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COLUMBUS, Ga. — From the city manager sneaking in a parking fee for a political event in a way that broke the Georgia Open Meetings Act, to more than six thousand pounds of garbage being left to accrue in city parks, to the city having the option to lower property taxes but proposing to tax you even more instead, 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.
HUGLEY SNUCK IN PARKING FEE FOR TRUMP EVENT; ADD-ON ITEM BLINDSIDED CITY COUNCIL
This story was originally published on June 5, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — The now-canceled parking fee for the upcoming GOP Convention featuring President Donald J. Trump wasn’t even listed on the city’s agenda for the May 30 council meeting, denying the public the opportunity to contact their city councilors before the meeting as required by state law.
Instead, city manager Isaiah Hugley chose to blindside the City Council and the public in hopes of changing local laws for extremely-obvious political purposes, all under the guise of ‘public safety.’
Since Hugley chose not to list the item on the agenda — which would have been a reasonably-expected item given Hugley’s claim of ‘public safety’ for an event that was already planned months in advance — city councilors were denied the opportunity to review the matter.
Without having the item published, the public also had no opportunity to contact their city councilors through representative government to voice their concerns.
The Law
According to GA Code § 50-14-1.e (2022) — more commonly known as the Georgia Open Meetings Act — all matters expected to come before the City Council must be published on an agenda and made available to the public prior to the meeting’s occurrence. Keep in mind the phrase “expected” as you read the law below:
“Prior to any meeting, the agency or committee holding such meeting shall make available an agenda of all matters expected to come before the agency or committee at such meeting. The agenda shall be available upon request and shall be posted at the meeting site as far in advance of the meeting as reasonably possible, but shall not be required to be available more than two weeks prior to the meeting and shall be posted, at a minimum, at some time during the two-week period immediately prior to the meeting. Failure to include on the agenda an item which becomes necessary to address during the course of a meeting shall not preclude considering and acting upon such item.”
While the law does allow for other items to be acted upon in the meeting that aren't listed in the agenda, the law specifically states that they must have become necessary throughout the course of the meeting.
Hugley back-dooring an entire topic that did not develop through the discussion of any other agenda item — which is what “throughout the course of the meeting” means — is not permitted.
So-called “add-on items” that do not pertain to matters already published on the agenda are not permitted under state law, as the public is required to have the opportunity to review the agenda prior to the meeting so they may contact their elected officials and participate in their representative government.
You can’t just bring up some unrelated topic that isn’t published prior to the meeting — especially ones that alter local laws without having a public hearing.
Explore the full story to see how Hugley tried to alter our local laws for his own political purposes without having a public hearing.
SIX THOUSAND POUNDS OF TRASH ALLOWED TO BUILD UP IN CITY PARKS; NO PLAN BUT VOLUNTEERS
This story was originally published on June 6, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Six thousand pounds of garbage was permitted to accumulate in just two of the city’s public spaces without any intervention or regular cleaning by CCG.
The trash was recently collected by a large group of volunteers through the Keep Columbus Beautiful Commission — a subordinate branch of CCG — who were generous enough to literally pick up after the city government’s shortcomings.
Despite the hard work from the volunteers — for which we are very thankful — the City of Columbus quite obviously has no plan to prevent the garbage from accumulating in the first place, nor a plan for its regular collection.
Officials seem to miss the point that the city is covered in thousands and thousands of pounds of garbage every other day of the year as they continue to proclaim how aMaZiNg the place is.
A Public/Private Failure
The cleanup was conducted by the Keep Columbus Beautiful Commission, Inc., which is a private 501c (3) organization. The private organization is “partnered” with the city through a “Public/Private Partnership” and maintains a “.gov” website though the city’s columbusga.gov url.
The reason for the government website — and despite the misnomer of allegedly being solely a non-profit organization — is because the “partnership” actually established the Keep Columbus Beautiful Commission as a bona fide subordinate branch of the Columbus Consolidated Government through Columbus Ordinance No. 22-057.
The organization is also listed on the Columbus Department of Public Works website right beside Integrated Waste in the website’s menu bar, implying that it is the city’s sole resource for cleaning up garbage, litter, and debris that isn’t household integrated waste.
Explore the full story to see how the failure of such a basic civic necessity perfectly represents CCG.
WHAT CITY DISTRICT ARE YOU IN? HERE'S WHO YOUR CITY COUNCILOR IS AND HOW TO CONTACT THEM
This story was originally published on June 7, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — If you haven’t noticed, this little Fountain City of ours has devolved into a chaotic mess. With so many very serious issues affecting each of our daily lives, it’s easy to forget that you actually have a voice in all of it.
