David Poythress Responds to AJC's Jekyll Island Exposé: Democratic Candidate for Governor of Georgia in 2010 Blasts Linger Longer Deal
For Immediate Release
March 2, 2009
Contact: Wendy Davis
Cell: 770-595-9164
Enough! It's time to call the Jekyll Island land deal what it really is - politically corrupt plundering of a treasured asset that belongs to the people of Georgia. A monumental sell-out of the taxpayers of Georgia is unfolding before us, and it seems no one is able to stop it. But if this deal goes through, this administration and the Republican Party will be forever known as the crowd who lost Jekyll Island and left the taxpayers holding the bag for $50 million dollars in the worst economic times in modern history.
Carrie Teegardin's exposé in the Sunday AJC should be just the first ray of light cast on this dark, complex, and, I believe, profoundly corrupt transaction. Greed and short sighted political advantage are lurking in the shadows around this deal, which was negotiated and finalized in secret by the Jekyll Island Authority whose chairman has said he doesn't know or care how much value or profit the favored developer is stripping out of our Island.
Make no mistake - this is much worse than just a bad deal for the taxpayers. It amounts to the outright sale of the most treasured asset of the people of Georgia - Jekyll Island State Park - for pennies on the dollar. One company will be given virtually complete and permanent control of the Island - not for 25 years as advertised - but for at least 125 years when all the options and extensions are added up.
The promoters of this deal have successfully - and wrongly - accused anybody who asks questions about their deal as "anti-development." Two members of the Authority, former State Senator Ed Boshears and even the Chairman Richard Woods were ousted when they began asking hard questions. State Senator Jeff Chapman - a Republican whose district includes the Island - has bravely and honestly challenged the deal and was rewarded by opposition from within his own Party. And concerned residents of the Island have been routinely dismissed in the local press as narrowly self interested and "anti-development."
As a former member of the Authority, I know - just like everybody else in Georgia - that our Island desperately needs to be dramatically redeveloped and modernized. But redevelopment should not be used as a smoke screen for a politically rigged sell-out of the pristine barrier island that every Georgian could call his own since 1947.
As you might expect, all the threads of political influence lead back to the crowd that is supposed to be in charge under Georgia's Gold Dome. For the last few years, Governor Perdue has quietly loaded the Jekyll Island Authority with political contributors and allies who are bent on giving Linger Longer, the development company in the deal, a fortune while Georgia taxpayers get peanuts. More specifically, the developer doesn't just get to build or rebuild every prime piece of property on the Island, they also receive the benefits of a $50 million bond issue paid for by the people of Georgia. Furthermore, the developer gets a non-compete agreement for at least the next 25 years, so as new ideas and projects become financially viable, this favored development company with ties to the Governor gets the contract if they want it!
For a Governor who has talked about the need for competition in the marketplace, he has certainly flip-flopped in this case to help some of the biggest players in Republican fundraising circles. To be perfectly blunt, this is just the kind of pay-to-play politics we have seen far too much of in other states recently.
So how does an ambitious development company get the deal of a lifetime under a Republican administration? The answer is simple - make political contributions until it hurts. According to campaign finance reports, Linger Longer - the developer in the deal - has given $95,000 to the Georgia Republican Party and $15,000 to Governor Perdue. Jamie Reynolds, a top executive with Linger Longer, gave $6,300 to Governor Perdue. Similarly, Robert Krueger - the Chairman of the Authority who doesn't care about balancing the interests of the state with the developer's potential profits - gave the Governor $11,500.
And the threads of influence don't stop at the Governor's doorstep. Lt.Gov. Casey Cagle's backers are caught in the same web as well. Stephen Croy, a real estate developer and member of the Authority, serves as Cagle's campaign finance chairman. Together, Croy, his wife and business gave $10,500 to Governor Perdue and $26,000 to Cagle. Authority Chairman Robert Krueger gave Cagle $6,000. Linger Longer gave Cagle $1,000. Jamie Reynolds gave him $1,500 and currently serves as finance chair for Eric Johnson's campaign for Lt. Governor.
Simply put - the question of whether the Jekyll Island deal "stinks really, really bad" - as suggested in your article - really depends on where you stand in the deal. If you are on the inside the way Linger Longer, Chairman Krueger, Governor Perdue and Lt. Governor Cagle are, it probably smells pretty good right now.
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much that can be done to stop this deal. As they say on the farm, "the hog is in the tunnel." But if I am given the chance to be the next Governor of Georgia, the voters can rest assured that my appointments to the Jekyll Island Authority will have better negotiating skills and very different priorities than the current Authority. On my watch, we will invest our dollars wisely and spend them in a way that provides a return on our money - not give political donors and insiders the equivalent of a winning lottery ticket!
About David Poythress
Lieutenant General (Ret.) David Poythress is the immediate past Commander of the Georgia Army and Air National Guard. He previously served as Georgia's Secretary of State and Commissioner of Labor, and he is currently the lone Democratic candidate for Governor of Georgia in 2010. To learn more click here.
