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.

Time and time again since she was sworn in as a city councilor in January, Joanne Cogle has remained steadfast in her fight to maintain our city’s downtown area. Twice this month alone, Cogle presented logical arguments and plans of action to city manager Isaiah Hugley, though twice he has replied with frivolous reasons as to why he can’t get the job done. Explore the full story for the most recent set of excuses for why Hugley’s downtown looks like Detroit.

An audit of Columbus Fire & EMS recently revealed the city’s ambulance service is bogged down by members of the public who abuse the system by effectively using it as a taxicab. Now, the city is discussing a new ‘cry wolf’ policy to help fight back against the illegal 911 abuse, which has previously worked well in other public safety departments. Explore the full story for the details and see what officials had to say, along with how abusing EMS is a crime.

The Columbus Police Department’s proposed policy to allow officers to take their work vehicles home across state lines into Alabama received city council’s unanimous approval on July 25. While insurance practices require the city to have officers sign a liability waiver to take part in the voluntary policy, that doesn’t mean the officers are being hung out to dry. Explore the full story for a detailed look at the full take-home vehicle policy and liability waiver.

It has been years since some major city departments have been audited, according to the internal auditor Donna McGinnis. When officials heard that reality on July 25, councilor Joanne Cogle suggested audits of the city’s most influential departments from the top down, placing the city manager’s office at the very top of the list. Explore the full story to see how officials unanimously approved the new top-down audit plan, along with what councilors had to say.

During the city council meeting held on July 11, officials mandated that the new Liberty Theatre & Cultural Arts Center Advisory Board must have a certified CPA as one of its members. However, while other boards may have accountants as members, the mandate appears to only apply to the Liberty Theatre board. Explore the full story for the details and see what city councilors had to say.

After the city bailed out the previous owner of Legacy Terrace in 2009, maintenance issues have continued to accrue at rates close to the housing development’s revenue. Now, those maintenance costs exceed the city’s entire fund balance for the housing units by more than 20%. 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.

From the mayor and city manager undermining city government by outsourcing efforts to a state-funded NGO, to the city bailing out a failed housing development project with a grant it isn’t even eligible for, to councilors calling out the shabby state of the downtown area to no avail, 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.

Back in 2021, the Chattahoochee River Conservancy stopped posting its E. Coli contamination data on the searchable internet, opting to only post it locally on their social media pages. However, with Mill Creek chronically showing E. Coli contamination levels several times higher than the EPA’s safety limit, the CRC decided to start publishing the data online once again. Explore the full story to see how you can help the CRC keep our local river clean.

Landscaping. Parking lines. Trash. Cleanliness. These are a few of the items one city councilor couldn’t help but notice to be lacking in the city’s downtown maintenance plan. However, when councilors brought up the problem during the last meeting, city manager Isaiah Hugley effectively said there is nothing he can do about it. Explore the full story for the details and see what city councilors had to say.

As revealed in recent weeks, CCG issued a request for proposal to local area hospitals to apply for the city’s indigent care program. However, the lack of applicants and anemic results revealed to city councilors that the process was quite obviously bureaucratically botched. Explore the full story to see how councilors have delayed their vote of approval to ensure the city gets the process right and meets the project’s intent.

On July 11, City Manager Isaiah Hugley persuaded councilors to apply for a state grant to bail out failed housing development in South Columbus. To no surprise, the project is having trouble selling the $130/SF ‘affordable housing’ units in the city’s most crime-ridden part of town, causing the project to fall apart. Explore the full story to see how Hugley conned councilors into a state bailout for an insolvent project that isn’t even eligible for the grant.

When traveling on official city business, councilors are authorized reimbursement for their travel expenses. However, that funding doesn’t apply to private conferences on Jekyll Island at a councilor’s leisure. Explore the full story to see how a city councilor just tried to have taxpayers fund his personal trip, along with how he didn’t even bother to recuse himself from voting in favor of his funding.

During the city council meeting held on July 11, the mayor & city manager praised a new state-funded program, which is now housed under the city manager’s office. However, the program duplicates many functions already in CCG, allowing the state-funded ‘NGO’ to undermine local governmental efforts to their own preferable ends. Explore the full story to see the serious concerns of city councilors.

From CCG suing itself for charging property taxes on public buildings it already owns, to the city settling a year-long case of racial and gender based discrimination for $600,000, to city councilors calling out the bureaucratic manipulation from city departments intended to undermine their vote, 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.

E. Coli contamination remains dangerously unsafe at the confluence of Mill Creek into the Chattahoochee River with levels 4.3x the EPA’s limit, according to recent data published by the Chattahoochee River Conservancy on July 14. However, the data is only published to local social media pages and remains absent from the entire searchable internet. Explore the full story to see the data visualized, along with a look at what the good people at the CRC had to say.

