Jekyll Island Authority board, who has been particularly vocal in advocating for more aggressive development in the Island’s revitalization plan.
Cousins Mercer and Jamie Reynolds, owners of Linger Longer Communities, the development firm that won the bid for the Jekyll Town Square Center project, proposing 437 condos and time-share units.
The Reynolds family, prolific fundraisers, is "chummy" with Gov. Perdue and his fellow GA republicans. LLC won despite not following the RFP original specs. BTW, Sonny fancies himself somewhat of a land developer, which has gotten him in a little ethical squeeze from time to time. He also apparently considered himself VP material. Haha.
Republican State Senator Jeff Chapman pissed off the entire Republican leadership by catching and calling out the many, many cherry picked figures and statistics that LLC and the JIA threw out to support their arguments. He also wondered aloud and often why the JIA felt it was necessary to give developers 10-year rent abatements to develop taxpayer-owned prime beachfront property.
And then real heat came from constituents as reelection rolled around. Plus the economy tanked. Plus the JIA/LLC plan got caught by a few land restrictions they either ignored or didn't actually investigate before the agreement. The plan was scrapped and a revamped proposal was in the works. Then shiny keys were dangled: the election.
As my Mom puts it, "it's like they waited until I went out of town on vacation then built a McDonalds in my back yard."
LLC scaled down their development to a $100 million one. Better right? Yeah. Until you hear this:
Jekyll Island's governing board approved a long-term partnership contract Monday with private developer Linger Longer Communities.
The agreement empowers Linger Longer to build a $100 million beach village complex and provides rights of first refusal to develop and manage all future projects on Jekyll for the next 25 (corrected) years.
The contract was approved after only five minutes of discussion during a specially called meeting of the Jekyll Island Authority board conducted by conference call. Only board Chairman Bob Krueger and member Mike Hodges were on Jekyll Island.
To sum up, after the first plan was a PR nightmare, what does the JIA do? Turn around and secretly negotiate a deal giving LLC the right to develop a not-quite-as-large development AND right of first refusal for any new development to come. It gets better:
Jekyll Island's governing authority ducked public review of its most important redevelopment contract prior to the Dec. 1 vote which approved it, internal e-mails show. Even a state senator who had sought to comment on the contract said he was evaded...
However, Jekyll officials say if they have to provide public review of contracts before board vote, it would make it impossible for them to broker complex deals with developers.
"Quite frankly you can't negotiate a contract and turn around and say, 'OK, John Q. Public, we've negotiated with our partner, now what do you think?'" Authority Board Chairman Bob Krueger said, responding to Chapman during a legislative oversight committee meeting last week. "That's what we're for. If you did it otherwise, you're not going to have a contract."
Yeah, John Q. Public, owners of the park. Screw you.
State law calls for special meetings to be advertised 24 hours in advance. A notice for the meeting was published in a local newspaper on a Saturday, two days before the meeting, but it appeared under a different category than similar ads typically do.
Oh, and Senator Chapman? Screw him too. He had requested a meeting because he was concerned that the state was getting a raw deal. It's almost comical, watching the JIA try and freeze him out.
Chapman had asked to review the partnership agreement in October because early information showed the state would receive little money from the contract when compared to developer profits. In an Oct. 27 letter, Krueger promised to meet with Chapman before board action. Chapman waited more than a month.
"I confess I was getting a little nervous because the contract had an expected completion date of Nov. 1," Chapman said. "We were already most of the way through November and I hadn't received a copy."
At 4:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, Chapman filed an Open Records Request for the Linger Longer contract through the state Attorney General's office.
Within hours of Chapman's request, the authority scheduled a meeting for 9 a.m. the following Monday to vote on the partnership agreement...
But on Wednesday, Hooks again wrote "Confidential Memo" on an e-mail confirming the Dec. 1 board meeting. In that e-mail Hooks advised board members that Chapman had filed an Open Records Request for the Linger Longer documents.
Hooks said Chapman was not the reason the Linger Longer vote had been scheduled and that he routinely writes "Confidential" on correspondence to board members.
And then:
At 3:56 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 28, Krueger sent an e-mail to Chapman's state office, inviting him to a pre-meeting breakfast Monday, one hour prior to the contract vote. It was Thanksgiving Day weekend and Chapman's office was closed, as were all state offices including the authority's. Chapman said he did not get the e-mail, nor did he learn of the Monday vote in time to attend.
"Had I gotten a phone call like [state Rep.] Jerry [Keen] did, I would have been at the meeting and I would have brought my letter from Krueger, because one hour is not enough time to discuss a contract as important as this," Chapman said.
Even the Savannah Morning News, home paper of republican Eric Johnson, the guy who's already announced his candidacy for Lt. Gov in 2010, was disgusted by the whole deal:
"It shows their contempt and disrespect for the people I represent," Mr. Chapman told the newspaper. "This is the people's business."
We agree.
And while we support ongoing efforts to improve Jekyll's amenities and make the island more appealing to visitors, the authority forgot that it works for the people of Georgia. It's not a private corporation. It can't shroud its dealings in secrecy and dodge public comment.
Unfortunately, the authority did both before striking a $100-million, 25-year deal Dec. 1 with developer Linger Longer Communities.
Of course they did. They thought we weren't paying attention. But we are. Hey Mercer, Sonny, Jones Hooks: we still are.