Have you ever wanted to contact one of your local city councilors about an issue that really mattered to you, but didn’t know which of the city’s ten councilors to contact?
We’ve got you covered, complete with detailed city maps to see exactly where you live and who you should be contacting.
Explore the full story to find out what city district you live in so you can send that fiery email you’ve been writing in your head for the past forever.
PARODY 'ROLLER SKATING' VIDEO PERFECTLY DEPICTS COLUMBUS' FAILED APPROACH TO CRIME PREVENTION
This story was originally published on June 8, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — A viral online parody video just-so-happens to perfectly depict the ridiculous nature of our city’s approach to curbing violent crime.
The video was produced as an actual parodic advertisement for a real roller rink. It has been shared online more than 2.3 million times since being posted by the popular Rhett & Link Youtube channel.
During the Columbus City Council meeting on May 30, officials announced what they have titled the “C3 Initiative,” which is geared at pumping resources to the city’s at-risk youth through the city’s recreation centers in hopes of ‘reducing crime.’
It sounds good in theory, and it's certainly a photo op for our elected officials to give the appearance that they’re doing something — but it's the same thing they've been doing for the past ten years or so, and it quite obviously hasn’t worked. The reason: criminals do not care about your rec centers programs.
The proof is in the pudding.
Ironically, just hours after the city’s announcement of the new initiative, an incredibly widespread shootout took place at the Shirley Winston Recreation Center: one of the city’s largest and most popular.
The violent shootout left at least one teenage victim with a gunshot wound. Several cars had their windows shot out as the large volley of gunfire caused residents to flee for their lives in all directions.
Nonetheless, city officials can be seen on their social media pages lauding over how this new initiative will somehow lower the crime rate, despite the fact that the very recreation centers themselves are largely millhouses for violent crime in the first place.
Though there is absolutely nothing funny about violent crime, the video below perfectly depicts the utterly ridiculous nature of the city’s continuously-failed efforts.
It isn't difficult to see why.
Explore the full story for a comedic glimpse at the utterly ridiculous nature of CCG’s insanity.
CCG PROPOSES PROPERTY TAX INCREASE; HOLDING THREE PUBLIC HEARINGS
This story was originally published on June 9, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — The Columbus Consolidated Government will be holding three public hearings regarding a proposed increase in property taxes. The meetings will be held in the city council chambers on the second floor of the C. E. “Red” McDaniel City Services Center at 3111 Citizens Way, Columbus, GA 31906.
The three legally-required public hearings are scheduled as follows, with the first two happening in the coming week:
Explore the full story for more detail on the city’s proposal to increase property taxes so you can attend the public hearings with confidence and have your voice heard as a citizen.
A DEEP DIVE INTO THE COLUMBUS PROPERTY TAX INCREASE
This story was originally published on June 10, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — “This is the tendency of all human governments. A departure from principle becomes a precedent for a second; that second for a third; and so on, till the bulk of society is reduced to mere automatons of misery, to have no sensibilities left but for sinning and suffering... And the fore horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression.” — Thomas Jefferson.
As promised in yesterday’s article on CCG’s proposal to tax an additional $10 million from the pockets of its own residents, here’s a deep-dive into the Columbus Property Tax Increase.
We’ll be breaking down the following:
Here we go. Buckle up.
Explore the full story to see the details as we break down the illogical and unnecessary tax increase on everything from how property taxes are calculated to how to appeal the city’s greed.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Columbus City Council is scheduled to hold a consent agenda/work session meeting on Tuesday, June 13 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.
The council is expected to discuss the situation regarding the charging of parking fees in city-owned garages and lots. City ordinance currently explicitly forbids the charging of such fees by CCG as embodied in Resolution No. 360-16, passed by City Council on October 22, 2016.
The discussion comes after council rescinded their original vote to do so on May 30 in anticipation of the GOP convention. Within 48 hours after the initial vote, council immediately stated their decision was “reconsidered.”
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:
Back Our Blue
In closing, we at the Muckraker would like to thank the outstanding men and women of the Columbus Police Department who continue to shell out for the safety and well-being of our city each and every day, despite the abhorrent temporary conditions they are currently forced to work within.
“All police officers are entitled to outstanding leadership.”
Our city cannot thank you enough for what you do for us.
If you’re out and about throughout the week and see one of our city’s brave and valiant police officers, be sure to thank them. We’d bet it would mean an awful lot to them.
Residents are strongly encouraged to express their concerns and condolences for the brave men and women of the Columbus Police Department 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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© 2023 Muscogee Muckraker. All rights reserved.
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