Residents may voice their concerns for the extreme levels of racial division being used as a political tool to achieve unjust racial political ends by emailing Mayor Skip Henderson directly at SkipHenderson@columbusga.org, while cc’ing their respective city council members on the email.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — This story is a follow-up to our previous article exposing the deeply-rooted connection between city manager Isaiah Hugley and the organizing of a political protest surrounding police chief Freddie Blackmon.
In our previous article, we revealed the findings of our investigation into the local chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity: the organization that held a recent political protest during the city council meeting on March 28, 2023.
That investigation revealed that Hugley was listed as an officer of one of OPP’s local shell-company subsidiaries as recently as 2016.
It also found that Hugley was a founding member of the organization, with Hugley’s own personal home address listed on the articles of incorporation.
That address at 4019 Steam Mill Road was used as recently as 2020 to file the organization’s annual registration with the Georgia Secretary of State.
That organization’s parent-company just held a political protest against the government that Hugley is appointed to serve as city manager.
THE STORY BUILDS
After the Muckraker broke our story revealing the findings of our investigation, local news outlet WTVM followed our lead and picked up the trail. Unable to ignore the contents of the state documents we exposed that revealed Hugley’s kingpin connections to OPP, a reporter from WTVM reached out to Hugley for comment.
Hugley responded by providing WTVM with a statement that attempted to deny his involvement in the protest surrounding Chief Blackmon.
Ironically, Hugley’s own statement didn’t only present further proof of his involvement, but also further exposed his blatant conflicts of interest as a city officer in a manner that violates the Columbus City Charter.
HUGLEY’S STATEMENT
Hugley’s full and unedited statement as published exclusively by WTVM reads as follows:
“Though I stand with and support Police Chief Freddie Blackmon and I am a proud financially active member of the greatest fraternity in the world, the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. - Lambda Iota Chapter, I had no involvement in the rally in any way.”
THE REVEAL
The wording of Hugley’s statement reveals what everyone already knew, but is now ironically stated in writing by Hugley himself: that he is a financially-active member of the Lambda Iota chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity that just hosted a political protest against the city.
By merely being a financially-active member — by definition — Hugley has and continues to provide financial resources to an organization that takes political action against the City of Columbus.
That is the very definition of a conflict of interest.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
As a city officer, Hugley is expressly forbidden from doing what his own statement described. Even without the statutory law surrounding the matter, common sense would also dictate why Hugley’s affiliation is a conflict of interest.
There are, in fact, very good reasons behind why city officers aren’t allowed to be members of and finance private organizations that take political actions surrounding city government. Regardless of whatever side of a political topic such an organization may endorse, allowing city officers to fund, support, or be members of such organizations would be — and is — the very definition of political corruption; it would unjustly permit officials to use the actions of private organizations to illegally drive their own personal agendas, thus bypassing the sanctity of the very government they are appointed to serve.
That sort of unjust political influence is precisely what Hugley’s statement reveals.
HUGLEY’S AGENDA
Hugley’s admission, when combined with the protest itself, shows how his conflict of interest is now manifesting to serve the political agenda he has openly admitted to want to achieve.
On Feb. 24 of this year, Hugley had publicly stated the following at public meeting held at the Greater Beallwood Baptist Church:
“By the next two elections, there will be a black mayor and a black council.”
The sheer racism of Hugley’s publicly-made statement is grotesque, to say the least.
Now, just one month later, the organization: (1) that Hugley is a financially-active member of; (2) that he himself helped found subsidiaries for out of his own home, and; (3) that used Hugley’s home address on their most-recent annual registration with the Secretary of State — just held a race-based political protest against the city.
It does not take a genius in political science to tie together Hugley’s overtly-stated race-based agenda and the political actions taken by an organization he overtly leads and supports.
There is no greater example of political conflict of interest than Hugley’s.
THE LAW
According to Appendix Two of the Columbus City Charter:
“No elected official, appointed officer or employee of the consolidated government or any office, department or agency thereof shall knowingly engage in any business or transaction or have a financial or other personal interest, direct or indirect, which is incompatible with the proper discharge of his or her official duties or which would tend to impair his or her independence of judgment or action in the performance of his or her official duties.”
Since Hugley’s statement openly admitted to being a financially-active member of an organization that held a political rally against the very city he is appointed to serve, Hugley does appear to have a blatant conflict of interest, which is a blatant violation of this statute.
Additionally, Appendix Two of the Columbus City Charter goes on to describe additional scenarios of forbidden conflicts of interest. One of those deals with city officers rendering services for private interests that are incompatible with service to the city. According to paragraph 1(b), Hugley cannot:
“Engage in or accept private employment or render services for private interests when such employment or service is incompatible with the proper discharge of his or her official duties or would tend to impair his or her independence of judgment or action in the performance of his or her official duties.”
If you’ll remember, the Muckraker’s investigation revealed that Hugley was publicly-listed as an officer of a shell-company subsidiary of OPP’s local Lambda Iota chapter. Additionally, the organization’s annual registration with the Georgia Secretary of State used Hugley’s home address at 4019 Steam Mill Road as recently as 2020.
Based on paragraph 1(b) of the quoted statute above, Hugley’s involvement and rendering of both services and resources — his own home — to an organization that held a political protest against the city is another blatant conflict of interest and is thus another blatant violation of the statute.
WHAT COULD HAPPEN
According to the Columbus City Charter, Hugley’s undisclosed and decades-long conflicts of interest can result in his removal from appointment. The city manager, just like all other appointed city officers, can be removed by either:
- Immediate removal by the mayor;
- A mayoral recommendation confirmed by six council votes, or;
- Seven council votes without the mayor’s recommendation.
CONCLUSION
Given that:
- Hugley has been city manager since 2005, and;
- Hugley has continued to be a financially-active member of the organization through to the present day, and;
- Hugley has been an officer of the organization’s subsidiary as recently as 2016, and;
- The organization’s subsidiary used Hugley’s home address on its most-recent annual registration with the Secretary of State in 2020, and;
- Hugley’s own race-based agenda that he himself publicly stated on Feb. 24, 2023 aligns with the demonstrated motivations and actions of the organization, and;
- The organization’s actions have since manifested into hosting a political protest against the city on March 28, 2023;
We can therefore conclude that the preponderance of the evidence shows that Hugley has in fact been “rendering services for private interests … incompatible with the proper discharge of his official duties” — and not just now, but for decades.
Even without the syllogism above — and stupidly enough while trying to cover his own tracks by claiming he had “nothing to do with” the political protest regarding police chief Freddie Blackmon — Hugley’s self-admitted financial support and membership alone are more than enough within the grander context to prove his blatant conflicts of interest, as defined by the Columbus City Charter.
In the words of the great Kat Williams:
“You should’na been talkin’ sh*t.”
Stay with the Muckraker as we continue to reveal additional findings from our investigation in the coming days.
Residents may voice their concerns for the extreme levels of racial division being used as a political tool to achieve unjust racial political ends by emailing Mayor Skip Henderson directly at SkipHenderson@columbusga.org, while cc’ing their respective city council members on the email.
Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.
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