Crime is Legal in Gilmer County

Opinion

In late 2010, I filed 4 ethic charges against former Gilmer Commission Chairman, Mark Chastain, with District Attorney Joe Hendricks. He launched an investigation led by Chief Investigator, John Russell. In October, 2011, it was presented to the Grand Jury, which returned a “no bill”, not an indictment. They did, however, vote to conduct a “Civil Investigation” into the way things are done in the Commissioners office. The DA called me in to go over the case and explain why this happened even though, as I see it, Mark threw the laws and the rulebook out the window as he took office. The County Charter says that the Commissioners shall take an oath that includes them swearing to upholding the Charter. The Governor’s office, however, provides the oath that is actually administered that does not have them swear to uphold the County Charter. My question is: If the Commissioners are not required to enforce the County Charter, who is? If no one is charged with enforcing it, then isn’t it meaningless? Up to this point I was convinced that Mr. Chastain had committed a felony by violating his oath of office since the Charter plainly states they are to enforce it, but he never took the oath. Another question I have on this is: Since the Charter states an oath they are to take, and they don’t take it, are they even Commissioners? It appears that State Law and the Governor’s oath trump the County Charter so once again it is rendered meaningless. I can only wonder if all other Counties in Georgia are as “unbridled” as Gilmer County appears to be.
The other part of the equation that Mr. Hendricks explained is that for other infractions ( crimes, in my opinion) the only penalty is removal from office. Since Mark was already out, that couldn’t be done. I attended a Tea Party breakfast with Rep. Doug Collins as the guest speaker shortly after this. As he took questions, I gave a brief explanation of the situation and asked if he would consider introducing a bill in the State Legislature this session to institute criminal penalties for elected officials that “don’t play by the rules”. He enthusiastically said “Yes” adding that he would like to look at the situation more closely and follow up. I called the District Attorney that same day and asked for a meeting with him, Doug Collins, Senator Steve Gooch, Speaker Ralston, and myself. He indicated he was certainly willing and gave me some tentative dates that he would be available.
I called Mr. Collin’s office several times and was “batted around” to different members of his staff and was finally told his schedule would not permit him to attend such a meeting. They urged me to contact my own Senator, Steve Gooch for assistance. I wonder if this is the same type of answer Gilmer County will get if he is actually elected our 9th District Congressman? I had already called Senator Gooch and left a message. He returned my call and listened to my proposal and indicated he would be willing. He said he would call me back after checking his schedule. I attended the Gilmer County Republican Christmas Dinner and Senator Gooch was there. I again asked him about it and he said his phone (with his schedule) was in the car but he would check and get back with me. I’m still waiting….
I had left a message for Speaker Ralston and he did call me back. He said it would not be appropriate for him to attend, but that he would like to send a representative. Since no one else was interested, there wasn’t much point. So crime is still legal in Gilmer County! You can misappropriate funds as Mark Chastain did by funding the Pro Shop at the Golf Course with the GO Bond, even though it was not on the ballot and there is no penalty. You can steer and even create projects to divert County funds into your own business and it’s perfectly legal! You can present a budget of $437,000 to the public and the other Commissioners, then spend over $1,000,000 with whoever you choose without putting ANYTHING out for bid and it is just fine!
But there is more. If you have the occasion to get reimbursements from the County government, you can submit a “shopping cart” and get reimbursed even though you didn’t buy the things in the “shopping cart”. It only costs the paper and the ink to print it and if the County pays it, it’s their fault! What a County! Or is it “What a State”?
The Grand Jury Civil Investigation recommended that criminal penalties be instituted for elected officials violating the Charter and County Code of Ethics, just as I had back in December before this legislative session. It will be interesting to see what happens. It is late in the session so I doubt anything will happen this year so Crime in Gilmer County will be legal at least one more year. Maybe next year something will get done, I guess we will see.

Randy Bell

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