No disclosure in land-buy procedures

Marietta Daily Journal
Friday, July 27, 2007 1:28 AM EDT

By Ken Eysaman
Marietta Daily Journal News Editor

MARIETTA - Records the Marietta Daily Journal obtained reveal that the City Council and its redevelopment corporation conduct land buys without disclosing any details - such as purchase price, acreage, location and seller - while Cobb County provides full public disclosure of its real estate acquisitions before money changes hands.

Minutes of the June 13 City Council meeting show the council voted to buy a piece of land after a nondescript motion that failed to detail any information about the land buy.

A "Motion to approve the purchase of designated property as discussed (in executive session), subject to the property being appraised for the purchase amount," which passed in open session, is the only reference to land acquisition in the public record.

The motion to buy land lists no purchase price, number of acres, property location or the seller.

Marietta City Attorney Doug Haynie called the city's procedure a "generic motion," that covers real estate matters and admitted that it's vague but maintains it is in conformity with his interpretation of Georgia's Sunshine Laws.

When asked how citizens would know and on what terms the city had bought land, Haynie said he would call the Journal with full details after the closing and money changes hands.

Although the Marietta City Council votes in public session, but with no details, minutes from the June 27 monthly meeting of the Marietta Redevelopment Corp. show that its board actually voted on land buys in closed-door executive session without disclosing any purchase details.

Handwritten minutes record an executive session action "to approve the purchase of multiple pieces of property." The same minutes show that the board also voted "to authorize the execution and closing upon a purchase and sale agreement dated (blank)."

Marietta's Redevelopment Corp., a 14-member board of elected and appointed officials, 12 of whom vote, has an $8 million land-buying fund that the City Council seeded with $2 million last year. The remaining $6 million is a line of credit with the bank of North Georgia.

Although Georgia law allows officials to discuss real estate acquisitions in executive session, Attorney General Thurbert Baker said any vote to purchase land must be made in public session.

When confronted about the MRC minutes, Haynie said he attended the June meeting and the board did vote in public session on its real estate buy, noting that the minutes are incorrect and would be changed.

During its July meeting on Monday, after an hour-long closed-door executive session, the MRC board reconvened in public session and voted unanimously "to authorize the purchase of real property" without any specificity of the land deal.

When asked for details of the land buy, MRC board Chairman Floyd Northcutt told a Journal reporter that he was "not at liberty to talk about that. I can't tell you anything at this point in time. It's still a part of an executive session discussion."

"It will come out at an appropriate time," Northcutt added.

Full disclosure

In contrast to Marietta's City Council and the MRC, Cobb commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to "approve the purchase of 15.452 acres located at the northwest corner of Veteran's Memorial Highway and Henderson Road ... to be used as a public park, from The Columns Group/CT Nickajack, at a price of $2,430,000 and paid from the 2006 parks bond fund."

Although the commission's action - including its vote - was revealed entirely in public session during its scheduled board meeting, the closing will be at a later date.

Cobb Commission Chairman Sam Olens said the manner by which the purchase was approved is county policy and Cobb always reveals purchase details in open session as it approves land buys.

Haynie contends that Marietta's procedure conforms to the Georgia Open Meetings Act. However, Olens said he believes that Georgia law requires the purchase price be revealed once a pact with the seller is reached, and details should be disclosed when the land is approved for purchase.

Cobb's policy was a model for the Gwinnett County Commission, which in 2005, moved to vote to buy property only in public meetings and disclose purchase details after several months of heated debate and public pressure.

As is the case with Cobb, Gwinnett now negotiates the purchase price in executive session to protect the public and keep real estate speculators from driving up the price on taxpayers.

According to a Nov. 2, 2005, Atlanta Journal-Constitution report, "Before the change, (Gwinnett) taxpayers weren't told of a land sale until after it was closed and the money was spent."

In Cobb, after a sale price is reached, negotiators for the county ask the seller to sign an agreement contingent on board approval during a public meeting, as was the case Tuesday when commissioners approved the county's first land buy with money from its 2006 voter-approved $40 million parks bond.

Also in 2005, Dekalb County decided to vote to buy land with full disclosure of proposed purchases in open session. Fulton, Clayton, Paulding, Cherokee and Douglas county governments also follow the same practice.

Hollie Manheimer, a First Amendment attorney and executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, agrees that Cobb's practice is a solid model for other governments.

Asked about the vagueness and lack of specificity in Marietta's land-buying practices, Ms. Manheimer said "the point of the Open Meetings Act is not to withhold information from the public, but to release it - so citizens can be informed, knowledgeable, and make good decisions about their community."

The Journal has retained Marietta attorney Allison Barnes Salter, of former Gov. Roy Barnes law firm, to press Haynie and city officials to adopt Cobb's model of full disclosure for land buys and halt Marietta's practice of keeping details private until after land is bought.

Journal officials said they hope to avoid litigation over Marietta officials' lack of full disclosure.

Ms. Salter said she does not believe Marietta's vague way of approving land buys conforms to the Georgia Open Meetings Act.

Journal Managing Editor Billy Mitchell said city officials are not acting in the public's best interest.

"The way Marietta approves land buys - not even disclosing what planet the property is on - makes a mockery out of the law," he said. "Under that procedure there is no chance for public input until the land is bought and paid for."

Haynie said he plans to discuss the matter with the City Council during its scheduled committee meetings Monday night at City Hall.

Reprinted with permission of the Marietta Daily Journal, 07/27/07.