Are we on the right path as a city? What are your thoughts as the reader? Be sure to follow Muscogee Muckraker on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to see our upcoming stories as they break throughout the coming week.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — From the city bailing out yet another failed housing project that can’t bring in enough revenue to maintain its own buildings, to a new top-down audit plan that places the city manager at the top of the list, to the downtown area still not having an effective maintenance plan after seven months of requests, here’s all the muck that’s fit to print from the Columbus, Georgia area, along with a look at what to expect in the week ahead.
LEGACY TERRACE REPAIRS EXCEED FUNDS; COUNCILORS APPROVE $22.7K BAILOUT
This story was originally published on July 24, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — The Columbus Consolidated Government just approved a $22.7k bailout for the Legacy Terrace housing project, located on Ninth Street at Eighth Avenue.
The move also happened during the same meeting at which council approved to apply for a separate state-funded bailout for an additional ‘affordable housing’ project by NeighborWorks on the verge of bankruptcy; there seems to be a theme.
The approved bailout funding for Legacy Terrace comes after the housing project’s extensive history of recent repairs exceeded the totality of the city’s designated fund for the housing units by just over 20%.
After a presentation by deputy city manager Pam Hodge during the city council meeting held on July 11, 2023, all city councilors present voted unanimously to approve the bailout funding to cover the cost of extensive repairs at the property.
The repairs — and the story behind them — trace back nearly fifteen years.
Explore the full story to see how city council just voted to bail out the fiscally insolvent housing project in another example of why subsidized housing isn’t a sustainable plan for our future.
CITY MANDATES NEW LIBERTY THEATRE BOARD MUST HAVE CPA; OTHER BOARDS DON’T
This story was originally published on July 25, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — City council has unanimously voted to mandate that a new governmental advisory board for the city’s historic Liberty Theatre must include a CPA as one of its members.
The mandate appears to apply only to the newly-proposed Liberty Theatre & Cultural Arts Center Advisory Board but does not broadly apply to any other CCG boards, giving the appearance of singling out the managerial track record of the financially-troubled cultural arts icon.
After falling into a state of disrepair resulting from 25 years worth of neglect, the Columbus Consolidated Government seized control of the historic theatre in January of this year in hopes of preserving the cultural landmark and restoring it to its former glory.
As a cultural icon of the African American community that first opened its doors in 1925, the Liberty Theatre has proudly hosted some of our nation’s most prolific artists, including Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and local blues legend Ma Rainey.
With our city’s local economic reality having proved itself incapable of sustaining the theatre’s operation, CCG decided to bail out the blighted historic structure in hopes of finding grant money to restore its former charm.
The theatre has been under the operational control of the Columbus Civic Center since CCG’s acquisition in January, though the Civic Center itself has fallen into a state of managerial disaster as well.
After the removal of the Civic Center’s former director, Rob Landers, as well as former event services manager Jeremy Ackles, the Civic Center fell under the direct management of deputy city manager Lisa Goodwin as the center’s interim director.
The Civic Center’s operations —and therefore the Liberty Theatre’s — are just one step removed from the direct control of city manager Isaiah Hugley.
Explore the full story for the details and see what city councilors had to say.
COUNCILORS APPROVE NEW ‘TOPDOWN’ AUDIT PLAN; CITY MANAGER TOPS LIST
This story was originally published on July 26, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — City councilors just approved a new plan to audit major city departments from the top-down, beginning with the office of City Manager Isaiah Hugley.
The departments prioritized by the new plan have not been audited in many years.
Now, after a unanimous vote from city council, the city’s most influential departments are at the very top of the newly-structured audit list. Those five departments include the City Manager's office, Finance, Human Resources, Workforce Development, and Parks & Recreation.
Discussion among city councilors and the city’s internal auditor specifically placed Hugley’s office first-in-line, noting the large sums of public funds that flow through Hugley’s office and how long it’s been since its last audit.
Explore the full story to see how officials unanimously approved the new top-down audit plan, along with what councilors had to say.
CPD’S TAKE-HOME CAR POLICY RECEIVES FINAL APPROVAL BY COUNCIL
This story was originally published on July 27, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — City officials just gave their final approval on a proposed policy that will now allow police officers and other select employees to drive their work vehicles home into Alabama.
The policy comes after being identified as a large morale issue for a significant portion of the city’s police force. The policy affects about 90 total CCG employees, of which 45 are employed by CPD: roughly 10% of the entire police force.
After approving the general concept to be developed into a formal policy proposal several weeks ago — which saw much resistance from the city’s inner-bureaucratic departments — city councilors have now reviewed that fully- developed policy and provided their stamp of approval through a unanimous vote.
Since insurance practices generally do not allow for coverage of city vehicles across state lines during an employee’s off-duty hours, officers will be required to sign a total liability waiver to partake in the voluntary interstate policy which provides total indemnity for the city.
While the policy itself does not explicitly state it, the document does appear to heavily imply that officers who choose to participate in the program would have to add their designated work vehicle to their own personal auto insurance policy. Without doing so, they would not have insurance coverage while driving to and from work during their off-duty hours.
Explore the full story for a detailed look at the full take-home vehicle policy and liability waiver.