On July 11, city councilors received a presentation from the city’s Risk Management Officer on allowing public safety employees to drive their work vehicles home into Alabama. However, councilors were appalled by the narrow and misleading information presented, speculating that the presentation may have been intended to manipulate council’s vote. Explore the full story to see how unelected CCG bureaucrats appeared to be seeking a predetermined outcome by manipulating council’s vote.

Back in September of 2021, after willfully failing to maintain the current Government Center building for decades, CCG wished $50 million in government bonds into existence for a new City Hall. Now, with offices in the former downtown Synovus building finally beginning to be occupied, the Mayor and other top desks are set to open for business at the new City Hall on July 18. Explore the full story for the details along with a complete list of where things are within the new City Hall complex.

After over a year in court fighting the city’s bona fide systemic racial and gender-based discrimination, city council voted unanimously to provide relief for two officers of the Columbus Police Department. Given the city’s own formal policy that explicitly required promotions to be based on race and gender, officials opted to approve the $600k settlement instead of losing the prima facie case in court. Explore the full story for the intricate details along with what one of the officers had to say.

Each year, the city manager is responsible for implementing the city’s budget in a manner that best serves the city. However, a quick snapshot review of the city’s financial performance over the past fiscal year reveals a few rather serious money-hoarding holes. Explore the full story to see the city’s own snapshot review of its financial performance in FY2023, along with a look at the highlights.

The CCG Board of Tax Assessors tried to charge property taxes to the CCG Hospital Authority for owning Spring Harbor. However, the government-owned retirement community is public property whose revenue is used to repay the bonds that built it. Explore the full story to see how the Tax Board lost three times on final appeal in a landmark case of governmental double-dipping.

Yesterday morning’s data from the Chattahoochee River Conservancy shows dangerously high levels of E. Coli flowing into the river from Mill Creek. The issue has been ongoing for months, though Phenix City hasn’t fixed the problem. All the while, CRC has worked their tails off to collect the data and bring it to light. Explore the full story to see how you can help CRC keep our river clean.

As of the most recently published data, local waterways feeding the downtown Chattahoochee River contain dangerously high levels of E. Coli bacteria, with many 10x the EPA’s limit for recreation. However, in the most aMaZiNg way, test sites near the whitewater park conveniently have ‘no current data available.’ Explore the full story to see how locals are left clueless to play in poop filled water, along with how Columbus Water Works fought for it to continue.

From January 1 through June 30, the Fountain City endured a total of 27 homicides. With an annual national average of just 6 homicides per hundred-thousand residents, Columbus’ population of 205k people suffered a homicide rate 4.5 times deadlier than the rest of the country. Explore the full story to see the data visualized, along with a list of each homicide our city endured in the first half of 2023.

During the city council meeting held on June 27, city council quietly passed a resolution requiring the Development Authority and the Board of Tax Assessors to disclose certain information. Quite obviously, the info wasn’t being shared in the past. Explore the full story for the details and see the resolution’s full text for yourself.

When the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, they couldn’t exactly post about it on social media. In fact, it took five weeks for King George III to even receive the document across the Atlantic. Explore the full story to see how small, local, citizen-ran newspapers brought news of independence to the populace, along with a transcription of the full Declaration of Independence itself.

If you haven’t heard, City Council just saved taxpayers $7 million in the city’s new budget by lowering the property tax millage rate. However, the order of events in the process for planning that budget almost made those millions in savings impossible. Explore the full story to see if you can spot the huge design flaw in CCG’s budget planning process.

From leaked documents proving the United Way is extorting the sexual data of local children from area nonprofits, to city council rolling back the property tax millage rate saving taxpayers $7 million, to the city wasting countless resources so 24 people can drive golf carts across Veterans Parkway, 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.

A few weeks ago, we reported CCG’s egregious waste of countless time and resources so that a small group of 24 people can drive their registered golf carts across Veterans Parkway. Now, city council has voted to allow exactly that. Explore the full story to see the laughable backstory behind council’s vote for the gain of a privileged few in the Historic District as the rest of the city crumbles around the microscopic downtown area.

We emailed CCG and asked point-blank if Mayor Henderson had the power to unilaterally appoint a police chief without City Council’s approval. The response we received confirms CCG knows the Mayor overstepped his legal authority, but has taken no action to correct it nor to hold the Mayor accountable. Explore the full story to see the entire email thread for yourself in CCG’s own words, proving our city currently does not have a legally-appointed police chief.