Hocus Pocus, Shirley Needs to Focus
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She said it with such disdain; such utter contempt:
“I know that alot of his [Chairman Bannister's] statements were about what was in the media and what has been said. I’m a little more concerned about what was in the media bl-a-w-w-w-g-zzz… that were said because they appeared to have a crystal ball…”
With that, District 1 Commissioner Shirley Lasseter took issue with my prediction that she would vote with Chairman Charles Bannister and Commissioner Kevin Kenerly to approve the purchase of 16 acres from Old Peachtree Partners for well over appraised value when the county had already gained title to the two acres out of the 16 that it needed for road right-of-way.
I believe that my crystal ball served me well, because over five million dollars would have vanished into thin air had not almost three hundred of you– just a fraction of the subscribers to The Gwinnett Gazette newsletter– inundated her email inbox with your vociferous objections. You altered the future. You made magic happen.
Not that she read your emails, mind you. She admitted that she had not read your correspondence.
“I assume that they were negative,” she said.
She also confessed that your input would not have influenced her vote, anyway.
Lasseter concluded her comments by making a motion to deny the purchase from Old Peachtree Partners LLC. She included as part of her motion a request that the jury’s decision be brought before the Commission at the case’s conclusion. (OPP, LLC is suing, claiming that the county’s sewer line will prevent development of the remaining 14 acres, thus decreasing its value. More about this later.)
The motion to deny passed unanimously, despite the fact that both Bannister and D-4 Commissioner Kevin Kenerly made convoluted arguments in favor of approval.
I would like to tell you that it was my masterful use of reverse psychology that produced today’s vote. I told you that Lasseter would vote FOR the land buy so that she would, instead, vote AGAINST it; thereby giving us the result that we sought.
No, it was you. And the threat of a Grand Jury investigation. Without the public’s attention focused on squarely on Bannister, Lasseter and Kenerly, they would have approved this deal without batting an eyelash.
There are too many disturbing things that happened during today’s meeting for me to explain in one article, so this will be the first of a series… a kind of countdown to the September Grand Jury session. To whet your appetite:
1. According to Kenerly, the county has lost 14 out of 14 land disputes (condemnation cases) in the past 14 years. Kenerly says that most of those losses were the fault of Gwinnett citizens. Actually, Kenerly isn’t being totally honest but, if it were true, shouldn’t we be more concerned about the competency of our legal staff?
2. The new attorney for Old Peachtree Partners was the only person to address the Commission regarding the land deal. I took many of his comments to be threatening… he told the Commission that if they failed to buy his clients’ land, he would aggressively pursue a much higher value than Bannister was prepared to offer. Under questioning by D-3 Commissioner Mike Beaudreau, the attorney revealed that he had been invited to speak to the Commission… by the County Attorney.
3. The inclusion in a motion of a demand that the resolution of lawsuit be published at a Commission meeting has never happened before; at least, not in my memory. I believe that the reason Lasseter made such a motion is because she EXPECTS the county to lose the case, and she wants to enjoy a little “I told you so.” After all, it is YOUR fault that the Commission was forced to abandon this deal.
4. Bannister’s statement is one that you must see for yourself.