PUBLIC ABUSING EMS SERVICE AS 'TAXICABS'; CITY TO FIGHT BACK
This story was originally published on July 28, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Residents of the Columbus area have been abusing the city’s ambulance service, according to recent audit findings presented to city council on July 25.
Requesting an ambulance knowing it is not reasonably needed is a punishable crime under Georgia Code § 16-10-29 (2022).
Internal Auditor Donna McGinnis delivered the news to officials with Fire & EMS Chief Salvatore Scarpa, who also provided valuable insight on how severely the issue has grown to impact the department’s operations.
According to McGinnis, a growing number of residents have become ‘routine callers’ of the city’s 911 service, providing frivolous reasons for why they need an ambulance sent to their location. Some of those reasons have included, according to McGinnis, things like running out of cigarettes and beer.
By law, if the caller says they require medical assistance, the ambulances must respond anyway. The city’s EMS first responders then load the ‘patient’ into the city’s scarce medical vehicles and transport them to a local area hospital’s emergency room.
Effectively, these abusive ‘routine callers’ have turned the city’s ambulance service into a taxicab operation.
Explore the full story for the details and see what officials had to say, along with how abusing EMS is a crime.
COGLE HOUNDS DOWNTOWN UPKEEP AGAIN; HUGLEY'S SAME EXCUSES FOLLOW
This story was originally published on July 29, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — City Councilor Joanne Cogle (District 7) continued her steadfast ambition for the city to better-maintain the downtown area during the council meeting held on July 25.
The current conversation began two weeks prior on July 11 when Councilor Glenn Davis (District 2) pointed out how obviously-decrepit the state of the downtown area’s infrastructure has become. Through personal anecdote, Davis pointed out the lack of visible parking lines, negligent landscaping, low-hanging tree limbs, and visible trash strewn about. Several of Davis’ colleagues, including Cogle, backed Davis’ tactful comments.
In reply, City Manager Isaiah Hugley gave excuses as to why none of that was his fault and that there was effectively nothing he could do about it., despite him literally being the city manager.
Hugley mentioned that the city’s resources must be equally distributed throughout the entire city, which ironically exposed his incompetence and lack of integrity even more: By saying that, Hugley had inadvertently acknowledged that the entirety of the city he himself is personally responsible for maintaining is in fact not being maintained; if downtown is a mess, and resources must be equally distributed, then by Hugley’s own admission the rest of the city is a mess as well — which is ironically the end result of Hugley’s entire job.
That conversation didn’t only repeat itself during the July 25 meeting, but even further exposed Hugley’s clear lack of honest effort to bring solutions instead of excuses.
After stressing the obvious safety concerns of not having visibly-painted crosswalks and parking lines in the city’s most highly-traffic commercial area for the umpteenth time, Cogle went so far as to literally hand Hugley a list of local contractors who are willing and able to perform the necessary work that Hugley just said he couldn’t find the personnel for, along with a plan for how to fund the project — both of which, by the way, are part of Hugley’s job.
Explore the full story for the most recent set of excuses for why Hugley’s downtown looks like Detroit.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Muscogee County Board of Elections is holding a public meeting on Thursday, August 3, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. to discuss important precinct and polling location changes.
The Columbus City Council is scheduled to meet next on Tuesday, August 8, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. on the second floor of the C. E. “Red” McDaniel City Services Center located at 3111 Citizens Way, Columbus, GA 31906.
Join Today. Protect Tomorrow.
There has never been a better time to be a Columbus Police Officer! The Columbus Police Department is a state and nationally accredited law enforcement agency dedicated to protecting and serving the citizens of Columbus, Georgia. Become part of a highly trained law enforcement team focused on building and maintaining strong community partnerships that improve the safety and quality of life for every citizen. Join today and protect the promise of a better tomorrow. ProtectColumbus.ColumbusGa.gov
A Look At Personal Safety
As the Columbus Police Department continues to unify under its new leadership model, violent crime is still likely to exist at higher levels than we would all like — even in what have previously been thought of as the “safer parts” of our city.
We at the Muckraker want to encourage our readers and their loved ones to remain hyper-vigilant as they go about their daily lives.
Based on lifetimes of experience and the combined professional careers of us at the Muckraker and our associates, here are what we consider to be the most important ways Columbusites can make themselves “hard targets” to avoid becoming a crime victim:
Situational Awareness: Be aware of your surroundings at all times. Keep your head on a swivel. Don’t walk around with headphones in. Keep your eyes moving and scanning around you as you move about.
Trust Your Gut: If something inside of you is telling you that something isn’t right, trust that feeling. For example: If you’re parking your car at night and your gut tells you the dark shady spot next to the alley isn't the best place to park, don't park there. Your intuition is often more powerful and protective than you think.
Move With Confidence: Think about this one for a minute. Are criminals going to target the guy or gal who struts hard down the street like a freaking lion patrolling their own domain, or are they going to leave that hard target the heck alone? Keep your head up. Move from place to place with a purpose. Don't walk around with your face in your phone with your purse wide open. Don’t look weak. Look dangerous.
Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.
-30-
© 2023 Muscogee Muckraker. All rights reserved.
Be sure to follow Muscogee Muckraker on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to see all the muck that’s fit to print as it breaks throughout the coming week.
